HANS-JOACHIM WATZKE distanced himself from suggestions that Julian Nagelsmann could be Borussia Dortmund’s next head coach and said he remained undecided over who would take the role in 2018-19.
Dortmund entertain Hoffenheim on Saturday hoping to leapfrog them in the Bundesliga table and managing director Watzke told reporters of his admiration for visiting coach Nagelsmann, who only turned 30 in July and signed a deal at Hoffenheim until 2021.
Peter Stoger was appointed Dortmund head coach until the end of the 2017-18 season in the wake of Peter Bosz’s dismissal, but Nagelsmann’s revitalising impact at Hoffenheim have made him a future candidate in the eyes of the media.
“He is a young and very good coach,” said Watzke. “But nobody links me to Julian Nagelsmann – except the media.
“There is no decision yet for the upcoming season.”
The 2-0 victory over Mainz in Stoger’s first game in charge was Dortmund’s first competitive win in 10 attempts, and Watzke admitted the season so far has been “a mystery”.
He urged the players to take responsibility to turn the club’s fortunes around, saying: “The team know that they are responsible for the crisis and I told the players things at the presentation of Peter Stoger.
“It was always fragile while we were winning, and now I get the impression that everyone has realised that this is not going to continue.
“You have to work constructively and together, and we will.”
“This season is a mystery so far,” he added. “But let’s not pretend it’s the biggest mistake.”
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As a Munster supporter, I’m really excited about Evan O’Connell. He comes across as really mature for his age. Another year of U20s will be massive for him. I’ve been really impressed by Danny Sheahan too
@mWhSNsK2: And Edogbo! What serious potential
@Andrew Slazenger: it’s as good a Munster contingent as there’s been since around 2019 imo. The only player from another province I would love at Munster would be Hugh Gavin, he looks an unreal prospect
@mWhSNsK2: I think it’s his last year but it won’t be long till he gets senior gametime for munster. I think he’d about 25 carries tonight plus a flawless lineout
@munsterman: you’re right actually, born in 2004. He should see URC game time next season you would imagine
That English pack are superb. Another great season for the Irish u20s though. 3 years unbeaten in the 6ns is some achievement. At a restricted age-grade comp, France and England should win every single year due to numbers, the fact we’re competitive is a savage achievement
@munsterman: agreed, they have some monsters
@munsterman: Completely. If you look at the teen playing numbers on Wikipedia, England miles and miles ahead
@Owen ODonoghue: kpoku looks a fantastic talent for them going forward. Lancaster the cute hoor has him over at racing though. A poor sign of the English club game to let him go
@munsterman: Absolutely. England and France will dominate the world Cup in the summer also.
@Ray Ridge: as they should tbf. I’ve no idea what the sh teams are like. Danny sheehan aside I dunno if Ireland have the front rows this year. Gleeson will make a massive difference too. Something to look forward to anyway, its always a great comp
@munsterman: Not sure even South Africa cam compete with the power and size of the English and French. France still have lots of players playing in top 14 that will be added to their squad for the world Cup. All things being equal it’s England or France, but then again, invariably, it will be the team of officials that will decide who wins.
relying on france…not a historically rewarding activity…
@Patrick Kennedy: the French more than held their own in fairness to them. When you’re up against 16 it’s virtually impossible though
@Patrick Kennedy: meh. Worked in 2015. Just.
So unbelievably proud of them! What a performance against a seriously tenacious and brilliant Scotland, that would not go away. The courage and execution to go for that extra try at the end was fantastic to see. Come on France!
@Andrew Slazenger: It’s an awful pity that The 42 can’t get the names in the scoreline correct. We didn’t play England.
England were brilliant tonight and all tournament, congrats. Classic France, completely erratic. Ref leaned heavily in Eng favour some poor calls in the last 30 mins
Great Irish team, coach and captain. England just about deserved winners. Evan O’Connell future Irish captain.
Shame they’re relying on France who are currently being ref’d off the pitch despite their best efforts.
@teuO6nLS: i agree its crazy
@Jonny Miller: literally different laws being applied depending on what jersey the players are wearing
@teuO6nLS: Just crazy… like the SA Q final all over again
England deserved it. They were the best team in the tournament this year.
@Ray Ridge: I think you’re right. Ireland were good but had poor props and halfbacks this year. England very strong
@munsterman: the wc should be fantastic. Ireland need their best player gleeson back so badly to try and counteract the size of these lads
@munsterman: oh look it’s roy hudd and emu…I hope you at least wore a rubber glove
@Patrick Kennedy: ha ha, whingey connacht fan, who’d have thunk it
@munsterman: are u? weird name to choose so
@Patrick Kennedy: Roy Hudd?
@munsterman: Agreed re: the scrum half, but I thought Jack Murphy had a very good tournament. One dodgy half against Italy, but overall I thought he was excellent.
@Mark Murphy: he’s as good a kicker as you’ll see,he’s exceptional from both the ground and hand. He’s no threat at all in attack, he just ships it on to the next man. It makes it very easy for a defending side to drift on. He was in no way helped by the poor quality of pass from the 9s mind you
@munsterman: I hear you… Don’t think he’ll ever be a top running out half, but to say he simply ships it on a doing him a bit of a dis-service IMO. It was clearly a tactic of Ireland to hit the wings as much as possible, with Gavin being utilized to throw the big wide pass more often than not. The wingers found themselves in acres of space time and again. The defenses didn’t seem able to drift across on time. I don’t know if the stats will back it up, but it seemed that the Irish wingers were so involved all tournament and that just couldn’t be the case if the out half was not deliberate in his passing. Anyway… Agree to differ :-)
They couldn’t do much more than they done really,good tournament and lost out by the slimmest of margins.well done lads
What a super group. Great spirit, coaching, skill set and maturity. The leadership shown by Evan O’Connell throughout the competition was outstanding. Certainly has great potential. Also, not sure how it came across on the telly, but I thought Jack Murphy’s kicking from hand was just exquisite tonight. Scotland made life very hard for Ireland with some huge hits and a very solid scrum, but it’s testament to the coaching and togetherness of this group that they stayed on script and put up another really big score. Very disappointed for them that they didn’t get the championship, but have to hand it to England, they were the best team in the competition this year IMO.
Can I ask how we are going to develop all this talent? Honestly feel the 4 provinces are insufficient to support the players coming through and that we might actually run the risk of losing potential international players by virtue of the fact Irish system cannot cater for all of them. What can the irfu do to address this? Also congrats to England, worthy winners.
@John mccabe: good point but one of the main problems is the bunching of quite a few of them in Leinster – perhaps need some sort of ‘draft’ system in place so they can be shared across the provinces.
Out of their hands on the night. France very poor tonight.
@42 England v Ireland was one week ago and not two . Detail eh?
But fair play to England. I think they won on every stat this year.
Well done garsúns…
Proud of ye all