Heynckes — Bayern’s treble-winning hero back at the helm

Afterfour years in retirement, Jupp Heynckes returned to Bayern Munich for afourth stint as head coach yesterday in the hope of bringing the 2013glory days back to the Bavarian giants. This is the 72-year-old’s firstcoaching job since steering Bayern to the 2013 treble, the first andonly time a German side have won the Bundesliga, Champions League andGerman Cup titles in a single season.Heynckes first led Bayern from1987 to 1991, then briefly in 2009 as caretaker, and from 2011 until2013. He takes over the reins from the sacked Carlo Ancelotti, who losthis job last week after a stuttering start to the season and a 3-0Champions League defeat by Paris Saint-Germain.“There is a strongrelationship of trust between Jupp Heynckes and FC Bayern,” said clubchairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge. “He is at the moment the ideal coach forBayern.”Heynckes will be assisted by the current co-trainer ofFortuna Duesseldorf, Peter Hermann, and the current sports director ofBayern’s youth team, Hermann Gerland. It was along with Hermann andGerland that Heynckes led Bayern to the treble.“I would not havereturned to any other club in the world, but Bayern Munich is close tomy heart,” said Heynckes, vowing to transform the team back into a“successful” squad. In an interview with Kicker magazine, Heynckes saidhe was “not making a comeback, it’s a service for a friend. I’m doing itonly because I owe a lot to Bayern.”The Bundesliga champions madeno mention of former French international defender and Bayern stalwartWilly Sagnol, who had stepped in as interim coach after the shockdeparture of Italian Ancelotti. Bayern are languishing in third place inthe Bundesliga, five points behind leaders Borussia Dortmund.Heynckeswalked away in June 2013 after Bayern lifted the Bundesliga, ChampionsLeague and German Cup trophies in a glorious fortnight. With PhilippLahm as captain, they won the 2012/13 Bundesliga title by a massive 25points, lifting the title on May 18 after a 4-3 win at Heynckes’ oldclub Borussia Moenchengladbach.A week later, Arjen Robben’ssecond-half winner gave Bayern the Champions League title with a 2-1 winover Borussia Dortmund in an all-German final at Wembley. It was thesecond time Heynckes won the trophy, after his 1997-98 triumph with RealMadrid, and his third Champions League final after Bayern lost at hometo Chelsea on penalties in 2012.“To win the Champions League for asecond time or even to have been in three finals and won two of them is abit special,” Heynckes said after Bayern’s Wembley triumph. A 3-2 winover VfB Stuttgart meant Bayern left Berlin with the German Cup tocomplete the treble season on June 1. “He’s a great professional and agreat person. The coach was the biggest factor in our success,” saidformer Bayern midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger at the time.Despite his friendly grandfather-like appearance, Heynckes is a tough disciplinarianwho once fined Schweinsteiger and fellow Germany star Toni Kroos forwearing the wrong colour socks to training. As a fleet-footed winger,Heynckes won the 1974 World Cup with West Germany and the 1972 Europeanchampionships.He made 39 international appearances, scoring 19 goalsfor West Germany. He played for two clubs, Borussia Moenchengladbach,where he made 394 appearances and scored 243 goals, before a three-yearspell at Hanover 96.As a coach, he had stints at Gladbach, Bayern,Athletic Bilbao, Eintracht Frankfurt, Tenerife and Real, but was forcedout of the Santiago Bernabeu after just one season despite winning theChampions League. He stepped in as Bayern caretaker coach afterJurgen Klinsmann was sacked in April 2009 and took over in July 2011,after Louis van Gaal’s departure, which culminated in the 2013treble-winning season.