Fix! Legendary trainer takes over for Grammozis in Kaiserslautern

Immediately after his first training session, Friedhelm Funkel treated himself to a long drink from the water bottle before the 70-year-old spoke to the press for the first time. “It’s obviously nice when you come back here after all these years and people haven’t forgotten you. The fans at training were happy that I was back,” said Funkel happily, but he didn’t want to portray himself as the savior of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Funkel now has two big missions for the troubled Red Devils: Firstly, to stay in the league, which means they are 16th in the table. is in serious danger after 21 points from 21 games. And reaching the cup final. There the Palatinate team will meet either 1. FC Saarbrücken or Borussia Mönchengladbach in the semi-finals. Funkel emphasized at his inaugural press conference: “I am convinced that the quality is there to stay in the league. Otherwise I wouldn’t have taken on this task.”

After all, Funkel brings a lot of experience with him. The former Lauterer professional was already on the sidelines for 515 Bundesliga and over 270 second division games, but retired after the 2020/21 season. But now the “fire has been rekindled for me,” explained Funkel. “I wanted to work as a coach again. When the request came from FCK, I didn’t have to think long. We want to give something back to the fans here for their support.”

On Wednesday the club had, as before SPORT1 reported to announce that Dimitrios Grammozis is no longer the coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Assistant coach Sven Piepenbrock was also released. Instead, Funkel took over the coaching position with immediate effect and led the first training session that afternoon at 4 p.m. Next to him, assistant coach Matthias Lust will complement the existing coaching team.

The 70-year-old’s contract initially runs until the end of the season. “Friedhelm Funkel’s CV speaks for itself. He is passionate about the task,” said managing director Thomas Hengen.

Grammozis’ record was weak. Only one win in six league games. Things only went better for the 45-year-old in the cup, where there were two wins at home against 1. FC Nürnberg (2:0) and at Hertha BSC (3:1) and the Red Devils are in the semi-finals. There you will meet the winner of the game 1. FC Saarbrücken against Borussia Mönchengladbach.

“The FCK would like to thank Dimitrios Grammozis and Sven Piepenbrock for their work and commitment and wishes them both all the best for their future journey,” the club wrote in its statement this morning. Grammozis only took over the job at Betzenberg in December of last year, succeeding Dirk Schuster, who was on leave, at the second division club.

Last Saturday after the 2-1 home defeat against SC Paderborn there were loud calls of “Grammozis out” in the Fritz Walter Stadium. Managing director Hengen no longer supported the coach when he said: “The coach is the poorest pig. He had little standing here from the start, for whatever reason. But you have to deliver results, I, the coach and the team know that. The mood is not in danger of changing, the mood has changed.” With 21 points, the FCK is in 16th place in the table.

In addition to Funkel (70), who was a player at FCK from 1980 to 1983, the name Steffen Baumgart also emerged as a possible candidate. Other potential candidates were Stefan Kuntz (most recently Turkish national coach) and Uwe Neuhaus (most recently Arminia Bielefeld). Ultimately, Funkel won the race.

The 70-year-old has previously worked as a coach at 1. FC Cologne, Eintracht Frankfurt and Fortuna Düsseldorf, among others – and is now tasked with saving FCK from falling back into the 3rd league.