St. Gallen has a new sports director: the most important questions about Sutter’s expulsion

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About 58 hours after the New Year’s fireworks there is another bang in St. Gallen. The Espen dismiss sports director Alain Sutter (55) with immediate effect. This means that the ex-Nati star has to leave the Eastern Swiss team after six successful years. Blick answers the most important questions.

FC St. Gallen wants to reorganize its sporting management. In concrete terms, the board of directors, led by president Matthias Hüppi (65), has considered dividing the sporting responsibility among several shoulders. Roger Stilz (46) would act alongside Sutter as reinforcement in the management. However, that was not compatible with Sutter’s ideas. “We talked to him and couldn’t find a consensus. “After intensive discussions, we have decided to release him from his duties as team leader.” Sutter’s contract originally ran until 2025. Now they are looking for a good solution for both parties.

The Board of Directors has held intensive consultations in recent weeks. On Berchtold Day the divorce was a fact. For this reason, he wanted to announce his unanimous decision as soon as possible. “It is clear that there is a risk of parting ways mid-season,” says Hüppi. But the board of directors is convinced that this is the right step to “lead FC St. Gallen into the next phase of development”. What exactly that means will not be completely clear on Wednesday. They don’t want to compare themselves to YB and the goals for the season remain the same for now.

On January 2, Sutter announced this decision, “which was received with great mutual enthusiasm
based on ‘timely respect and gratitude’. He has not yet responded publicly. “I think it’s important to say that we can continue to look each other in the eye. “Respect is extremely important to me,” Hüppi explains. He doesn’t describe his old companion as an egoist just because he had a different opinion about what leadership responsibility should look like in the future.

With Stilz, a man from Eastern Switzerland who knows the football world very well is moving to Espen. Until now he has mainly worked in Germany. During his time at St. Pauli he made a name for himself as a successful promoter of young talent. Most recently he worked in Beveren (Belgium) and at Jahn Regensburg (2nd Bundesliga) as sports director and general manager of sports. Stilz has signed a contract with St. Gallen until 2025, with an option for extension.

“I am doubly happy to be part of the FCSG,” says Stilz about his return to his roots. “One-on-one conversations” during training camp are high on his priority list. Stilz has not yet spoken to Sutter, who was shot. He wants to make amends in the coming days.

Neither Stilz nor Hüppi formulate specific objectives. One thing is clear: the new sports director must examine the club structure for the first time. This is necessary, among other things, because of the large youth sector and because of the growing women’s football. In a further step, it will be decided how the sports management will be organized in the future and who will be needed for this.

There were no shouts of joy, Hüppi emphasizes, when the decision was communicated to the team. But that is also somewhat normal with such changes. But the players are said to support the management’s decision. For coach Zeidler, however, a new face as team leader is “an opportunity to absorb new input,” Hüppi explains.

Source : Blick