A change of coach at lightning speed - and a moving moment in the middle of it all: Giorgio Contini meets his successor Gerardo Seoane in the YB office and wishes him all the best. YB co-owner Christoph Spycher explains how the strange situation unfolded in the football talk Heimspiel.
No time? blue News summarizes for you
- YB sacks coach Giorgio Contini at the end of October and hires Gerardo Seoane as his successor in a lightning move.
- Despite the emotional situation, Contini shows greatness and personally wishes Seoane good luck for the future.
- Head of Sport Christoph Spycher looks back on the special situation and explains the rapid change with the tight match schedule and the loss of faith in sporting development.
At the end of October, Young Boys change coach one day after the 3:3 against Grasshoppers. Giorgio Contini was let go and Gerardo Seoane returned. "In the game against GC, the last belief that a development was taking place was lost," Christoph Spycher - co-owner and head of sport at YB - looks back in the football talk Heimspiel.
"At some point during the night, we reached an agreement with Gerry," explains Spycher, adding: "You can't give the players time off, they have to regenerate. 48 hours later, the important game against Basel was coming up. You want to inform the team personally about such a decision. At 11 a.m. we met with Giorgio at the office, at 12 noon we communicated the separation to the team, at 2 p.m. we signed the contract behind closed doors in my office with Gerry."
Alex Frei: "Most people shoot a vase of flowers at the door"
Spycher continues: "Giorgio heard that Gerry was going to be the new coach. He knocked on the door and said he wished Gerry good luck." The situation was certainly special, according to the 47-year-old, who explained this with the time pressure: "We've never had a change of coach where it had to happen so quickly, but that was due to the match calendar."
"In the end, you can't decide in which match you lose faith so that the coach can still save it," Spycher notes. The collaboration with a coach is close. "The most important thing is to be honest with each other. And if you've lost faith, then you have to act accordingly. I couldn't and wouldn't want to do anything else," he emphasizes.
Alex Frei emphasizes the magnitude of Giorgio Contini's action: "I don't know many coaches who go knocking and wish Gerry good luck for the future - most of them shoot a vase of flowers at the door. That speaks volumes for Giorgio," says the Nati record goalscorer.
