Jurgen Klopp will not take over at Borussia Moenchengladbach, both Klopp’s agent and the Bundesliga club confirmed Monday, as Gladbach hunt for Lucien Favre’s replacement following his shock resignation.
“Jurgen Klopp will not be the Borussia Moenchengladbach coach,” Klopp’s agent Marc Kosicke told magazine Sport Bild.
After losing their opening five Bundesliga matches to go bottom of the Bundesliga, Champions League side Gladbach need a new coach after Favre abruptly resigned on Sunday in the wake of his team’s 1-0 defeat at Cologne the day before.
In a statement, Favre, 57, said he no longer felt like “the perfect coach for Gladbach” and quit after four years in charge, having steered them to third in the Bundesliga last season to earn a Champions League berth.
But the Swiss’ abrupt exit has left the club high and dry as Gladbach host Augsburg on Wednesday looking for their first league point of the season, then travel to play Stuttgart on Saturday.
“The players were just as surprised by the news,” admitted Gladbach’s director of sport Max Eberl in Monday’s press conference, who confirmed there has been no offer made to Klopp.
“We will be looking at lots of names over the next few days.”
While Gladbach hunt for Favre’s replacement, Andre Schubert, 44, who also coaches the Germany Under-15 side, has been promoted from reserve team coach to take charge.
“The footprints Lucien Favre has left are very large,” added Eberl, who said the details of Favre’s exit is now a matter for the club’s laywers.
Favre’s timing could not be worse as, following their two imminent Bundesliga matches, Gladbach host Manchester City in their second Champions League game having already lost 3-0 away to Sevilla last Wednesday.
Having walked away from Dortmund at the end of last season to take a self-imposed coaching sabbatical, Klopp is weighing up his options after winning the German league titles in 2011 and 2012.
The 48-year-old Klopp was at his former club Mainz on Friday to see their 3-1 win over Hoffenheim.
“I know that one day I’ll talk to other clubs, if I get the right feeling then we’ll get things moving,” he said over the weekend at a car show in Frankfurt.
“It might be a club that’s competing for titles, it could also be an up and coming team.”
Although ex-Germany coach Berti Vogts has said Klopp would be a good fit at Gladbach, experienced coaches Jos Luhukay, Mirko Slomka, Thomas Schaaf and Horst Steffen have all been linked to the club as Favre’s possible replacement. – Agence France-Presse
