Saturday’s 5-2 loss to Borussia Dortmund had the travelling Foals fans venting their dissatisfaction with the team and manager Daniel Farke. After a season of under-performing, could this be the end of the road for Farke and his tenure at the Borussia park.
“We’ve had enough” was the stinging chant from the travelling Mönchengladbach fans at the Signal Iduna Park after watching a first half against that Dortmund that allowed the Schwarzgelben to just steamroller their opponents. It was akin to the scene in Rocky IV where trainer Duke yells ‘throw in the damn towel’ as Apollo Creed is getting a beating from Russian Drago. The away fans even resorted to turning their backs on the performance on Saturday in protest,
Farke admitted after the match that he understood the fans disenchantment and he himself had ‘had enough’ of the way they played in the first half. “You can lose here at Borussia Dortmund and many teams have lost here, but I’m definitely on the same page [as the fans] in the first half, because I was also fed up if I’m honest.
“The first half was not good enough and I was annoyed with our undisciplined behaviour and they were totally right at half time to sing songs in this way.”
This first season under the former Norwich coach was supposed to one of rebuilding with a positive trend in evidence, but it threatens to witness a lower league position than last season, with a summer exit of key players and fan support for the coach dwindling.
Prior to the recent win over Bochum, sporting director Roland Virkus seemed to back Farke saying that “Daniel mastered such a situation in England. He deserves the chance next season.” However, Virkus is reported to have been very unhappy with Farke’s tactical set-up against Dortmund and rumours are starting to surface that a change of trainer could very well be in the offing.
The club’s U-23 coach Eugen Polanski is said to be a candidate to succeed Farke should he be released.
The players came out after the Dortmund debacle to support their coach with both Jonas Hofmann and Julian Weigl speaking up in his defence. “We are totally behind the coach. We were adjusted very well. But we didn’t implement the coach’s plan in the first half” Hofmann said. Midfielder Julian Weigl added almost exactly the same sentiment saying, “We stand behind the coach, he has adjusted us well.”
Whether these words are enough to save Farke and allow him another season remains to be seen (as does the truth behind the Polanski rumours), but the pressure is definitely on the Fohlen coach with the hoped-for upward trend this season missing. A step backwards before two steps forward is progress, but the club must now be wondering if those steps forward can be achieved under Farke’s guidance.
