Between Christmas and the turn of the year, the lions quickly celebrate their head coach: Michael Köllner turns 53. We explain the Upper Palatinate from A to Z.
First sing, then train.
A living tradition at TSV 1860 provides that every birthday child is honored with a serenade in the team circle before it gets down to business on the pitch.
The focus this Thursday: head coach Michael Köllner, who will be 53 years old.
It is already the fourth birthday that the Upper Palatinate is celebrating in the service of the lions, and although Köllner is not a silent representative of his guild, there are still details from his life that are hardly known to the public.
We explain the lion trainer from A to Z.
Superstition:
Not only faith, but also faith with superstitions plays an important role in the life of the former acolyte.
At the end of the 2020/21 season, Köllner had a belt that he attributed special victory magic to.
His belief in the effect of the leather strap went so far that his partner Petra Freitag had to cycle back home before the game against Bayern II to get the good piece.
The derby ended 2-2, the start of the missed promotion.
What became of the belt is not known.
Bayernpark:
The beautiful nature, the great rides.
.
.
Nobody advertises as convincingly as Köllner, who laughs from the posters as the face of the Lower Bavarian amusement park.
Bayernpark boss Silke Holzner enthuses: "Köllner conveys joie de vivre."
Chats:
Köllner's mobile phone won't stand still on his special day - too many people are waiting in line for revenge from the man from the Upper Palatinate, who rarely forgets a companion.
"1000 chats are loose in my WhatsApp memory," reports the trainer: "Anyone can always ask me for help - and on a birthday there's a call anyway.
Or currently a little personal video.”
DFB:
Köllner almost got stuck with the DFB, for which he worked as a base coach for a total of twelve years (2002 to 2014).
He says: "I have no career plan." But exciting memories of encounters with Jogi Löw, Hansi Flick or Matthias Sammer.
Success:
Doesn’t have to be measurable for the passionate coach like promotion to the Bundesliga with 1. FC Nürnberg.
Success, says Köllner, can also be felt.
"If a team plays football without jerseys, ideally someone should say: 'This is a team from Michael Köllner!'
That would be the greatest accolade for me, more valuable than any countable success.”
Family:
The most important things in Köllner's life start with an "F": family, Fuchsmühl, freedom, Friday (that's the name of his life partner Petra), soccer - please let him set the order himself.
Money:
Others work to make a living, but for Köllner, money is not an incentive, as he emphasizes.
"I'm not financially dependent on football," he says, "that gives me a certain amount of freedom.
For me it is primarily about experiencing my happiness.”
Internships:
Köllner studied the lions shortly before they were relegated from the Bundesliga – as an intern as part of the football teacher training course (2004).
Later, when Pep Guardiola was in Bayern, he also looked over the shoulder of the Spanish coaching guru (2013) – and in Gladbach the then head coach Lucien Favre (2015).
Ismaik:
After three years he got to know him personally: 1860 financier Hasan Ismaik, who wrote in his Christmas post on Facebook: "My first impression of him (Köllner) was great.
He is a man who loves his work and does everything to ensure that our club sees better times again."
Hunter:
His permanent role with the lions.
Köllner can catch up, as has been proven with a number of impressive series – only with the final grabbing of the prey has there been a problem so far.
Church:
He sends his players to their hotel beds with Bible verses when they travel – and instead of at press conferences, Köllner, the ex-acolyte and carol singer, would have liked to have preached to the people from a real pulpit.
Abuses in society must be "denounced," he said recently: "That's why I wanted to be a pastor earlier."
Push- ups:
Köllner is not only prone to culinary delights - but also to tips on how to get rid of excess pounds.
He read in a tabloid that 100 push-ups a day will help you develop a toned upper body within a month.
How stable was the good intention?
The truth is on the scales at the end of cookie time.
Mönchengladbach:
A club that Köllner admires – because, in his opinion, the work there is exemplary in terms of sport, economy and infrastructure.
Charity:
Capitalized on the practicing Christian.
"The Ten Commandments are an important foundation for me," he says, "they contain all the values on the basis of which a society can function."
Upper Palatinate:
Köllner loves and honors his home village of Fuchsmühl in the Upper Palatinate.
The fact that he never tried to lose his dialect can also be seen as a tribute to the region of his childhood.
Playoff beard:
When things get serious at the end of a season, Köllner turns into an Almöhi – much to the chagrin of Petra Freitag, who prefers to see her Michael properly shaved and hairdos.
Quality player:
Köllner would like one for his creative center – and what better occasion than a birthday to unwrap the promised transfer gift?
Smoking:
In everyday life, Köllner drinks little alcohol, does not smoke and otherwise tries to live a healthy life.
Quarterly sins can happen, however, when it's sociable - then the party trainer scrounges cigarette butts until he orders his own box from the host at the end of the evening.
Sozi:
Köllner revealed to the state parliament lions in the summer that he had left the SPD after more than 30 years.
The reason: the Corona policy of Health Minister Karl Lauterbach.
Title:
At the end of the 2020/21 season, Köllner was voted “Coach of the Year” by colleagues and third division captains.
He's rightly proud of that, because individual titles are rare in his job, he says.
And as a 1860 coach, he was only allowed to lift the pool cup in the air.
Holiday destinations:
Wellness hotels in the Alps, warm regions like Dubai or Turkey, if it's greedy in this country.
Köllner's contribution to the family's holiday planning: He stays out of it, gets in the car or flight time - and then enjoys what Petra Freitag has chosen.
Fourth places:
Köllner has had enough of the teams celebrating in front of the lions at the end.
This time it should be the ascent – he gives everything for that.
Vienna:
The flirt with Austria was more advanced in the summer of 2021 than it became known.
In general, as Köllner once said, only cities with a very high quality of life would appeal to him and his family in the future.
XXL press conferences:
Belong to the past since Köllner lost his cheerfulness in the autumn of the crisis.
Before that, press conferences could sometimes last forty-five minutes or longer if the coach started chatting (or preaching).
Yoga/Yogi:
Köllner makes no secret of his spiritual side.
At 1860, the lights in the cabin go out more often this winter - that's when collective meditation is the order of the day.
In general, the man from the Upper Palatinate is open to yoga classes and yogi wisdom: one of his longing travel destinations is Bhutan, which is considered the country with the happiest people.
Köllner: "I want to see that with my own eyes."
Dental assistant:
In the Bundeswehr, Köllner trained as a dental assistant – a rarity at the time.
He passed the final exam as the only man among 300 women.