Ole Werner fired – why Werder Bremen really separates from him

In the end it was very quick: Ole Werner, head coach of Werder Bremen, which had been valued for three and a half years, only rejected the contract extension that the club had offered to him, the next day the association fought consequences and ended the cooperation with immediate effect.

This is a remarkable development. Because the cooperation between Werder and Werner was actually extremely successful and characterized by mutual appreciation. The 37-year-old only led Bremen to the direct return and subsequently continued to develop the team, which was reflected in the results. Bremen cut off better every year and just narrowly missed the qualification for the European Cup twice in a row. Usually no situation in which you separate.

The romantics among the Werder supporters (not all!) Saw Werner already walk in the footsteps of the two club large coach Otto Rehhagel and Thomas Schaaf, who each justified an era with their success and long term. Werner seemed to be the ideal candidate to step into the great footsteps of his legendary predecessors. North German cool and factual, but still with passion and a portion of dry humor – that’s how Werner came across.

The success spoke for themselves. It worked. For three and a half years.

The only problem with the romance is that it mostly has to do with reality. The dreary reality in Bremen is that the association has to calculate financially hard. The direct competition from the middle class of the league is available more money.

Werner recently put his finger in the wound when he praised the team’s performance in a media round before the last days of the game. You have a view of the European Cup places, although “we pay for three years like a relegation candidate”.

Now Werner was clear from the start that he only had limited possibilities financially in the event of a commitment to Bremen. But what ultimately let him doubt the perspectives of Werder and thus his own was his dissatisfaction with squad planning and scouting.

The trainer, as the Werder news page “Die Deichstube” reports, is said to have wanted more fluctuation in the squad in the past summer break. Apparently he often didn’t get the players he wanted.

For this reason, Werner had initially left the offer to extend the contract. Maybe he wanted to wait for the season outlet and develop the developments. It is an open question whether he would have stayed with reaching the Europa League qualification. In the end, the ambitious trainer had to see: For him, the perspectives on the Weser are limited and the association will not deviate from its basic line.

Werner’s rejection of the new contract justified: “When a certain point has been reached, there are usually two options: either, you cause changes around a trainer, or you change something in the coaching position.”

Werner did not see the “changes around a trainer”. And moved the consequences beyond every romance and honest affection to the club. The fact that Werder cannot afford a coach who goes anyway in a year is also in the nature of the matter. Seen in this way, it was a separation according to the motto: we were very nice, but it no longer fits. That is only consistent.

The football business includes being prepared for all eventualities. The Bremen leadership is said to have already had discussions with other coaching candidates in recent months. Marco Rose (ex-Leipziger), Lukas Kwasniok (ex-paterborn) or Horst Steffen (still-Elversberger) are said to be candidates for the succession of Werner.

Sources: “”, “”, dpa