By the way – the SonntagsBlick column: Degen and his New Year’s resolution

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On New Year’s Eve, you decide to achieve the previous year’s goals that you set for yourself two years ago but haven’t achieved since. And then you happily drink until your thirst because of the sobering results, even though you know that starting the year with a buzzing head isn’t the answer either.

The New Year’s hangover is one of the weaknesses of people who, with their eyes open and their minds intact, do things over and over again without really being aware of the consequences. Or to ignore the consequences. There are even real specialists in this field.

They go on a pilgrimage to Italy for their summer holidays in July and August and then complain that it was much too hot. Or book a diving course and then complain that you got your feet wet.

Such specialists also exist in sports. In the second half of 2023, the rapid decline of FC Basel kept Swiss football on edge. And now President David Degen is sounding the alarm. “We cannot afford the St. Jakob Park by any stretch of the imagination,” he announced in a boisterous interview in the “Aargauer Zeitung”.

And he again criticizes the fact that he apparently ended up in a desolate financial situation. “We even still have federal loans from the Corona era that we have to pay off.” At the same time, he scares Basel’s supporters, criticizes the cantons of Basel-Landschaft and Basel-Stadt and says: “The Joggeli is not affordable for us. I would leave the stadium. Immediately.”

In a spontaneous reaction you could almost feel a little sorry for Degen and his “Mission Impossible”. But on closer inspection, he’s exactly the guy who booked a diving course and is now complaining about wet feet. Because Degen didn’t buy a pig in a poke in 2021.

Before the takeover of FCB, he was already a shareholder and member of the board of directors. He had access to all books and all contracts, knew the general terms and conditions and the restrictions surrounding the stadium and after a bitter power struggle he took over the club. He, who has known the club inside and out for years, now says, apparently completely surprised: “It’s like a hamster wheel. You run and run and run, but at some point you have to free yourself.”

The lively Degen sees himself as a white knight who saved FCB from a hostile takeover. In fact, he threw himself into an adventure with full vision, but simply ignored the consequences of his actions.

‘Trial and error’ is a method for solving problems. Degen tried. One of the most important questions in the new sporting year will be whether FCB can get on the right track with him. Swiss club football depends on a strong FCB.

“If I’m the problem, I hand over the key and I’m gone,” Degen says. Maybe not a bad New Year’s resolution after all.

Source : Blick