"That makes Michael Köllner sensational!"
Created: 2022-06-21Updated: 2022-06-21, 8:05 p.m
By: Uli Kellner
"Harmonious, goal-oriented and highly professional": sports director Günther Gorenzel on his relationship with trainer Michael Köllner.
© Stefan Matzke / Sampics
The coach speaks of a "top transfer summer".
And sports director Gorenzel, who committed the nine new lions?
He raves about a magic triangle.
The photo motif of this 1860 summer: sports director Günther Gorenzel, 50, next to a new player.
Press releases with this pose were sent to the editors nine times - that's how many hopefuls the fourth-placed last year landed for his planned promotion season.
Our interview with the man who signed all these contracts – with his left shoulder because his right shoulder is still bad after a hockey injury.
Mr. Gorenzel, Michael Köllner says he has never taken on so much responsibility for transfers. Did the trainer do the work for you?
Gorenzel:
I have to smile about that.
There was quite simply more room for maneuver with nine transfers – that may be why the coach got that impression.
How much Köllner is in the new squad and how much Gorenzel?
Gorenzel:
No more and no less than before.
There have not been any transfers in recent years without these being coordinated in the equilateral triangle between Jürgen Jung's scouting department, head coach Michael Köllner and the coaching team, and myself.
The coach speaks of a "top transfer summer". They also?
Gorenzel:
We made a conscious decision to restructure the team.
I see it soberly: We now had the opportunity to change nine squad positions.
If you miss twice by a hair's breadth, it's normal to switch strategies.
Last year nobody would have understood that we were radically restructuring our fourth-place team, this time we deliberately let contracts expire.
Interview under the tactics board: 1860 sports director Günther Gorenzel (right) in conversation with sports editor Uli Kellner.
©TSV 1860
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Was there agreement on all transfers in the triangle you described?
Gorenzel:
I can say that I will keep asking for things in this triangle until there is agreement.
Could you please explain how such a transfer, let's say that of Jesper Verlaat, is initiated and processed?
Gorenzel:
Something like this is prepared over weeks and months in cooperation with the scouting department.
We have ten to 15 candidates for each position, i.e. 150 to 200 players, which we look at and deal with over the course of a season.
Then the coordination with the trainer begins.
Where does Michael Köllner see the priorities, where do I?
In the end, two or three players per position remain.
Who will then be contacted by you?
Gorenzel:
The first contact always takes place via the consultants.
One taps off where the journey should go financially.
If dimensions are called that we cannot represent, I return to our triangle - and the next candidate is contacted.
Coach Köllner explicitly praised Anthony Power in connection with the transfers.
Gorenzel:
In principle, you can only be successful together as a team.
And in this context, Anthony Power is an important contact person in the communication between the management and our shareholder HAM International Limited.
Just as Robert Reisinger and his colleagues on the executive committee are important contacts for the management of the Gesellschafter eV.
People often talk about the man-catcher Köllner? Is he tipping the scales in these conversations?
Gorenzel:
Absolutely.
That's one of Michael Köllner's qualities, he does it sensationally.
But what you also have to say: The 1860 brand, the Munich location and our ambitious concept - everything works.
We don't say: Let's see what happens.
But we say very clearly: We want to put the wishes of the entire club into practice and do everything for it.
If you look at the players we brought in, almost all of them could have signed in the second division.
Meaning: Better 3rd league with 1860 in the beautiful city of Munich than 2nd league somewhere else?
Gorenzel: In
any case, together we managed to make our concept palatable to them.
We told them: be careful, before you have a backup role somewhere else or have to match, come to us and become a top performer!
In the end, one cog worked into the other – and this is how this summer of transfers can be explained.
Köllner said that 1860 got all the players they wanted and that not a single one was rejected. What are the reasons?
Gorenzel:
The decisive factor was the availability of the funds – and the relevant timing.
This year we were able to make decisions very early on.
If it had only been our turn two or three weeks later, we would certainly not have gotten the top candidates.
At least not the ones that are being hunted by the whole 3rd league and parts of the 2nd league.
It is said that the new squad is no more expensive than last year's. How is it possible to get supposedly better players for the same money?
Gorenzel:
There are several effects involved.
One is that Türkgücü disbanded and 15 top players were flushed onto the market.
That means: There is more supply, but less demand due to the Corona effect: The budgets of some clubs are obviously tighter this year and consequently squad places are reduced.
Last season there were players who earned more than 20,000 euros a month. Has 1860 been a money factor for too long?
Gorenzel:
I won't confirm any figures here, but the fact is: we have always relied on so-called soft factors.
Only: Two years ago we had a different strategy.
At that time, the idea, which many experts also supported, was: You need an axis of players with experience in higher leagues.
Of course, they cost if you get them directly from these leagues and not via the third division.
We currently have seven players who have played in the higher league in the past, but recently in the 3rd league, and maybe in a few weeks the discussions will say: why didn't you bring in players with direct second league experience?
We want to put the wish of the entire club into practice and do everything we can to achieve it.
If you look at the players we brought in, almost all of them could have signed in the second division.
1860 sports director Günther Gorenzel.
Is the impression deceptive or is Köllner appearing louder than before, almost as dominant as Werner Lorant once was. What is the reason for that?
Gorenzel:
I don't see any change in demeanor.
I like to leave the part of the front man in public to Michael Köllner.
I think that goes perfectly with my behavior in this distribution of roles and is also common practice in most professional football clubs.
The role of the head coach has changed a lot in the last 20 years.
Today, the head coach is one of the most important public relations representatives of a professional football club.
How would you currently describe your relationship with the coach?
Gorenzel:
Harmonious, goal-oriented and highly professional.
Now that the new squad is also a Köllner squad, there's no excuse for not getting promoted, is there?
Gorenzel:
(laughs)
We share the club's desire to get promoted with six or seven other teams - who also have similar requirements.
It would therefore be disrespectful to say: We are now marching through the league.
But the pressure to succeed is likely to increase.
Gorenzel:
I don't think we're under any more pressure to succeed than in recent years, when we've had good squads.
You can feel a certain euphoria, but I'm a person who generally doesn't allow myself to be guided by emotions.
Viewed soberly, expectations have always been high.
The greatest danger is probably that the team spirit suffers as a result of the many changes?
Gorenzel:
This excuse must not apply.
We made a conscious decision to make this change - and we now have five weeks to develop the right spirit.
The lions are going into their fifth third division season, three times it wasn't quite enough for promotion. How many attempts are you giving yourself?
Gorenzel:
I've been with this great club for almost ten years now, the last five in management.
I am fascinated by the potential that the 1860 brand emanates from.
This is far from exhausted.
As long as I see creative possibilities, I will not rest.
