Just two years ago, the biggest problem for Dortmund fans was the fact that they lost a long waited title in the last round, at their own stadium. Fast forward to January 2025, all those fans would love to be so disappointed as they were in May 2023, because their club is now in even worst shape.After another season without a proper title race, but with Champions League final, Borussia‘s fans were hopeful that in this year was theirs. The club brought new signings, former player Nuri Sahin became a new coach, but soon everything fell apart. By the time Sahin was finally sacked, BVB were 11th in Bundesliga, six points below the Champions League place, and in UCL, they have almost zero chances of qualifying for Top 8 spot, and they will have to play two additional games in February in order to continue their quest in Europe. Today‘s game with Shakhtar in the Champions League is coming in a worst possible moment.🚨⚫️🟡 EXCL | Yesterday in Salzburg, there was a secret meeting between #BVB executives and Ralf #Rangnick!Borussia Dortmund explored whether Rangnick could take over the head coach position immediately. He is also considered a candidate for the summer. Rangnick’s contract as… pic.twitter.com/V2BYylByBH— Florian Plettenberg (@Plettigoal) January 28, 2025 The club‘s executives, led by chairman of the board Hans-Joachim Watzke and CEO Lars Ricken were big fans of Sahin and gave him too much time, but what‘s even worse, they didn‘t spoke to anyone about a possible coaching role until they offically sacked him. It turned out to be a surprisingly amateurish-like move from such a big club, because at the moment they cannot find a proper replacement! So, their crucial game with Shakhtar will be led by a U19 coach Mike Tullberg, who was supposed to lead the team for only one game (2-2 against Werder Bremen).BVB management wanted to appoint a proper, experienced figure with authority, but none of the managers who fit the description want to take an out of shape team in January. So, Dortmund‘s executives began their search for a short-term solution, but there are not so many candidates for such a role either, since nobody wants to come in a worst possible moment knowing he will probably be gone by May.Sahin out – former Bayern boss to succed himNiko Kovač, a coach who only had proper results in Frankfurt but was sacked everywhere else (Bayern, Monaco, Wolfsburg) was an almost certain solution but instead of a contract until the end of the season with an option for another year (if the final result is good), he asked for a firm contract for at least one and a half year, and BVB want that also, but they just don‘t want to give it to Kovač.Their long-term replacement is Roger Schmidt, former Leverkusen, PSV and Benfica coach, but he already announced that he won‘t take any new clubs until the season ends in Europe. The next opion, per reliable German journalists Patrick Berger and Florian Plettenberg is Ralf Rangnick. BVB delegation travelled to Austria to talk to the current manager of this country, but he is also very unsecure of taking the team now, not to mention that he is still under contract. If he reject, he will still be a strong candidate in May, along with Schmidt.Bayern win, Lever don’t, ten-man Dortmund take a pointFans are very unhappy. The famous ‘Yellow wall‘ displayed a banner with the inscription: “Address the elephant in the room. Problems are not on the sidelines” A clear dig at the Dortmund management, who absolutely must put out this fire quickly. Preferably with a coach who can bring success back. The new management is very aware of this and they know now that even U19 coach is a better solution than to hastily put someone else and fail again.”There is no problem in the sense that we are taking the necessary time. I think it also contributes to the fact that we said very clearly that we saw the way forward with Nuri and did not have any in-depth discussions beforehand. That is happening now. But in the end, we all have to take the time” said Ricken.
