Disappointing Record

It’s over! Austro coach loses job in Switzerland

Gernot Messner(Bild: GEPA pictures)

One win in four league games, an average of 0.60 points per game, a goal difference of 3:11, and on top of that, a disappointing exit in the Cup semifinals against a mid-table second-division team—Gernot Messner’s record as coach of Swiss record champions Grasshoppers Zurich is anything but acceptable, and has now cost him his job! The former GAK coach is out of a job as of Monday…

Starting at the beginning of the week, Peter Zeidler, who was with Red Bull Salzburg from June to December 2015, will take the reins. For the 63-year-old, Grasshoppers is already the fourth club he will manage at the highest level in Switzerland, following FC Sion, FC St. Gallen, and Lausanne Sport.

Scheiblehner was initially supposed to take the reins
For the Zurich-based club—though record champions, their 27 titles are a thing of the past—he is the third coach this season. Initially, Gerald Scheiblehner, the long-time coach of FC Blau-Weiß Linz, was supposed to take the reins—but after 30 rounds, with 16 losses, just 5 wins, and 9 draws, his tenure came to an end in mid-March.

Grasshoppers’ suicide mission 
He was succeeded by his compatriot Messner, who had joined Grasshoppers as U21 coach in November and was promoted to head of the first team following Scheiblehner’s departure—a suicide mission, as it has since turned out.

Grasshoppers sporting director Alain Sutter had initially backed the Austrian (“It’s not the coach’s fault. It wasn’t Gerald Scheiblehner’s fault. It’s not Gernot’s fault!”), but now he’s pulled the plug. Zeidler is now tasked with saving the Zurich team—currently in second-to-last place in the Swiss Super League and facing the relegation playoffs—from relegation—but he’ll remain coach even if they do drop to the second division...