Commitment anxiety

Actually, everything is going to plan. After taking over the newly-relegated Hertha Berlin in the summer of 2010, Markus Babbel led the club from the capital back to the top flight. And this season, he has guided them to the middle of the table.

But all is not hunky-dory in the Olympic Stadium and immediate environs. After promising to make a decision by the end of November about extending his contract, which expires after this season, Babbel has said and done precisely nothing.

Babbel sat stoically silent at Hertha's annual members' meeting on November 27 - a fact that did not go unnoticed by the press. Everyone from the controversy-seeking tabloid Bild to Germany's leading football magazine kicker ran reports last week claiming that Babbel and Hertha commercial manager Michael Preetz are scarcely on speaking terms any more.

But hard facts - particularly about what job Babbel might be headed - were few and far between. It's known that Babbel admires Bayern Munich and would love the head job there, as would 99 percent of all German soccer coaches. But like 99 percent of his peers, he lacks the necessary coaching pedigree.

So Schalke has emerged as the most likely suitor. The Royal Blues' sporting director Horst Heldt was Babbel's teammate for two seasons at Stuttgart, and went on to become his boss during the former Liverpool man's first coaching stint at Stuttgart from 2008 to 2009. The press has also seized upon a statement by the coach that he turned down an offer earlier this season to honor his contract with Hertha as evidence that Babbel has been talking to Gelsenkirchen.

That gave fans in Berlin a lot to talk about ahead of Friday's home match - against none other than Schalke.

Boos and cheers

Discussing what may or may not be going on in Babbel's brain was an excellent way to pass some chilly minutes for fans waiting to enter the stadium on Friday.

"If he wants to go, then we should let him go in the winter break," said 40-year-old Hertha fan Frank. "He's not a real Berliner anyway."

Others were a bit sadder at the prospect of seeing Babbel blow out of town.

"I always hoped he and Preetz would become another Schaaf and Allofs," said supporter Henry, referring to Werder Bremen's successful coach-manager tandem of Thomas Schaaf and Klaus Allofs.

That ambiguity was reflected when Babbel's name was announced over the stadium loudspeakers before the match, as boos mixed with cheers.

Babbel divided Hertha fans right from the start. On the one hand, he has garnered praise for his handling of the media and man-management of the squad.

On the other hand, Babbel's Berlin has rarely played eye-pleasing football, even when marching to the second-division title last season. That's led critics to question whether the coach has a coherent tactical philosophy for the team.

Another tendency that's raised eyebrows is Babbel's aversion to substitutions. The coach rarely takes advantage of his three extra players, regardless of the score.

That was the case again on Friday. Babbel only substituted twice as Hertha tried - and failed - to overturn a 2-1 halftime deficit.

Huub's the boss?

The match itself was, by turns, a highly illustrative and somewhat bizarre spectacle.

Hertha played solid football and had their chances, but Schalke ultimately prevailed thanks to better individual skills. That's not surprising, considering that the Royal Blues field expensive superstars like Raul and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, both of whom earn millions more per season than Berlin's best-paid players.

With their middling fan appeal and 30 million euros ($44 million) in past debt, Hertha will not be able to compete financially with the Bundesliga's big boys in the coming years. And Babbel, who hauled in quite a few titles as a player with Bayern and Liverpool, knows that if he wants to win silverware in the near future, Berlin is probably not the place to do it.

"I can't fault the guys at all," Babbel said after the match. "They gave their all…Our time of possession and the number of challenges won were both okay."

If one so chooses, one could read a statement like that as an acknowledgement that the coach has taken this squad about as far as they can go.

But if he's secretly longing for a move to his opponents on Friday, Babbel only needed to look down the touchline to see his biggest obstacle, Schalke's current coach Huub Stevens.

The Dutchman is immensely popular among the Royal Blue faithful, having led Schalke to the 1997 UEFA Cup title as well as the German Cup and brink of a Bundesliga title in 2001. If Schalke qualify for international competition next season, which looks to be a pretty safe bet, it would be difficult for Heldt to let him go in favor of Babbel, a Bavarian native whom fans still most closely associate with Bayern Munich.

Thus, Babbel is playing a risky game. Hertha cannot afford distractions as they try to re-establish themselves in the top flight, and Preetz likely has no option but to send Babbel packing in the winter break if he still refuses to recommit.

Babbel's ambitions might then leave him without a post, a dangerous situation for any coach - particularly for one whose ultimate ambition is a plum job at Bayern Munich.

Author: Jefferson Chase
Editor: Matt Hermann