Special Moments — Werder Bremen

Every football fan felt a shiver run down

Every football fan felt a shiver run down the spine on February 8, 1981.

Every football fan felt a shiver run down the spine on February 8, 1981. Respected coaching colleague Kuno Kloetzer was badly injured in a car accident on the B214 between Celle and Braunschweig in icy conditions: broken ribs, lacerations, concussion. Ritter Kuno, as they called him in Hamburg, had had luck in misfortune.

Kuno tried once more to return to the

Kuno tried once more to return to the Werder Bremen bench.

Kuno tried once more to return to the Werder Bremen bench. At nearly 59 he already belonged to the old guard in this brutal coaching business. I had experienced myself just how harsh the Bundesliga coaching guild could be.

On April 30, 1978 Borussia Dortmund had relieved

On April 30, 1978 Borussia Dortmund had relieved me of my duties after a 12:0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach on the last day of the season.

On April 30, 1978 Borussia Dortmund had relieved me of my duties after a 12:0 defeat at Borussia Moenchengladbach on the last day of the season. The media, with whom I had often clashed and whom I had often blamed for the speed with which the football business burned through people, were naturally anything but gentle. Otto Torhagel was the mildest label attached to the biggest disaster any team had ever suffered in Germany's top division, and one for which I bore responsibility.

Some especially clever journalists even suggested I had intentionally lost by that margin so that Gladbach could still become champions. Bribery and all the rest. Nonsense, of course.

Since I had resigned at Arminia Bielefeld in

Since I had resigned at Arminia Bielefeld in the second division in October 1979 and club president Joerg Auf der Heyde had accused me of lacking self-motivation and being able to deliver only short-term success, I was already seen in the business as difficult to place.

Since I had resigned at Arminia Bielefeld in the second division in October 1979 and club president Joerg Auf der Heyde had accused me of lacking self-motivation and being able to deliver only short-term success, I was already seen in the business as difficult to place. There is hardly anything worse for a Bundesliga coach than people no longer trusting you to create lasting success.

At Fortuna Duesseldorf I had shown everybody that

At Fortuna Duesseldorf I had shown everybody that I could do it.

At Fortuna Duesseldorf I had shown everybody that I could do it. That I was not just the wild fireman rampaging along the touchline that people took me for. Toni Schumacher even predicted in 1986 that Rehhagel would become calmer too.

Klaus Allofs, one of my model pupils in Duesseldorf and later in Bremen, confirmed as much, saying that although I had arrived with the reputation of a big mouth and a rescuer who would not stay long, I was still able to set up a team well and recognize what mattered.

I won the DFB Cup with Fortuna in

I won the DFB Cup with Fortuna in 1980, my first title as a coach.

I won the DFB Cup with Fortuna in 1980, my first title as a coach. But a 3:0 defeat in Kaiserslautern in December 1980 and sixteenth place led to my departure because Duesseldorf had already secured Heinz Hoeher, who carried the same dubious fireman image as I did.

Luckily Kuno Kloetzer felt better again in February

Luckily Kuno Kloetzer felt better again in February 1981, but he had piercing headaches and could no longer do the Werder job permanently.

Luckily Kuno Kloetzer felt better again in February 1981, but he had piercing headaches and could no longer do the Werder job permanently. Werder manager Rudi Assauer got in touch and persuaded me to take over in the second division. In the meantime he had sat on the bench himself during Kuno's absence, as he had already done in the relegation year of 1979/80, making statements that would be unthinkable today.

He even invited 67-year-old coaching veteran Fritz Langner back and supplied schnapps to the whole squad before an away game in Munich.

You could guess that this bar-football mentality would

You could guess that this bar-football mentality would not work.

You could guess that this bar-football mentality would not work. To Assauer's credit, he stayed after the 1980 relegation, the worst season Werder Bremen had ever played in the Bundesliga. The team had conceded 93 goals, including eleven against champions Bayern Munich alone.

Assauer said he had helped mess it up and would help repair it. Club president Dr. Franz Boehmert later put it even more bluntly: the club had lain in a coma.

He also understood very well that in the second division people trained and were paid as if they were in the first. Assauer therefore drew a wage ceiling: no player would receive more than 200,000 marks.

That drove most of the players away. Dieter

That drove most of the players away.

That drove most of the players away. Dieter Budde Burdenski was one of the few who stayed. Otherwise Werder's squad in the second division was mocked mercilessly by the media.

Der Spiegel wrote that the new signings made it seem as if the club was opening a reception camp in the Weserstadion for aging and left-behind footballers. New libero Klaus Fichtel was already 35, new center-forward Erwin Kostedde 34. It was vicious stuff.

With my boys I was determined to prove

With my boys I was determined to prove the opposite from day one.

With my boys I was determined to prove the opposite from day one. Erwin Kostedde, who had already played under me in Dortmund and Offenbach and never scored more goals for any other coach, repaid my faith with nine goals in twelve matches. My comeback as Werder coach ended with a convincing 4:2 win at Union Solingen, helped by one of Kostedde's goals, and was followed by a 6:0 at home to Alemannia Aachen.

A few days later Kuno Kloetzer went to

A few days later Kuno Kloetzer went to Dr.

A few days later Kuno Kloetzer went to Dr. Franz Boehmert and gave up the Werder coaching position in my favor. For me, and for Boehmert and his club, it became the decisive moment that turned everything for the better. Together we marched straight back up in 1981, with a club record 93 goals of our own in professional football.

But the three dismissals I had already suffered

But the three dismissals I had already suffered in my coaching career had made me more cautious.

But the three dismissals I had already suffered in my coaching career had made me more cautious. After our 4:2 against Borussia Moenchengladbach in the opening match of the season I rejected all congratulations. Many interpreted that as typical Otto arrogance, but I stood by what I said then: football glory lasts only a week. That never changed, even after our huge successes.

In 1988 and 1993 Werder Bremen became German

In 1988 and 1993 Werder Bremen became German champions, and even my Munich intimate enemy Udo Lattek no longer spoke of Otto the Second.

In 1988 and 1993 Werder Bremen became German champions, and even my Munich intimate enemy Udo Lattek no longer spoke of Otto the Second. The Cup Winners' Cup in 1992, the DFB Cup wins of 1991 and 1994, and the roaring European nights under the floodlights at the Weserstadion - nowhere in Germany do fans celebrate floodlit football quite like they do in Bremen - made Werder a fixed quantity all across Europe.

I had already worked with Dr. Franz Boehmert

I had already worked with Dr.

I had already worked with Dr. Franz Boehmert in 1976, when Werder were fighting relegation. The story that he paid me, the fireman Otto Rehhagel, 20,000 marks for keeping the team up is just another media fairy tale. After my mission in Bremen was completed, I signed for Borussia Dortmund because Hennes Weisweiler had turned them down.