The coach for next season

Mirage

Mourinho is still daring Abramovich to fire him. I still doubt it a lot though.

Paddy · I'm a chatterbox! Joined: 07 Jan 2007 Posts: 746 votes: 7

Hitzfeld must stay!!!!!!!!!

fanOfBayern

Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has revealed the club are keen to maintain the services of coach Ottmar Hitzfeld

The Bundesliga side qualified for the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League with victory at home to Real Madrid on Wednesday and would like the 58-year-old to remain at the Allianz Arena beyond this campaign.

Hitzfeld began his second spell in charge at Munich in January, replacing the sacked Felix Magath, but his current deal with the club expires at the end of the season.

"If Hitzfeld wants to stay with us, we would be the last people who would want to stop that," Rummenigge told L'Equipe.

"But we must initially keep it quiet. We had discussions with him last week and we have agreed to discuss the subject again at an appropriate time."

Earlier in the week Franz Beckenbauer, the president of the Board of Trustees at the German side, declared that Hitzfeld was the "best coach for Bayern" and added that: "I hope that he will stay here next year."

Beckenbauer also said to the coach: "If you stay here two and half more years, that will be enough."

tracylynn

Hitzfeld: Bayern can win the title
Ottmar Hitzfeld is "optimistic" his Bayern Munich side can overturn their disappointing form this season and still win the Bundesliga title.

Bayern are currently in fourth position - six points behind leaders Schalke - after their 1-1 draw with fellow high-flyers Werder Bremen last weekend.

But Hitzfeld told Vanity Fair: "Even if we have just thrown away two points against Bremen, we are still fighting to reach the very top of the table.

"In 2001, we were still champions despite losing seven games."

Bayern, who also won the Champions League in 2001, actually clinched the title that season having lost nine games.

And he said: "That makes me even more optimistic. We still have a bit of room for manoeuvre this season then."

Hitzfeld admits he enjoys his job more after a two-and-a-half year break from management.

The 58-year-old worked as a television pundit after having his contract with Bayern terminated in 2004.

He said: "I have so much fun with my job now that I never thought possible."

And he also hinted that he may be prepared to extend his current stay with the club beyond the end of the season.

The former Borussia Dortmund coach has previously insisted he did not want to sign a new deal with the club.

But he added: "Being a football manager is an unhealthy job, but that is what I am doing again and I still have a few years before I reach retirement age."

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He's sounds so happy and that is very important because that can very well help him make up his mind about staying or not. He's optimistic and so am I.

MUTU

Bayern Munich are hoping to persuade Ottmar Hitzfeld to stay on as coach by promising the signing of top players, club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge indicated in a newspaper interview Wednesday.

"We are prepared to put together a top team for Ottmar, if he hopefully stays," Rummenigge told Munich's Abendzeitung daily.

"We hope we can convince the stars that Bayern Munich is the right address."

Rummenigge said he had already spoken to Hitzfeld about possible new signings, although the coach - hired to replace Felix Magath until the end of the season - has not made up his mind on his future.

"He wants at first to see how everything goes - in the league and in the Champions League," said Rummenigge.

Rummenigee also told the club website that of the four teams at the top of the Bundesliga "we are in the best shape."

He added: "That is down to Ottmar Hitzfeld. In a short time he has made the team sharper and given them self-confidence and stability."

Meanwhile Germany captain Michael Ballack has recommended former Bayern midfielder Stefan Effenberg as the ideal coach for the club should Hitzfeld decide not to stay on at the end of the season.

"He has expert knowledge and a high level of identification with the club. He stands for the club's ideals and is a strong personality," Ballack, who left Bayern for Chelsea at the end of last season, told Sueddeutsche Zeitung Magazin.

Ballack said Effenberg had the "natural authority" to be his own man at Munich, while the fact that he had never worked before as coach would not be a problem.

"It was the same for Juergen Klinsmann before he became coach of the national team," he said.

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I always thought Effenberg would make a great coach one day. He has the experience, he has the leadership and he had great vision and all-rounder skills on the field of play. Apart from his reported lack of discipline, I don't see any other problem to him becoming a coach at Bayern Munich.

charger256

Bayern holding on to Hitzfeld
Ottmar Hitzfeld has signed a one-year extension to his contract at FC Bayern München and will remain in charge until next summer after a bright start to his second spell at the club.

'Totally convinced'
Hitzfeld initially arrived on a short-term deal to replace Felix Magath at the start of the year, but the Bayern coach has persuaded the German champions he is worthy of an extended spell in the job. "Ottmar has totally convinced all of us with his work over the past few weeks," said general manager Uli Hoeness. "His decision to extend his contract with us means we can plan for next season with him."

Coaching pleasure
"I am please to be able to continue my work here," added Hitzfeld, whose side are back in contention for the Bundesliga title and face AC Milan in the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals on 3 and 11 April after eliminating Real Madrid CF in the last 16. "The past few weeks have reminded me how much I enjoy coaching and I believe the team and I can still achieve a lot. That was an important reason to stay at Bayern."

Impressive results
A further extension has not been ruled out for Hitzfeld, who guided Bayern to a fourth European Champions Clubs' Cup in 2001 having won the trophy at BV Borussia Dortmund four years earlier, while his assistant Michael Henke has also been given another 12 months to impress. The new coaching team proved their worth by knocking Madrid out of the UEFA Champions League first knockout round on away goals and restoring stability to the club's league results, although Bayern still trail Bundesliga leaders FC Schalke 04 by six points.

http://www.uefa.com/competitions/ucl/news/kind=1/newsid=516756.html

bogdan

Bayern Munich coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has put pen to paper on a new deal that will see him remain with the German champions until the end of next season.

The 58-year-old, was originally installed as caretaker manager until the end of the season following the sacking of Felix Magath, but a recent upturn in results, including qualification for the quarter-finals of the Champions League at the expense of Real Madrid, has convinced club bosses to keep him on for a further season.

"Ottmar Hitzfeld has totally won us over in the last few weeks with his excellent work and the way he leads the team," general manager Uli Hoeness told the club's official website.

"His decision to continue his career has given us all the possibility to plan for next season with the coach who will be in charge," Hoeness added.

"We took the decision 'only' to extend toe contract for one year mutually. After a certain amount of time we will talk about the situation again and decide whether we'll then continue in the mid- or long-term future."

bogdan

im glad Hitzfeld decided to stay another season

kevh26

hopefully the chance to plan for next season with him will bare fruit!

podolski4life

YIPPEE!!!

MUTU

Probably just BS, but here goes:

Rafa Benitez is a shock target for Bayern Munich to become their next manager.

The Liverpool boss is on the German giants' hitlist to replace Otto Hitzfeld who could be about to get the sack.

The Daily Mirror says Bayern have already enquired about Benitez whose future is still under the microscope at Anfield.

A "source" close to Bayern claims that they see Benitez as the man to arrest the decline of the Bundesliga giants who failed to make the Champions League this season.

Hitzfeld is under pressure after a poor start to the season, which included a 2-2 draw with Gary Megson's Bolton in the Uefa Cup.

mackoy

LOFL: " Hitzfeld is under pressure after a poor start to the season..." This f***ing ridiculous. A poor start to the season because Bayern lost one game so far!!! This totally BS! Evil or Very Mad

MUTU

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has dismissed suggestions that the relationship with manager Ottmar Hitzfeld is strained.

Reports on Saturday claimed that the German giants are interested in appointing Liverpool’s Rafa Benitez as the manager. But the Spaniard swiftly rubbished the rumours saying he is determined to stick to the plan in progress at the Merseyside club.

Nevertheless, Rummenigge has expressed confidence that Hitzfeld will stay with the Bavarians despite criticism coming his way.

“Our relationship of confidence remains intact. You can criticise someone you consider a friend when you believe that things don’t go in the right direction,” he said.

Hitzfeld, 58, took the charge at Bayern in his second stint in February this year after the sacking of Felix Magath and Rummenigge disclosed that they had agreed to discuss an extension to his contract in the New Year.

He added: “We agreed we will discuss an extension of his contract in January.”

FCBinNYC · I'm a chatterbox! Joined: 05 Feb 2007 Posts: 301 votes: 4

Poor start to the season...ha! If there's one team in Europe that's failed to live up to expectations this season, it's Liverpool, not Bayern! Shows what little English "journalists" know about continental football...
Benitez would be a disaster in Munchen. I don't want to see the likes of Ribery and Toni starting on the bench when they could/should be playing. Fortunately, this has to be bs.

Miss Dangerous...!!

I agree with you, but Benitez did a great job with Liverpool, especially at the Champions league. so, it won`t be that bad to have him at Bayern Dancing