A Baden tax official and a left-wing teacher — that was exactly the material the literary pages needed from the Bundesliga. “We often rubbed against each other on football matters,” Finke later said of Stocker, “but on the decisive things we knew we could rely on each other.” In late 1993, after a 4–1 win over the rich Borussia Dortmund at the height of Freiburg’s first great wave of euphoria, Finke blurted out: “Hey, it’s so fantastic what we’re doing!” Stocker had given his new coach free rein from the start. “I like the way you do it,” he told him.\n\n“Do it how you want — I’ll have your back.” He did, right up until he could not any longer.