Nail-biting finale for promotion: Panic-stricken 1. FC Köln fires coach and sporting director

1. FC Köln is trembling and worried about its return to the Bundesliga – and has fired its coach and sporting director before the crucial games. They've done this before, with a happy ending.

Second-division soccer club 1. FC Köln has parted ways with head coach Gerhard Struber and sporting director Christian Keller, according to consistent media reports. The day before, the Cologne team had only managed a 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Jahn Regensburg, thus losing the league lead to Hamburger SV. The fans had loudly expressed their displeasure; after the match, a chorus of boos and numerous chants of "Struber out" erupted through the sold-out stadium of 50,000 spectators.

Nevertheless, 1. FC Köln still has a good chance of returning to the Bundesliga. With two games remaining, the Rhinelanders are still three points ahead of the third place in the promotion play-offs. The club is expected to officially announce Struber and Keller's departures on Monday, according to reports.

Hard road to advancement

The decision was reportedly preceded by a crisis meeting in which Keller backed the Austrian Struber. Even after the 1-1 draw, the managing director supported the coach, stating that he could "rule out making any changes at short notice because I don't believe in such things." At the crisis meeting, the powerful Joint Committee of the club's governing bodies reportedly decided to replace the duo, with Rewe boss Lionel Souque, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, said to have been the driving force, according to the "Bild" newspaper.

The 46-year-old Keller brought Struber to Cologne last season. Along with HSV, Cologne were considered the big favorites for promotion. However, they haven't always lived up to this role. With the difficult away game at 1. FC Nuremberg and the potential "final" against promotion rivals 1. FC Kaiserslautern, the club still has two highly complicated tasks to overcome on the road to its long-awaited return to the Bundesliga. "We have to flip the switch again now, otherwise it will be very tight," warned captain Timo Hübers. "We have to talk internally now and not let ourselves be guided by sideshows or external influences."

"It seems," Keller said on the Sky microphone in response to the loud fan discontent, "as if we've completely messed something up. But when everyone reflects, we're still in a promotion spot." But that wasn't enough. Except for a brief slip on Matchday 24, 1. FC Köln has been in a promotion spot for the entire second half of the season.

Funkel as promotion coach?

Struber urged calm on Saturday despite the boos directed at him. "It's clear that I'm a lightning rod. But we need to stay calm, not let ourselves be torn apart, and demonstrate teamwork," the Austrian said. But it didn't help.

Meanwhile, captain Timo Hübers appealed to the Cologne fans to stand united: "The overall tone feels like a relegation battle, but there's no point in banging our heads together now. We should keep things in perspective: We can really achieve something huge," said the defender. Apparently, the Struber/Keller duo no longer had the confidence to pull off such a big feat. U19 coach Stefan Ruthenbeck is being considered a possible interim solution, with former Cologne coach Friedhelm Funkel also said to be an option.

Such short-term measures are nothing new in Cologne. Coach Markus Anfang was released after the 31st matchday in 2019. At that time, FC topped the league table and ultimately earned promotion without a start – despite only four points from their last three games.