BERLIN – Bayern Munich's first defeat since Hansi Flick took
over has not weakened the caretaker coach's prospects of a permanent
job in charge of the German champions.
Club chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge said Sunday the management could
imagine keeping Flick on at least until the end of the season.
Bayern missed a litany of scoring opportunities and hit the woodwork
three times in going down 2-1 at home to Bayer Leverkusen on
Saturday, a first loss for Flick following four wins since he
replaced Niko Kovac.
Bayern bosses have said Flick would be in charge until Christmas but
Rummenigge has now suggested a longer term, with the future open.
"We have arranged that we will continue until winter. Then we will
sit down with him after the last game, will discuss this and may also
continue beyond," Rummenigge said at an event at Bayern's Allianz
Arena.
"With him we have a coach who fits well with the team."
The defeat, which left Bayern provisionally fourth, will not be
factor in the club's considerations.
"The important thing is the quality of the game and the match plan
and that is all fine with Hansi Flick. That's why there is no change
in our evaluation even after yesterday's game," he said.
"We are very satisfied with way he is interpreting the job."
Bayern are in no hurry on the issue of a longer-term engagement,
which is something "we will discuss in good time."
Mewanwhile the discussion around Borussia Dortmund coach Lucien Favre
is now "gone," Dortmund sports director Michael Zorc said after a 2-1
win at Hertha Berlin which spoiled Juergen Klinsmann's debut for
Hertha on the coaching bench.
After three matches without a win - a 3-1 Champions League defeat at
Barcelona, a 3-3 home draw with bottom club Paderborn or a 4-0 defeat
at Bayern - Borussia survived the dismissal of central defender Mats
Hummels just before half-time for a confidence-boosting victory which
keeps them in touch with the leaders.
A defeat would have piled the pressure on beleaguered Swiss coach
Favre but his side showed the right mental attitude and fighting
spirit in the Olympic Stadium - qualities which had been questioned
in recent weeks.
Favre dismissed the pre-match speculation on his job as "entirely
irrelevant" and said his focus was only on the team.
"We said at the half-time interval that we needed to show character
and that we're a team, Favre said.
"The players battled, they ran a lot. We always believed that it was
possible. We subsequently played very compactly. We were a team -
even with 10 men."
Zorc said: "We've been saying the whole time that the work between
the coach and the team is very good.
"You could see that out on the pitch today. Otherwise there wouldn't
be a performance like that and not everyone would put such a shift in
for the team.
"Consequently, we're convinced that we'll manage to turn the corner.
Today was an important step in the right direction."