Uli Hoeness in Bayern is formally “only” a member of the Supervisory Board. However, what probably all connoisseurs of German football know, is that he has been at the club for more than 50 years.
The former player, general manager, and two-term president is the main person when it comes to all decisions in the Bavarian giant.
Those who forget about that fact are usually ex-Bayern players. It was the same with Hasan Salihamidzic and Oliver Kahn, who were fired during the celebration of the title, won in the finale of the German championship.
According to the German media, the playing legends played a little bit in the positions of sports director and executive chairman and it ended up costing them their jobs.
The main protector of Salihamidzic
In an interview with Süddeutsche Zeitung, Hoeness described how he fired Kahn and Braco Salihamidzic, whose main protector and promoter he was.
”We wanted Hasan and Oliver to find out about the dismissal directly from us. We made sure that not even the players found out before or during the game in Cologne. We also succeeded in another idea, which is to tell the players after the game, and then announce it publicly,” explained Hoeness for the German newspaper.
Bayern’s key man emphasizes discretion on this case as this is exactly the reason for the dismissal of the aforementioned duo.
”Unbelievable, but neither I nor President Herbert Hainer knew anything about Julian Nagelsman being fired. That is unacceptable,” said Hoeness about the big mistake of Salihamidzic and Khan.
Reason for dismissal
The day before Nagelsman was to be fired, Braco stood at my door and said: “We want to do it and we have already decided on it. So, he and Oliver, without knowledge and consultation with us from the top of the club.”
Uli Hoeness did not react very well to these words of Salihamidzic. He told him that it was fine to be critical of Nagelsman’s work, but that the timing of this decision was bad (10 days before the championship derby with Borussia) and that if they wanted to do it, they should be specific and discreet.
Disobedience led to this
As is already known, it ended in the opposite way. Journalists learned about the dismissal before Nagelsman himself. He read it while skiing in Austria during the break.
”Unfortunately, that unilateral decision, on which we from the top of the club had no influence, was leaked too soon. However, I must also say that Nagelsman should not have been skiing after the defeat at Bayer,” told Hoeness.
Results unrelated to the dismissal
Nagelsmann was replaced by Thomas Tuchel, but under him, the results were even worse. Bayern was out of the Champions League and the German Cup, and the Bundesliga title fell into their laps due to an incredible mistake by Borussia.
Hoennes, therefore, points out that Bayern’s barely defended title has nothing to do with the dismissal of the duo who held key positions in the club.
”We cannot make decisions so important for the future depending on whether Dortmund will score for victory and the title in the 97th minute or not. It doesn’t work that way. Braco and Oliver simply had to leave no matter how the Bundesliga ended,” Hoeness concluded the conversation with the German newspaper.
