Ajax

Gladbach get Hütter up and running as Rose suffers on return | Andy Brassell

27-Sep-2021 12:45:43 | The Guardian

Marco Rose returned to Borussia Mönchengladbach with Dortmund on Saturday but it was his replacement at Borussia-Park who was victorious

The biggest reaction in Borussia-Park arrived at exactly the moment it was expected. As Marco Rose came out to take his place on the bench – arriving fashionably late, no doubt – there was no sneaking into position without Borussia Mönchengladbach’s fans giving him a hot reception. The faithful of the Nordkurve, at least, had certainly not forgotten the slow and painful end to last season after Rose’s impending departure for Borussia Dortmund was announced, the day after Valentine’s Day.

The bad news for the returning coach was that wasn’t the noisiest the 25,000 gathered on Saturday night got. After a far-from-impeccable start to life under new coach Adi Hütter, the Gladbach tail wagged hard here, pushing miserable away defeats at Leverkusen, Union Berlin and Augsburg to the back of the mind with a display of graft and grit. It felt sweet. A member of the supporters club, Michael Weigand, told Sport Bild before the match that fans felt “duped and fooled” by Rose. “We really thought there could be an emotional bond between Marco Rose and the club but it was all smoke and mirrors”.