FC Zurich closed the Malenovic chapter before the end of the year. With Dennis Hediger promoted to head coach, a new era begins on Sunday in Geneva and, at best, a race to catch up.
18.01.2026, 04:30
18.01.2026, 08:19
SDA
This year, the winter break was little more than a short break over the festive period for the Super League clubs. FC Zurich were already back on the training pitch at Heerenschürli on January 3, exactly two weeks after the 2:4 in Thun at the end of the first half of the season. And yet the new year marks a fresh start for FCZ. It's no coincidence that Dennis Hediger said at the start of training with his players in front of the "Home of FCZ": "We've talked a lot about how we want to move forward."
Club bosses Ancillo and Heliane Canepa used the days before Christmas to create clarity after months in which FCZ had all too often appeared less than confident both on and off the pitch. Head of sport Milos Malenovic was dismissed on the same day that Dennis Hediger was promoted from interim to head coach. A purely coincidental coincidence, but one that clearly shows where FC Zurich is heading in terms of personnel: away from the authoritarian and somewhat reclusive Malenovic and towards the communicative team player Hediger.
At FC Zurich, it is the form that is changing, not the content. The vision that the Canepas have for their club and that Malenovic has begun to implement will not be shaken. The FCZ Academy is to provide the first team with a reliable supply of players. The Canepas stated during a discussion on "blue Sport" that this had been successful under Malenovic. However, the damage to the club's image that the former player agent had caused with certain actions and statements was no longer sustainable. Sponsors and fans complained.
"Our values were called into question," lamented Canepa, who has been working hard for a good two years to prepare his club for the future and thus for a time without him at the forefront: "We need calm for that." It remains to be seen who will follow in Malenovic's footsteps as head of sport. Ancillo Canepa has taken the lead in the vacant post on an interim basis and the associated tasks, such as the termination of Steven Zuber's contract and the transfer of Mariano Gomez.
European Cup as a savior
Hediger had to accept a number of significant departures at the beginning of this year. Zuber and Gomez were two of the players to whom the new coach attached so much importance because their experience gave the youngsters stability and security. Even though Hediger says that his first look when he needs players is always towards his own academy, the departure of Zuber in particular cannot be compensated for with a young player. As seventh with a considerable gap to the European Cup places, FCZ cannot take much time to start their race to catch up. The goal is still to reach international business at the end of the season.
In financial terms, everything at FC Zurich stands or falls with the European Cup, one could say somewhat exaggeratedly. Without the UEFA bonuses, the structural deficit cannot be covered. In the last two financial years without the European Cup, the Canepas injected over 15 million francs into the club. Despite two championship titles and three cup victories, FCZ has lacked the sustainability in the almost 20 years under President Canepa that enabled the club to regularly fill its coffers in Basel and Bern through the European Cup.
Finding peace with energy
FC Zurich opted for a mixture of risk and security for the new sporting start after the fiasco under Mitchell van der Gaag. Risk, because 39-year-old Dennis Hediger is working as head coach at the highest level for the first time, security, because the Zurich management knows the coach very well, unlike the Dutchman Van der Gaag, who was quickly dismissed at the beginning of the season. Hediger has been working as a youth, assistant and interim coach at FCZ for two years. He came from FC Basel two years ago thanks to Milos Malenovic.
In talks with Ancillo and Heliane Canepa as well as the designated board member Claudio Cisullo, Hediger was able to successfully recommend himself once again before his promotion. He prevailed over other candidates who had been interviewed in December. "It's not often that a club gives a young Swiss coach the chance to work with a young team," says Hediger happily.
The Bernese coach, who is under contract until 2027, was more impressed by the team's progress and his charisma than the bare results. His points average of just over one point per game since he took over as coach at the end of October, initially on an interim basis, is not an impressive reference. But his energy has been convincing. Hediger seems to be the right man to drive a young team.
The approach discussed with the players at the start of training is based less on tactics and more on mental aspects. "Maximum focus, high intensity, great determination" are buzzwords that are used and should be at the origin of the desired points and calm.
