There have been many rather special coaching changes in the long history of the Bundesliga, but the characteristics of the separation, which those responsible at VfL Bochum decided on Monday, stand out even among the most extraordinary redundancies.

The remaining Bochum team, who are now going into the coming weeks with their U-19 coach Heiko Butscher as interim coach, appear much sadder and depressed than the fired Thomas Reis.

There was not even a hint of relief when Patrick Fabian, the Managing Director Sport, who had only been in office for two weeks, explained: "I would have wished with all my heart that it would be different, but things are as they are and that's what counts to accept."

Reis, on the other hand, was in a good mood and confident even after the 3-1 defeat at Schalke, which gave the final impetus for the separation measure on Saturday, which has an obvious reason.

He himself can be relatively sure that after his convincing work at VfL he will soon be offered a new job at a larger club.

Bochum, on the other hand, are definitely the first relegation candidate;

it would be a sensation if the team were to break free of the once-wonderful relationship with Reis and stay in the league after this all-round unsuccessful start to the season and the sad end of the once-wonderful relationship with Reis.

Spectacular victory over Bayern

The pain of separation hits the core of many Bochum residents because Reis' departure not only marks the end of the best time in the club's recent history, but also an intimate love affair.

Born in Franconia, he played for VfL for eight years, was later a scout, a temporary help in accounting, he trained the youngsters and the women of the district club before becoming head coach in 2019.

"I'm naturalized," he said with pleasure.

In the past three years, Reis has turned the club, which is bobbing around in the second division, into a fairly casual Bundesliga club that presents itself as a credible alternative to sterile nouveau riche football.

Reis led an exciting and rather colorful team put together by Sebastian Schindzielorz, who retired in August, back to the Bundesliga after eleven years.

There, the team enchanted its fans with a number of unforgettable highlights: an away win in Dortmund, a spectacular 4-2 win against FC Bayern, with two goals from almost 50 meters and a comfortable stay in the league.

As recently as August, club boss Hans-Peter Villis indicated that he could well imagine sticking with Reis even in the event of relegation, and a contract extension was being worked on.

But then a few things went terribly wrong.

At the latest with the change of coach, the whole magic is gone.

Fabian assured that "primarily sporting reasons" were decisive, VfL have lost all six games in the season so far.

To assess the situation, just look at the table.

"We're last and are already four points behind the next place," said the sporting director.

However, this argument was not entirely conclusive.

"No further comment"

Because the performances, which usually say more about the condition of a team than the results, were decent apart from the 0:7 against FC Bayern.

In addition, after the unfortunate 1: 3 at Schalke, several players credibly assured that they would like to continue working with Reis.

The coach had a lot of support among the fans anyway, and there are many indications that the relationship between the coach and the club management was damaged.

Fabian didn't want to respond to such considerations, but he also didn't say that Reis' flirtation with FC Schalke, which the coach apparently would have liked to join in the summer, was irrelevant.

The contract negotiations that failed and were then put on hold led to further unrest.

In response to several inquiries in this direction, Fabian repeated: "The sporty aspect is above everything." Regarding the other noises, "there was a lot of talk, that doesn't need any further comment".

In the end, however, the strange process of alienation no longer plays a role.

It is clear that this is not one of those coaching changes that are made every few months at VfL Wolfsburg or FC Augsburg.

Any successor at Bochum will have a hard time as Reis has earned the reputation of being the ideal coach for this club.

Heiko Butscher is set to return to the U19s soon, but the management and supervisory board must first find a savior who can give this grieving club fresh energy. "I definitely think there are still coaches who fit in with VfL Bochum", said Fabian, but that remains to be seen.

It can be said with greater certainty that there are still clubs that fit Thomas Reis.