Seems like a very odd move. Definitely a challenge though. 1860 were almost relegated from 2 Bundesliga last year. They sold their share in the Allianz Arena around a decade ago to stave off bankruptcy and are tenants there until 2025. They pay €1.5m in annual rent and hardly make any money. When their chairman invested in the club, he bought 60% of the club's shares, but didn't take into account the 50+1 rule . So while he believed he was majority owner, he was actual more so their largest investor. Thus, you have a situation, in which the club's main investor cannot do anything without approval, but the club's membership need the investor's money to stay afloat. In the past, he's tried to push certain managerial candidates as recent as last summer (i.e. Pellegrini, McLaren, Eriksson), but the club have rejected it because they believe some of these candidates would not fit the profile of a club that was almost relegated to the third division last season. Additionally, the German FA has strict rules re: financial losses, which also shapes the club hierarchy's ideas. Despite previously been linked with pulling out his investment in 1860 and then possibly investing in Everton, their chairman apparently wants to build a 50,000+ seat stadium in Munich with an adjacent zoo filled with Lions (1860's nickname is the Lions) named after former 1860 players.
I think this is a massive challenge for him. A team that hasn't been in the Bundesliga for twelve years after finishing fourth in the Bundesliga less than four years earlier. Obviously, he'll have to learn German pretty quick, but he has no experience with the German league, or legal system. Despite all the ways people knock him, he does have experience in improving commercial prospects, as well being part of expanding/developing a stadium, which would be right up 1860's street.
Viel Glück Ian.
