Who’s Gonna Win BVB’s Internal Standoff?

A flurry of reports from Patrick Berger hit Twitter last night, describing a toxic and highly explosive atmosphere within the Dortmund camp on the back of the current transfer window. It has been widely reported by now, that Sebastian Kehl and Edin Terzic had different assessments of the squad in the summer, and that Terzic got his way with almost all his demands.

What initially seemed to spark an internal debate was the decision from Terzic to keep Emre Can, who Sebastian Kehl was looking to offload in the summer in favor of Edson Álvarez from AFC Ajax. Furthermore, it seems that Terzic and Kehl had been in direct disagreement regarding the transfer of Niclas Füllkrug as well. While Terzic was looking to strengthen the attack, Kehl was in favor of adding Southampton center back Armel Bella-Kotchap to the squad instead. According to Patrick Berger, the transfer of Felix Nmecha was also up for internal debate — especially as the price tag for the German international grew exponentially bigger. So far it seems that Bensebaini and Sabitzer have been the only two transfers that the board have entirely agreed on.

I’m tempted to brand what Terzic has done this transfer window as self sabotage, but then again, he chose which players to acquire. And with only five points collected from the first three matches against bottom table teams, Terzic now seems to have backed himself into a corner. Only with very convincing displays in the upcoming matches can Terzic silence his doubters. If Terzic actually manages to go on a decent run of games, it will be interesting to see how Kehl will respond.

With a situation this tense, I can only see it end one way — with a dismissal. Whether it’s gonna be Kehl, Terzic or even Watzke (I highly doubt it), no one knows, but I have the feeling that we’re gonna know the answer in not too long.

Grab your popcorn everyone, ‘cause it’s about to get real ugly!