Managerial limbo and the not so hidden problems of Bayern Munich – Part 2

Despite his overwhelming success so far this season, caretaker-manager Jupp Heynckes must make this his last season at Bayern Munich.

The main duty of a caretaker-manager is to simply keep the club afloat and show up to work every day while the people in charge work on the best way of going forward. Over the past 50 years, Bayern Munich have resorted to calling on a caretaker-manager seven times during their rare times of distress, doing it twice in the space of three seasons from ’08-09 to ’10-11.

Throughout this period, Jupp Heynckes has been brought on as manager four times, twice as caretaker.

Even though this was only a few years ago, Bayern Munich have become a resoundingly greater and more consistent force in European soccer.

Judging from previous occurrences of caretaker-managers at Bayern Munich (and most other big clubs around the world), they typically face the few remaining games of the season, and are put in charge primarily to keep the bench from being empty.

When Jürgen Klinsmann’s spell as one of Bayern Munich’s worst managers ended, Jupp Heynckes was brought in for the remaining five games of the season. He won every game bar a 2-2 draw with Hoffenheim. A successful spell, but only a short one.

After several bad performances and losing the 3rd place Bundesliga position, Louis van Gaal was sacked and his assistant Andries Jonker stepped up to the plate. Similar to Heynckes, Jonker faced five games in charge and won them all, bar a 1-1 draw to Eintracht Frankfurt. A nearly identical spell; effective, but short.

80%

Seeing out four or five remaining games is usually the task that is asked of caretaker-managers. With Heynckes appointed as “caretaker-“ manager until the end of the season, he has been tasked with seeing out almost 80% of Bayern’s ’17-18 calendar.

After recent comments from Bayern president Uli Honess, it looks as if he would maybe like Heynckes to stay on for longer than the remainder of the season, in spite of Jupp’s own insistence that this is it for him.

This is now his fourth spell managing Bayern, having already retired from management twice. At 72-years-old, he is now the oldest active manager in the top five leagues by a considerable margin. He is also, however, one of Bayern’s most successful managers — not strictly in terms of how many trophies he has won, but instead what he did in his final spell: taking Bayern to consecutive Champions League finals before winning in 2013 against Dortmund, firmly cementing Bayern as one of the best teams in the world.

After beating Stuttgart 3-2 to round off a treble (that would end up becoming a quintuple under Pep Guardiola), he hung up his managerial cap again and bowed out of management in the most empathic way imaginable. It was emotional for everyone involved but one of the greatest sights in Bayern’s history.

So to drag him out of retirement once again to see out nearly 80% of a season is maybe a tall order, but it is certainly one that he seems up for. Recent victories and performances have shown that the decision from Bayer’s board is paying off. The Bavarians are now back at the top of the league and have begun playing with more confidence and causing more damage against their opponents, although some recent matches have been more hard-fought than others.

Next: Managerial limbo and the not so hidden problems of Bayern Munich - Part 1

But at any cost, a ’18-19 season managed by Jupp Heynckes will see Bayern Munich’s progression stunted. An unwillingness to look forward and move into the future could result in Bayern held back from further European dominance, instead settling for mediocrity with domestic success.