Bayern Munich manager, Jupp Heynckes, has hit out at the club’s decision to announce Pep Guardiola as his successor, midway through the season.
Heynckes will be leaving his post when his contract expires at the end of the current campaign, and former Barca boss Guardiola will take the reins at the Allianz Arena on 1 July.
While Heynckes is thought to have accepted his putting out to pasture by Bayern with dignity, he is less impressed by the fanfare given to Guardiola’s appointment.
With Bayern determined to retain their grip on the Bundesliga and depose defending champions Borussia Dortmund, Heynckes sees the attention given to Pep as nothing more than a distraction. And he would have preferred a more thoughtful announcement of the Catalan’s impending arrival, at a better date.
"It would have been better to do this in the winter break," Heynckes told Sky.
"Before Christmas, before the holidays. This is due to the media hype that might interfere with the normal working day."
"I am the boss," Heynckes added, responding to recent claims that he is no longer in control of Bayern’s squad.
"Anyone who knows me knows I am the boss here. I have been the boss everywhere, no matter where I have worked."
Meanwhile, Bayern legend Franz Beckenbauer agrees that the announcement of Pep may have been poorly timed for Heynckes’ purposes.
But even Der Kaiser seems to have been swept up by Pep’s pizzazz.
"If somebody is as high calibre as Pep Guardiola, you should not be surprised if it is the big issue," he told Bild.
"Now, it has to be Jupp. But he doesn't seem happy."