Young Boys: It all started with a fight

Patrick Frame was away from the Young Boys for a long time. The Basel player only came to the reigning champions from FC Winterthur in the summer and signed a contract until 2026. Now his time is over again.

The planned love affair initially turned into a horror relationship before the separation took place. The Bernese crisis, however, did not just start with frames. 20 minutes presents an overview.

Last December, the Young Boys won 3-1 in the Super League against Stade-Lausanne-Ouchy. The Bernese went into the winter break as confident leaders. YB was also represented in the cup and wintered in Europe. It’s all ok? No! Club legend Jean-Pierre Nsame was extremely dissatisfied and angry because, in his opinion, he received too little playing time. Talent Aurèle Amenda was also not satisfied – for the same reason. He moved to Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer.

At the end of January, YB club legend Nsame moved to Como, although he would have liked a transfer to Servette. But Bern did not want to sell the striker to a league competitor. In an interview with the “Tribune de Genève”, the striker said: “YB always only looked out for its interests. Everything I brought in, my commitment, was forgotten.”

And: “YB didn’t respect me.” YB chief strategist and club co-owner Christoph Spycher doesn’t understand that. He explained at blue: “We really want to put the lid on this chapter.” There were certainly things towards the end that we didn’t agree on.”

Loris Benito suffered a torn cruciate ligament at the beginning of February. Bitter! He was the outstanding player in the Young Boys’ season. As a result, the earnings crisis slowly but surely began. How much the Bernese miss Benito can also be seen in the current season. Without him, the YB defense often seems overwhelmed and wild.

At the beginning of March, the Young Boys reacted to two league defeats in a row and the cup exit. The Bernese are parting ways with master coach Raphael Wicky. The previous U-21 coach and ex-professional Joël Magnin took over as head coach with immediate effect. In terms of results, Wicky’s time in Bern was definitely a success. The double victory in 2023 was followed by the European winter.

There was a lot of simmering in the Bernese management team. YB CEO Wanja Greuel submitted the resignation. Greuel is said to have felt left alone in discussions with representatives in the sporting sector. At YB he had worn himself out in the management, wrote the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”. YB confirmed the end shortly after the report.

After the Wicky exit there was a party against FC Basel, but after that the championship race in the Super League turned into a snail race. At times you had to ask yourself the question: Doesn’t anyone want to become a master? The fact that YB were crowned champions before the last game had less to do with the Bernese team’s convincing performances and more to do with the weakness of the competition. This is particularly demonstrated by this fact: With an average points score of 2.0, no Super League champion has ever been weaker.

YB boss Christoph Spycher and sports director Steve von Bergen are also coming under increasing criticism. In the summer, the Bernese stayed true to their line and signed foreign talents such as Ebrima Colley, Facinet Conte and Tanguy Zoukrou, who will at some point be sold on for a profit. However, the commitment of a seasoned leader was waived. This now turns out to be a mistake. Spycher and especially von Bergen are particularly criticized in the YB fan forums. Many are particularly calling for the sports director to leave.

The Young Boys are experiencing a horror start to the season. YB made it sensationally into the Champions League after heroic performances against Galatasaray. But overall, Framework’s performance at YB is very poor. After 15 games across all competitions, he has a miserable points average of 1.2 points. The Young Boys are in crisis in the Champions League and the league, YB is in last place in the Super League. YB throws out frames 99 days after hiring him.