Stoppage time
Pep’s stroke of luck and a boss with strong leadership skills
After advancing to the league phase of the Champions League, the Bulls bosses are in a good mood. Managing director Stephan Reiter describes coach Pep Lijnders as a "stroke of luck". A column by "Krone" editor Christoph Nister.
"Everyone can be sure that we have recognized the signs of the times," explained Salzburg's managing director Stephan Reiter in the "Krone" interview on 23 May. The Bulls boss deliberately did not want these words to be understood as a declaration of war. And yet it was already clear at the time that the team from Mozartstadt would strike back after a disastrous season, their first without a title in eleven years.
The 53-year-old put the entire club to the test and intervened where he identified a need for action. "It's clear that there will be one or two changes at the club," he communicated openly early on. In doing so, he demonstrated leadership qualities and also made unpopular decisions. With the appointment of Pep Lijnders as head coach, he and sports director Bernhard Seonbuchner made a "stroke of luck", as Reiter called it after the club's Champions League run.
The gloom of the previous season is long gone and confidence has returned to the Salzach. This was particularly noticeable after reaching the league phase of the Champions League. After the final whistle in the second leg against Dynamo Kiev, Lijnders euphorically lifted first Reiter and then Seonbuchner into the air and then celebrated exuberantly with his team in the dressing room.
Even if Salzburg would have liked to have become champions last season: In retrospect, it may even have done the Bulls good not to be at the top for once. "It takes a kind of dissatisfaction to make progress possible," Reiter explained after last season. This was transformed into energy, which made the current upswing possible in the first place.
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