Henke relishes new role

By Alois Urban

After spending years under the wing of the legendary Ottmar Hitzfeld, Michael Henke has finally decided to go it alone and has taken over as a head coach of 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

Flying solo
Henke spent 15 years being groomed as Ottmar Hitzfeld's assistant at BV Borussia Dortmund and FC Bayern München but found it impossible to resist Kaiserslautern's overtures when the club offered him the chance to step out of Hitzfeld's shadow.

'The right time'
"For me personally, it was the right time to take this responsibility and join a Bundesliga side as coach," the 48-year-old told uefa.com. "It will be a new experience for me and hopefully I can add some more trophies to the ones I won with Ottmar." Henke is certainly no stranger to success having won two UEFA Champions League trophies, seven German championships, three German Cups and two European/South American Cups as an assistant coach.

'Highly rated'
Now his mission is to prove he can be successful without the guidance of Hitzfeld. He already has a tremendous reputation, with Hitzfeld regarding him as one of the most knowledgeable people in football. Indeed, it was his reputation as one of the most meticulous disciplinarians in the game that persuaded Kaiserslautern to tempt him into their hotseat.

Shades of Hitzfeld
It is not too surprising to see parallels between Henke's football philosophy and that of his mentor. His side are likely to adopt a similar strategy as he tries to squeeze the same level of success out of the Kaiserslautern squad as he enjoyed with Hitzfeld at Dortmund and Bayern. Henke plans every single tactical movement on the pitch in a considered, focused manner and has already convinced his new employers he is the right man for the job.

'Great experience'
"Michael Henke exemplifies the next generation of coaches at the highest level," club chairman René Jäggi said about his new trainer. "We have managed to buy football experience at a level which we would never normally have dreamed of." Such quality is exactly what the 1998/99 Champions League qualifiers need right now, having been hit with major financial problems and relegation worries in recent years. But Henke is expected to lead the club back into calmer waters in his first season.

'Huge challenge'
Despite being given a modest budget of €15m this season, one of the lowest in the Bundesliga, Henke remains full of optimism. He said: "This is a huge challenge, but I am absolutely convinced that I can handle it." That confidence is likely to be spurred on by Kaiserslautern's vociferous home support.

Home form
"I remember that I always had a strange feeling when we had to play here with Dortmund or Bayern," Henke said. "We want our opponents to stand up in respect of our team and our fans when they travel to Kaiserslautern."

Under pressure
But Henke still has an enormous job proving that his great reputation as a top coach is fully justified - especially because the Red Devils have signed him on a one-year deal with a performance-related option for another year should he do well. He is also keen to shed his tag as 'the next Hitzfeld', preferring to be regarded as his own man. It promises to be an interesting year at the Fritz-Walter-Stadion.