“I’m truly very sorry” – RB Leipzig boss admits “bad” handling of Ole Werner sacking | OneFootball

After guiding RB Leipzig back to the Champions League with a third-place finish in his first season in charge, Ole Werner was somewhat surprisingly dismissed as head coach and replaced by Martín Demichelis.

In an interview with Bild, RB Leipzig managing director for sport Marcel Schäfer has now spoken about the sacking, admitting it was far from handled optimally.

“The past few weeks – and we have to be self-critical here – were anything but optimal, simply bad. Period,” Schäfer said.

The 42-year-old explained that a “long and confidential conversation” took place before Werner went on holiday, which was meant to be continued afterwards. However, that did not happen, and reports of the coach’s impending dismissal began to emerge during his vacation.

“That in between, so much of what happened ended up in the public domain for various reasons, was absolutely undignified towards both the person and the coach Ole Werner. I'm truly very sorry about that. No question,” Schäfer said.

The decision to sack Werner was formally communicated to the 38-year-old after he returned from holiday.

“The content remains between us. In general, the conversations were always very open and honest, as was our working relationship. Of course, there are always decisions that initially meet little understanding. Sometimes they are very tough. But it is always about handling things respectfully. We did not manage that this time,” Schäfer said.

According to reports, Schäfer consistently backed Werner during his first year in charge, but ultimately couldn't resist pressure from above to make a change.

“A lot has been reported in recent weeks – some of it true, some of it not. All I can say is that we fundamentally handled the rebuild very well. And I believe it was absolutely right to go through the entire season with Ole in that setup,” he said.

Martín Demichelis was appointed as the new head coach shortly after Werner’s dismissal, but Schäfer insists there was no agreement in place with the Argentine at the time the decision was made.

“When rumours about Martín Demichelis emerged, it was said that everything was already done and a pre-contract existed. That is complete nonsense. The process afterwards showed that as well. Otherwise, we could have announced a replacement very quickly. Instead, we only negotiated intensively with Demichelis’ camp in Leipzig in the days after the final conversation with Ole,” Schäfer insisted.