2nd league
Media: Funkel successor to coach Grammozis at FCK
Dimitrios Grammozis is no longer the coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. photo
© Soeren Stache/dpa
After less than 100 days in office, Dimitrios Grammozis has to leave 1. FC Kaiserslautern. The successor should be a veteran trainer.
1. FC Kaiserslautern has retired from coach Dimitrios Grammozis separated – according to media reports, his successor will be 70-year-old Friedhelm Funkel.
Just 72 days after he took office, the traditional club responded to the decline under Grammozis in the 2nd Bundesliga. The new head coach will lead the first training session on the Betzenberg in the afternoon, the FCK announced – without naming a name.
“Bild” first reported on Grammozis’ release. According to the “Kicker” and the SWR, Funkel should take over the office. The former FCK professional last trained 1. FC Köln for a few months in 2021 and saved them from relegation from the Bundesliga. “I still live 100 percent football. And when I was standing on the sidelines again, I noticed that the tingling sensation was still there,” Funkel told the German Press Agency on his big birthday in December. “I don’t rule out doing something as a coach again.”
Especially since Kaiserslautern is probably a matter close to the heart for the veteran: During his playing days, he played 89 competitive games for FCK. With well over 1,000 Bundesliga and second division games as a coach and player and eleven coaching positions (twice in Cologne), Funkel knows the business better than almost anyone else.
Crash to 16th place
In addition to Grammozis, the Palatinate team also released his assistant coach Sven Piepenbrock. Under the German-Greek, who only took office on December 3rd as Dirk Schuster’s successor, the Lauterers lost five of six second division games. “With the exemption, the FCK is reacting to the recent sporting results in the league, which have not taken the positive turn that was hoped for,” said Kaiserslautern.
Although the 45-year-old Grammozis won the DFB Cup round of 16 against 1. FC Nürnberg and the quarter-finals at Hertha BSC with the Palatinate team, FCK fell to 16th place in the league. Grammozis got five new players during the winter break.
With only 21 points, the FCK is level on points with second-to-last Hansa Rostock in the second division and has to fear falling into the third division two years after being promoted again. After the recent 2-1 home defeat against SC Paderborn, fans had already called for Grammozis to be separated.
Managing director Thomas Hengen avoided making a commitment to the coach immediately after the game. “The coach is the poorest pig, he had little standing here right from the start, for whatever reason,” Hengen said. “The mood is not in danger of changing, the mood has changed.” Grammozis had already coached FC Schalke 04 and SV Darmstadt 98 before Lautern.