Imagine that Matthias Ginter (28) should no longer play in Gladbach because his contract expires in the summer. And at FC Bayern, Niklas Süle (26) would have been sidelined in the middle of the season because he will be leaving the club in the summer. Unthinkable? Not in Unterhaching! The fourth division team with ex-Bundesliga star Manfred Schwabl (55) as president and ex-national player Sandro Wagner (34) as coach is driving a one-off tough course in the football business: if you don’t extend it, you don’t play anymore!
At the SpVgg, from 1999 to 2001 in the Bundesliga, players who do not extend their stay are consistently put on the stands. Example: Felix Göttlicher (19), central defender and great talent, can only watch, although Wagner recently only had 13 field players available!
“We’re not the toughest club, but we’re just consistent,” says Schwabl, who played 303 first division games for 1860, Bayern and Nuremberg. “It bothers me that it’s always regarding the oh so poor players. There are rights and obligations for both parties. A club must fulfill its obligations and act accordingly.”
What Schwabl means by that: “We are a small club that only has a chance of surviving financially if we train and sell players well. Just like it happened in the past with Adeyemi, Mantl, Niederlechner or Haberer.” Today, everyone is a professional and everyone was trained in Unterhaching.
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Schwabl: “We deal openly with the players, and Felix Göttlicher knew that too: If they don’t extend, then they don’t play with us anymore either. If he had extended, it would have continued. We even softened our principles to the effect that, at the coach’s request, he was allowed to play until winter. But when there was no solution – no transfer and no extension – we decided that he would no longer play for us.”
And further: “Sandro Wagner supports this model, we will continue to use it in the future. We can’t do a free transfer, then the club will collapse!”
For Unterhaching, currently in eighth place in the regional league, there is not much going up or down – that’s another reason why the club can voluntarily refrain from using talented players. And what do the rejected say?
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Göttlicher last played on November 3, 2021. He says: “In the last few months there have been offers from the 2nd and 3rd leagues, which I saw as a very sensible next step.” Heidenheim and Viktoria Cologne, among others, are said to have been interested. Göttlicher: “Unterhaching didn’t really get involved with that. I was sent a non-negotiable contract signed by the President.” Schwabl wanted to retain the player, but at lower salaries.
Göttlicher: “My advisor and I then tried several times to seek dialogue in order to find a solution that was satisfactory for both sides. Unfortunately that was blocked. From my point of view, there are only losers in this situation. I will continue to train with great concentration and do everything in my power for the club and the team.”
President with principles: Manfred Schwabl, ex-Bundesliga professional. He was German champion three times with Bayern (1985, 1986, 1990)
Foto: picture alliance / foto2press
It’s clear: The tough course can act as a deterrent to potential newcomers. In the Bundesliga it would probably not be feasible at all.
When asked whether he would rather let Süle out in the future because he is leaving, Bayern coach Julian Nagelsmann says: “I understand one or the other critical comment from the fans that Niklas shouldn’t be allowed to play anymore. But there are normal processes in football. We all have to be aware that the player still gets money from Bayern Munich until June 30th and we should also take advantage of his qualities.”
