Friedhelm Funkel wants to give it one more try: With 1. FC Köln, the old champion can achieve his seventh promotion to the Bundesliga

Saying goodbye to professional football: This seems to be a thought that doesn't even exist in Friedhelm Funkel's imagination. It seems the football coach from the Lower Rhine region has repeatedly retired, but as soon as an interesting offer came his way, Funkel returned to the coaching bench.

Last year he led 1. FC Kaiserslautern, a second division team, to the DFB Cup final against champions Leverkusen. Kaiserslautern lost by a narrow 0-1 score due to a goal by Granit Xhaka.

And this year, Funkel has once again been persuaded to undertake a mission: Two matchdays before the end of the season, he took over as coach of 1. FC Köln, whose lead over third place has shrunk to just two points. This position in the table would mean a play-off for the first Bundesliga, not direct promotion.

Cologne see their big goal for the season in jeopardy, and they are acting exactly as 1. FC Kaiserslautern did two weeks ago when they fired their coach Markus Anfang and appointed Torsten Lieberknecht.

Coach dismissals don't happen on a whim. They're usually driven by existential concerns. At 1. FC Köln, hopes of returning to the top flight were so high that they prompted the club to replace not only coach Gerhard Struber but also sporting director Christian Keller. Only five points from the last five games led the club to part ways with the duo in charge.

At first glance, this approach appears panicky. Cologne had repeatedly claimed that another year in the second Bundesliga was manageable. After a 1-1 draw with bottom-placed Jahn Regensburg, manager Keller expressed his confidence in the coach. However, the club's management no longer had that confidence in the manager; Keller had previously led to the seventh relegation in the club's history. The well-informed "Kicker" newspaper learned just how great Cologne's ambition truly is: Behind closed doors, there had been talk in Cologne of international business again during the winter break.

A healthy grasp of reality has never been one of 1. FC Köln's strengths. Perhaps for this very reason, the club has thrived under coaches who tended to be more pragmatic. And from this perspective, Friedhelm Funkel is the ideal man. The veteran coach is now considered a cult figure. Not because of his off-the-cuff remarks or eccentricity, but precisely the opposite: For decades, he has stood for unwavering composure. This has earned him a very special record: he has led teams to the top flight of the Bundesliga six times . Now, the seventh promotion is set to follow.

"FC Köln is and remains a matter close to my heart. From now on, it's all about mobilizing everything in the remaining two games, rediscovering faith in our own strength, and achieving promotion together." This is how Funkel was quoted in a club statement. This is not the only reason why he is considered the best solution for this situation at 1. FC Köln. Funkel isn't looking for a permanent position; moreover, living in the nearby Neuss, he is very familiar with the club's feverish mentality. This is Funkel's third engagement in Cologne: he was already with FC Köln in 2002 , and again in 2021.

Achieving results in the shortest possible time; quickly grasping what a team needs; relying on simple yet effective methods that everyone can grasp, and appealing to established routines – that's what Friedhelm Funkel stands for. He's not an innovator or even a renewer, but someone who knows his stuff. Especially since Funkel often accepts offers, but is by no means arbitrary in his choice of assignments: He's happy to stay in the West, where he coached Cologne and Fortuna Düsseldorf – and helped the club to the top division.

The fact that he was drawn to the Palatinate last year was certainly due not only to the attractive challenge but also to the biographical connections: Friedhelm Funkel was part of the legendary Lautern team that knocked Real Madrid out of the European Cup with a 5-0 win in 1982. Other coaches may bask in the glory of their championships. For Funkel, it is the relegation he avoided and the promotions he achieved that make him one of the most popular figures in German football.