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It has been almost three months since FC Basel fired interim coach Heiko Vogel. Ultimately, four defeats in a row with a goal difference of 0:10 cost the Germans their jobs. The ending was no longer a surprise. Because Vogel’s return in January 2023 – eleven years after his first attack on the Rhine knee – had long since been exposed as a single misunderstanding.
The coach flies as soon as he takes office
Vogel now speaks to the portal “Spox” about his second time at FCB: “I came to another club. People and structures have changed and financial strength has diminished. Yet FC Basel is and remains number one in Switzerland. Maybe not in terms of sports, but in terms of charisma and media presence.”
He was originally hired as a link between then-coach Alex Frei and president David Degen. Instead, he immediately took over the newly created position of sports director. Three weeks later he fired Frei, the man who had brought him back into talks with the club. “It became clear relatively quickly that there was no chance of protecting Alex,” Vogel says.
The situation was too incoherent, Vogel explains the dismissal. At that time, the Bebbi were in seventh place in the rankings after 19 match days. Vogel, a former youth coach at FC Bayern Munich, stepped in as his successor in the coaching chair. He also continued to work as a sports director.
Not an easy thing. That makes him all the more grateful to the players. “They were always cooperative, so that I could serve both offices as best as possible. Initially it was not the intention to work as an interim coach for so long. “We quickly had contact with a candidate, but he was only available in the summer,” says Vogel.
Victim of your own success
That’s why he went ahead with it, but ultimately this option fell through. That is why he also looked for a coach and planned the transfer phase. Vogel continues: “That was difficult because the scouting department had a lot of room for expansion. For example, there was no database of interesting players.”
In the end, the team was still enough to move up two places in the rankings. They even started to rise on the European stage by reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League, but FCB became victims of their own success. In the meantime, many players could end up on the shopping lists of various top European clubs.
A total of 22 players left the club at the end of the season. In the summer, Timo Schulz was introduced as the new coach of FC Basel. At the same time, Vogel was sports director. The search for equal replacements for the departed players proved to be a major challenge.
“With an incomplete squad we failed in the Conference League qualification against Tobol Kostanay from Kazakhstan, but that should never have happened with the available player material. Then, unfortunately, we entered a downward spiral,” Vogel recalls.
Saudi Arabia as the next destination
Nearly three months later, Schulz was gone again. Once again Vogel stepped into the breach as a trainer. Ultimately, after FCB finished bottom of the league, he no longer enjoyed any support from the executive ranks: he was fired.
David Degen was a constant companion at his side during this time. «We had a professional collaboration. David is very impulsive. Sometimes it is an accelerator for this style, sometimes it is not so beneficial. As president, he is very interested in operational matters and is also present with the team,” says Vogel about Degen.
Now the chapter in Basel is closed for him for the time being. But at the moment he is keeping his eyes open for a new challenge. As long as the project triggers him, he is also open to getting involved in Saudi Arabia or the US. He no longer sees himself in a dual role. Then he was over the limit.
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 BSC Young Boys
|
18
|
23
|
38
|
|
|
2
|
 FC St. Gallen
|
18
|
12
|
33
|
|
|
3
|
 FC Zurich
|
18
|
14
|
31
|
|
|
4
|
 Napkin FC
|
18
|
8th
|
31
|
|
|
5
|
 FC Lugano
|
18
|
2
|
26
|
|
|
6
|
 FC Lucerne
|
18
|
-5
|
25
|
|
|
7
|
 FC Winterthur
|
18
|
-7
|
22
|
|
|
8th
|
 Grasshopper Club Zurich
|
18
|
1
|
21
|
|
|
9
|
 Yverdon Sports FC
|
18
|
-14
|
21
|
|
|
10
|
 FC Lausanne Sport
|
18
|
-5
|
20
|
|
|
11
|
 FC Basel
|
18
|
-10
|
18
|
|
|
12
|
 FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy
|
18
|
-19
|
11
|
Source : Blick
I’m Emma Jack, a news website author at 24 News Reporters. I have been in the industry for over five years and it has been an incredible journey so far. I specialize in sports reporting and am highly knowledgeable about the latest trends and developments in this field.
