Werder Bremen coach Tomas Schaaf extended his contract with the club on Thursday ahead of schedule for a further two years until 30.06.2010. The announcement was made by club chairman Jürgen L. Born at a press conference on Thursday afternoon
Werder Bremen coach Tomas Schaaf extended his contract with the club on Thursday ahead of schedule for a further two years until 30.06.2010. The announcement was made by club chairman Jürgen L. Born at a press conference on Thursday afternoon
Werder Bremen coach Tomas Schaaf extended his contract with the club on Thursday ahead of schedule for a further two years until 30.06.2010. The announcement was made by club chairman Jürgen L. Born at a press conference on Thursday afternoon: “When a club is in as strong a position as Werder Bremen is it’s generally because they have an exceptional trainer. For that reason, we are delighted that after eight years and five months with Thomas that we have been able to sign a new contract”, explained Born.
General manager Klaus Allofs commented on the negotiations: “The extensions with Thomas are never guaranteed but on this occasion we were sure very early on in proceedings that we wanted to continue working together. The fact that it took so long this time around was down to the fact that due to the turbulent start to the season we held the decision at a distance. Now that things have quietened down, we are in a position to focus on the finer details.”
Thomas Schaaf made it clear that, despite the number of years he has held his position, he is still highly motivated to continue his work with the Green-Whites: “We still have a number of things we wish to achieve here. Despite the always increasing pressure from the competition we want to remain in a leading position in the league and maintain a constant involvement in the Champions League. It’s important to me that we reward out performances with trophies. We want to be in the running for the league title and the DFB Cup every time”, explained Schaaf who went on: “We want to obtain consistency in the Champions League and come through the group stage every time in order to make ourselves noticed.”
It has been very important to the coach that the framework at Werder Bremen has been constantly improved in recent years and that this can be continued in the future. The coach looks back proudly on what has been achieved at the club – and rightly so: “You’ve just got to take a look around the stadium, at the trainings pitches, ‘Platz 11, the changing rooms and what has been improved with the backroom staff.”
The response to the news of Schaaf’s contract extension has been extremely positive. Boubacar Sanogo remarked: “Thomas Schaaf is a super trainer. He tells the players exactly what he thinks and has a really good personality. He is definitely the right man for this club and this team.”
Thomas Schaaf has been head coach at Werder Bremen since 10.05.1999. In his first weeks at the club he helped avoid relegation and lead the club to their 1999 cup win. The following year he reached the cup final again. The Mannheim born trainer had his greatest footballing achievement in the 2003/2004 season, winning the league and cup double with Ailton, Micoud and Co. whilst guiding Werder back to the Champions League for the first time in ten years. This season Thomas Schaaf takes Werder into Europe’s top football tournament for the fourth year in succession.
