That’s why the DiDomenico experiment in Bern failed

It’s easy to criticize SCB for Chris DiDomenico’s transfer now. Because the result is impressive: the contract with the wayward Canadian was terminated prematurely at the end of the season. And just like last year, the Berners are a club that struggles from crisis to crisis and has to shudder to qualify for the pre-playoffs until the end.

DiDomenico was called in to revive the fire in Bern and entertain the fans. And the Canadian offered spectacle. Too much of the kind that comes with it when you get a DiDo, but that has to be kept at an acceptable level. The 34-year-old was fined twice for swallowing, suspended for tripping a referee, attacked Biel’s Yannick Rathgeb in the aisle of the booth, he was a tactical free spirit and made coach Toni Söderholm bad by randomizing his bets prolong and abuse the backchecking phases for recovery.

At least some of his teammates didn’t like that. The issues have been raised several times. There were no lasting improvements or consequences. They were clearly not willing to give up DiDomenico’s goals and passes. And they probably feared the anger of the people if they put the top scorer in the stands as a disciplinary measure before a match.

Dubé largely controlled DiDomenico

For example, DiDo became a chronic problem and the sometimes brilliant striker no longer felt welcome in the negative climate of Bern. According to sports director Andrew Ebbett, he himself proposed to terminate his contract early.

The Bernese were not naive. It was clear to them that what DiDo is on, DiDo is also inside. They knew that the Italian-Canadian is not an easy player. They deliberately took a risk because they thought they could handle DiDomenico. But it was precisely on this point that the SCB failed. This may also be because, after Johan Lundskog, Söderholm once again called on a solid, human coach who expects a certain degree of personal responsibility and does not believe in authoritarian behaviour.

Christian Dubé showed in Fribourg that it is possible to control DiDo over great distances. However, in his dual role as head of sports and coach, the French-Canadian has a very different level of power than the coaches in Bern, for whom any defeat could jeopardize their jobs. Compared to “La Liberté”, Dubé did not rule out a return of DiDo, even if he owed some gray hair to the wayward striker.

Source : Blick