The fallout from Ole Werner’s shock dismissal at RB Leipzig has taken a bitter twist — and Jürgen Klopp’s name is conspicuously absent from the departing coach’s goodbye message. Werner, sacked on Wednesday alongside assistant coaches Tom Cichon and Patrick Kohlmann, took to LinkedIn to address players, supporters and staff after what he described as an inability to say his farewells in person.
Ole Werner RB Leipzig Departure Leaves a Sour Taste
Werner’s exit raised eyebrows immediately. The 38-year-old had just delivered a third-place Bundesliga finish, securing Champions League football for the club — hardly the record of a man who deserves the boot. Nevertheless, Red Bull’s head of soccer Jürgen Klopp, acting alongside Leipzig supervisory board chairman Oliver Mintzlaff, pulled the trigger. Klopp acknowledged the achievement, stating: “Ole did a great job, he led us to the Champions League, but we also have to look forward.”
However, Werner’s LinkedIn letter told a different story beneath the surface. He thanked sporting director Marcel Schäfer by name, reflected warmly on his “very positive” tenure, and credited himself and the squad with successfully reshaping “the team’s demeanour and style of play while establishing a new, sustainable hierarchy within the dressing room.” Neither Klopp nor Mintzlaff received so much as a passing mention. That omission? Deliberate, you’d wager.
Record-Breaking Numbers That Make the Sacking Even More Baffling
The statistics only deepen the intrigue. As noted across European football coverage, Werner accumulated more points than any previous Leipzig head coach across a single Bundesliga season — 20 wins and five draws from 34 rounds. That is a remarkable return by any measure.
Furthermore, this is not Werner’s first departure under contentious circumstances. His previous role at Werder Bremen ended when he refused to put pen to paper on a contract extension — a pattern that suggests a man who operates entirely on his own terms. Whether that independence ultimately cost him at Leipzig remains open to debate.
Meanwhile, Leipzig have already identified a potential successor, with reports linking Mallorca coach Martin Demichelis with the vacancy at the Red Bull Arena. The club clearly want to move quickly. Whether the next man in can match Werner’s points tally is another question entirely.
