Hope for Grasshoppers? With Alain Sutter, the record champions are set to shine again. First, they must avoid relegation.

Tomas Oral also has a picture of him. The GC coach smiles as he says: "I was a Bayern fan in my youth. The striker with the long, blond hair . . . Of course I remember him." Alain Sutter was a player who, beyond Switzerland, was more than just a nimble winger in the 1990s. He was "the blond angel"; long hair could still be a cause for controversy back then.

Sutter etched his name in sporting memory with his goal in the 4-1 World Cup win against Romania in 1994. He showed that footballers can think beyond the pitch when, before an international match in 1995, he persuaded the Swiss to protest against France's nuclear weapons tests with the banner "Stop it Chirac!" Sutter was the first Swiss football pop star, who, like Éric Cantona and David Beckham, went his own way. Now, at 57, Sutter is back where it all began: as sporting director at Grasshoppers Zurich.

It was no surprise when the record champions, threatened with relegation, announced a change in their sporting management on Monday. The team had lost two consecutive games against Winterthur, revealing signs of disintegration. Industry customs usually call for a coaching change in light of the threat of relegation. The surprise of the press release was that Alain Sutter was replacing sporting director Stephan Schwarz, while coach Oral remained in charge. It was a veritable coup.

So, on Thursday afternoon, it was actually up to Sutter to explain his plans and motives to a representative of the GC owners from Los Angeles. But Sutter remained silent, saying he wanted to "first get an overview of the situation." So, on Thursday, Oral spoke, in excellent spirits, and recounted his "first, positive encounters and conversations" with his new boss. This was followed by a lengthy apology for traveling back to his home country of Germany, to his sister's wedding, without a single word of clarification "due to a misunderstanding" on Saturday after the resounding slap in the face in Winterthur.

Five days later, Oral recalls that the VAR was to blame for the referee's decision to overturn a penalty that had already been awarded. His conclusion: "I believe in the team; we've stabilized them." In training, he sees only willing, committed players. His message for the derby: "We want three points." His plan: "Give it our all." Sometimes coaching isn't so complicated if you have a few phrases at the ready and keep your sense of humor when asked whether your bags are packed.

Oral was surprised when he received the news on Sunday that he would be getting a new sporting director in Sutter. Did he expect not to return to Zurich at all? "Thoughts like that don't concern me," he says. Nor does he care about the reasons for Schwarz's dismissal. "I don't even want to know them," he says. Perhaps the reasons could also have something to do with his coaching work.

After all, Oral finds it unusual that the GC management "changes the sports director in our situation." And he also believes that "Sutter has shown courage" "to take over right now." This courage also includes firing Oral should Sutter get the impression that the players need a final boost.

For Sutter's job, it also makes a difference whether GC stays in the Super League next season or faces the pressure of being promoted again in the Challenge League. Around 20 players have expiring contracts. Recruiting new personnel for the staff and team faces very different circumstances depending on the outcome of the championship.

Sutter has "signed a long-term contract," but the length of the contract is unknown. He hinted at what he wants to achieve at GC in the press release. "This club has given me a lot, and I will do everything in my power to make it successful again." Successful? For the record champions, that can only mean returning to the old days of titles and trophies.

The Sutter quote is a reminder that in recent years, people have repeatedly appeared in Niederhasli saying similar things. The penultimate coach, Marco Schällibaum, was one of them; he won the championship three times as a player. His predecessor, Bruno Berner, began his playing career at GC, just like Schällibaum. Ciriaco Sforza, Murat Yakin, and Alain Geiger, former GC players tried their hand at coaching, all wanting to live up to GC's glorious past. The same applies to officials and players. They all failed, for different reasons, but they failed. Why should it be any different with Sutter?

Fourteen years ago, Sutter learned that GC no longer had any connection with the club where he had started as a football apprentice at the old Hardturm at the age of 17. Under the short-term president Roland Leutwiler, Sutter served as a kind of advisor. Even he himself probably wasn't entirely clear about his role. With the dismissal of then-coach Ciriaco Sforza, with whom Sutter had once played at GC and on the national team, he disappeared almost unnoticed after a year.

He resurfaced as a TV commentator and wrote two books with the message that human activity should focus not on results, but on joy. With his TV acquaintance Matthias Hüppi, he launched the FC St. Gallen project as sporting director in 2018 and, until his dismissal a year and a half ago, demonstrated the ability to assemble and lead a team with keen intuition and consistent action, transforming the chaotic club into a successful one.

Sutter undoubtedly has expertise from his time at St. Gallen, especially in Swiss football. The GC owners from Los Angeles have apparently come to the realization that she is necessary for GC. A late realization, but perhaps not too late to prevent relegation.