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When Bruno Berner decided to move from Winterthur to the classification at the beginning of the season, the people around Hoppers were happy: finally a coach with classification DNA again! «GC has been my club since I could walk. It’s about love” – Berner’s words went like honey to the fans, in times when the club was unlovingly controlled by China.
Eight months later, GC is still controlled by Los Angeles FC instead of the Chinese. But the euphoria surrounding Berner has given way to disillusionment. The brutal reality after 26 matchdays is: 10th place, equal on points with Lausanne-Sport at Barrage Square. At the same time last season, the standings had five points more than today’s 29 and were on course for the European Cup.
GC owners want to avoid a horror scenario
After the takeover in mid-January, the Americans kept the store running and relied on the existing staff. But almost two months and eight games later, the conclusion of the new owners must be: things are simply not progressing sportingly under Bruno Berner.
GC is in acute danger of relegation. And the new owners must use all possible means to prevent the fall to the second class. With the Hoppers they want to set the bar high from next season, relegation would be a fiasco and would jeopardize many things. The new owners do not want to be accused of not doing everything they could to stay in the league at the end of the season. Because corrections in the player selection are no longer possible, the last possible solution is a coach change.
And something like that is up for debate. According to information from Blick, GC is now not only concerned with the question of whether Berner can still be on the sidelines next season. Saturday’s match in Winterthur already has a fateful character: a defeat at the Schützenwiese could seal his premature end with the Hoppers.
Criticism of Berner is complex
Last fall, the unsatisfactory results could still be explained by the major pre-season shake-up. But because no progress has been made since the winter break, Berner no longer has any arguments. In terms of results and performance, the curve is pointing downwards this year. Everyone is talking about the Barrage candidate FC Basel because such a scenario would be a sensation, but based on their form, the Hoppers are the best contenders for the end-of-season match against the number two of the Challenge League.
The criticism does not only concern the results. The ranking performances are not fun to watch. The team’s body language is not worth the difficult situation at the table. The team regularly falls apart inexplicably – such as last weekend against bottom team Stade Lausanne-Ouchy, when they switched from forward gear to neutral after the 1-0 win.
Moreover: The winter newcomers Oliver Batista Meier and Dijon Kameri, brought in by the Americans, have only been jokers so far, although the existing staff is not doing any better. And Berner’s desired transfer, the striker Asumah Abubakar brought from Lucerne, has so far only been noticed with a red card for an attack in the derby against FCZ – goals and assists are missing.
Will Berner pull his head out of the loop? There are indications that he can only achieve this with a clear increase in performance and points in Winterthur.
|
team
|
SP
|
T.D
|
PT
|
||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1
|
 BSC Young Boys
|
26
|
27
|
51
|
|
|
2
|
 Napkin FC
|
26
|
16
|
50
|
|
|
3
|
 FC Zurich
|
26
|
11
|
42
|
|
|
4
|
 FC Lugano
|
26
|
7
|
40
|
|
|
5
|
 FC St. Gallen
|
26
|
5
|
40
|
|
|
6
|
 FC Lucerne
|
26
|
-3
|
37
|
|
|
7
|
 FC Winterthur
|
26
|
-4
|
37
|
|
|
8th
|
 FC Basel
|
26
|
-7
|
31
|
|
|
9
|
 Yverdon Sports FC
|
26
|
-19
|
30
|
|
|
10
|
 Grasshopper Club Zurich
|
26
|
-1
|
29
|
|
|
11
|
 FC Lausanne Sport
|
26
|
-5
|
29
|
|
|
12
|
 FC Stade Lausanne Ouchy
|
26
|
-27
|
16
|
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.
