Tayfun Korkut Leaves Hertha Berlin ‘After An In-Depth Analysis’

“After an in-depth analysis of the current sporting situation,” Hertha Berlin has terminated the contract with head coach Tayfun Korkut. The club announced the step one day after Hertha lost a crucial relegation battle match against Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0. Assistant Ilija Aračić is also no longer part of the team.

“Firstly, I’d like to thank Tayfun Korkut and his assistant Ilija Aračić for the work they have done at Hertha BSC since November,” Hertha managing director of sport Fredi Bobic said in a club statement. After a promising start with seven points from the first four games and a positive trend, we’ve now clearly analyzed the performances and results from the nine games in the second half of the season. We came to the conclusion that we needed another change of coach.”

The result on Saturday saw Hertha drop down to the 17th spot, which would lead to direct relegation at the end of the season. “We’re currently in the relegation zone,” Bobic said. “We’ve got eight games left to pick up the points we need to stay up. We’ll do all we can to do that, and we want this decision to ensure that everybody involved knows how serious this situation is. We are hoping this fresh start can have a positive impact.”

In November, Korkut replaced Hertha boss Pal Dardai and managed just 0.64 points per game on average in the 14 games in charge. “For several reasons, we, unfortunately, couldn’t build on the good start we made here. I would like to thank everyone here for the open and honest cooperation. I hope the club can avoid relegation, and I wish the whole Hertha family all the best for the future.”

Bobic now has the tough task of finding a replacement for Korkut. One candidate could be former Eintracht Frankfurt head coach Niko Kovac. Kovac left AS Monaco on January 1, 2022, after averaging 1.95 points per game in France. Kovac, however, told Bild in February that he is planning to take a break until the summer.

Other candidates named in the German press are the usual candidates without a club. David Wagner, Friedhelm Funkel, Markus Gisdol, Lucien Favre and Daniel Farke are all on the list. Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported that Slaven Bilić had been contacted but turned down the job.

Another candidate is PSV head coach Roger Schmidt. Schmidt wants to leave PSV at the end of the season and be in high demand. Whether he would leave the Netherlands now to rescue Hertha is more than questionable.

One major issue for Bobic is the lack of perspective at Hertha. The club received over $400 million from investor Lars Windhorst since the summer of 2019. But Bobic admitted in the fall that most of that money is now gone. Not the best prerequisite to entice a top coach to rescue Hertha and prevent the first relegation since the 2009/10 season.

Manuel Veth is the host of the Bundesliga Gegenpressing Podcast and the Area Manager USA at Transfermarkt. He has also been published in the Guardian, Newsweek, Howler, Pro Soccer USA, and several other outlets. Follow him on Twitter: @ManuelVeth