A year ago, 1. FC Köln extended the contract of managing director Horst Heldt ahead of schedule until 2023.
Club president Werner Wolf praised Heldt for his “experience, ability to work in a team and clarity in analyzes and decisions”. The ex-manager of Stuttgart and Schalke bring “everything to get FC on the right track in the medium and long term.” He, Wolf, is “a big fan of continuity”.
On Sunday, after being successfully relegated to the Bundesliga, 1. FC Köln kicked Heldt out. And that was a pretty bad number – more worthy of a poorly run amateur club!
Parallels to HSV
In Cologne it seems like it has been with Hamburger SV for years: Those who scream the loudest for continuity – they live the least! Terms such as patience and structure quickly disappear in the foreign dictionary when it gets hot.
The opposite of consistency has prevailed in the sporting leadership of 1. FC Köln for several years. If the traditional club from the Rhine in the economic field had not one of the strongest – and long since highly valued elsewhere – experts in the economic field, complete chaos would have broken out in all probability.
Wehrle directs the FC and has long been the very important pole to which they align themselves again and again – with all personnel changes in the management area. The separation from his managing director colleague Heldt was, as is openly discussed in the association, not even Wehrle’s idea.
Not a worthy farewell
It had been prepared for weeks that things would go so quickly after winning the relegation against Kiel – only Heldt was not in the boat. There was no more joint seasonal analysis, no discussion about the future. Instead, an announcement in which the person concerned did not even have a say.
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But, that too is basically an unwise act, Horst Heldt selected and brought in the new trainer Steffen Baumgart. Baumgart, as quoted by the Heldt Association on May 11th, was “the right man for the path we will have to take in the next few years”. We? Confused. (That’s what Baumgart says about the Heldt-Aus)
Heldt has already discussed topics such as squad planning and possible newcomers with Baumgart, and he also talked to consultants about possible changes. But now everything is noticeably different again. Even in the club, in the team around the team, even in the team, many shake their heads.
Trust has to grow
Heldt was not just any representative who had just been given responsibility, but had already played 130 games for FC as a professional. At least a clean separation should have been achieved.
The fact that there were reasons over the past season that could basically lead to a breakup – that wasn’t even the issue for many in the end. We wish 1. FC Köln calm and, above all, perseverance.
Heldt’s successors know the club, don’t come from outside, that’s a good decision now. A stable environment in which you trust, really trust – something like this has to grow. This takes a while. As a leader, one shouldn’t just talk about having this patience. You have to show that.
Tobias Holtkamp, the author of this text, was the editor-in-chief of Sport Bild and editor-in-chief of transfermarkt.de. Today he advises athletes and brands on their content and strategic direction. For SPORT1, Holtkamp writes the weekly “Bundesliga column” as a columnist.
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