Jurgen Klinsmann hails from Swabia, the conservative south-west of Germany. But the 55-year-old took to his job at Hertha Berlin in the radical manner of fellow Californian Mark Zuckerberg. Move fast and break things.



It’s the way he’s always operated. If there are people within a federation or a club that he doesn’t like or rate, they’re gone. Not tomorrow. Today.



After his appointment at Hertha ten weeks ago, his first prominent victim was goalkeeping coach Zsolt Petry. The 53-year-old was instantly replaced by German national team goalkeeping coach Andreas Kopke, on an interim basis. That decision marked an inauspicious start to Klinsmann’s 76-day tenure before it had even begun: it reeked of nepotism and personal revenge.



Two years ago, Petry had criticised Klinsmann’s son, Jonathan, a budding goalkeeper at Hertha for lacking charisma. Klinsmann junior, 22, has since moved on to play for St Gallen in Switzerland last...