Sagnol cool on Bayern head coach role
BERLIN: Willy Sagnol refused to expand on how long he will remain caretaker coach of Bayern Munich following the dismissal of Carlo Ancelotti.
“The question is not whether I hope or want to remain the coach, the question is what the club’s management board wants,” said Sagnol after Sunday’s 2-2 draw at Hertha Berlin.
“The decision belongs to the directors, not me.”
Hoffenheim’s 30-year- old coach Julian Nagelsmann and exBorussia Dortmund boss Thomas Tuchel are amongst the favourites to replace Ancelotti.
The Italian was sacked on Thursday in the wake of Bayern’s 30 drubbing at Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League after 15 months in charge.
That poor result came on the back of a 2- 2 draw at home to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga when the defending champions again surrendered a 2- 0 lead.
Sunday’s single point could have come at a heavy price as winger Franck Ribery had to be helped off after suffering a suspected ruptured knee ligament.
Baye r n’s p r e si d e nt U l i Hoeness and chairman KarlHeinz Rummenigge wi l l use the internat ional break to f ind Ancelot ti’s permanent replacement.
The defending champions are currently second in Germany’s top flight, but five points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.
Sagnol, 40, may not still be in charge by their next league game against Freiburg on October 14 or their Champions League home match against Celtic four days later.
On Sunday, Bayern went 2- 0 up just after the break at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium with goals by Mats Hummels and Robert Lewandowski before Hertha roared back as Ondrej Duda and Salomon Kalou both netted.
“It’s a frustrating result,” said Sagnol.
“When we lead 2- 0, we need more discipline and concentration. We paid dearly for this lack of discipline.
“We had a lot of chances, but we scored only two goals. That’s a disappointment, we have to be much more effective.
“When we don’t concentrate, then we aren’t the strongest team in Germany any more,” admitted the Frenchman.
“It’s not just the defence, it’s a team problem. We need to work more together and find the balance. We will now analyse this in peace during the international break.” — AFP