Ex-Nati coach Fringer: “The association left Yakin out in the rain!”

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In the past, when Rolf Fringer (66) was still a coach, he would come into the dressing room every day singing or whistling. That was the case at the start of his career at Aarau, when he became champion at the age of 36. And towards the end it was no different as he first saved FC Luzern from relegation and then led them to the winter championship title.

During his time as national coach, the otherwise positive man from Adliswil ZH lost his desire to sing a song for once. Because the adventure of the 1997 national team comes to an end after eleven games and missing the World Cup qualification. And in the weeks and months before that, the focus was on the man with violent headlines. This negative reporting “was very painful,” Fringer recalls. Because the position as national coach filled him with great pride and he would have liked to stay longer with the SFV: “I have an Austrian passport, but I am 100 percent Swiss through and through.”

At the end of the year, Fringer terminates his contract, which is valid until the summer, joins the rankings during the winter break, takes over from Christian Gross and becomes Swiss champion. It is a win-win situation for the association. Because they wouldn’t have extended Fringer anyway due to the poor results.

Will Yakin Fringer meet his fate?

Current Nati coach Murat Yakin has not been able to gather many arguments for an extension in recent weeks. Only one win from the last seven games. In a group, that’s one of the worst since qualifying groups existed.

Fringer still does not see many parallels with his time as national coach. Because Yakin achieved his goals and qualified for the tournament. Fringer, on the other hand, only finishes in fourth place in a group with Norway, Hungary, Finland and Azerbaijan. The first match is the beginning of the end. 0:1 in Azerbaijan. The bankruptcy will go down in history as a ‘debaku’. The Zurich resident speaks of “a group formation within the team”. And that there was not enough solidarity and that the general terms and conditions were not correct. “Then it becomes difficult,” says the Blue expert.

The national team is also in trouble at the moment because there is too much background noise. “We now have too many leaders in the national team who are too confident and are exploring how far they can go. These players have achieved a lot in their careers, but they need guidelines, otherwise they will be on every coach’s nose. Unless you sign Guardiola, Klopp or Ancelotti.”

As an example, Fringer cites the statements of Granit Xhaka, who criticized the training intensity under Yakin after the 2-2 draw against Kosovo. «Granit Xhaka has a top mentality, is a personality, subordinates everything to success, spoke before the campaign of ten wins in ten games. At the same time, however, it opens up a side issue and thus hinders success. Because he mainly wants to show his power and was probably not aware of what he was setting in motion.”

The association must therefore intervene in such a situation and immediately support the coach. “Instead, the association left Yakin out in the cold. The result: loss of authority on the part of the trainer, even in public. And a team that can no longer concentrate on the essentials. Then you are no longer maximally successful.” If the preconditions are not correct, the results will not be correct either, says Fringer. “This development is the reason for the many late goals conceded. In the end it wasn’t bad luck, you didn’t deserve it anymore, despite a good attitude on the field.”

Fringer was definitely the preferred candidate

The circumstances were also not right at Fringer, meaning that the association’s absolute preferred candidate quickly turned into a coach who no longer had any arguments. “I felt a lot of appreciation in the beginning,” says Fringer. Even after the 0-1 defeat at the start against Azerbaijan, the SFV was behind him. As the results were still not forthcoming, towards the end of qualifying he felt that his time as national coach was coming to an end.

It was a bitter experience, as the young high-flyer’s career had been lightning fast up to that point. But Fringer has not lost his positive energy: “What doesn’t knock you down makes you stronger.”

A motto that Murat Yakin will probably also take to heart.

Source : Blick