Bayern: We'll never fire Guardiola

Club chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has guaranteed that the German giants will not suffer a World Cup hangover

Bayern Munich chief Karl-Heinz Rummenigge has reassured fans that Pep Guardiola will "never be fired" by the Bavarian giants.

The five-time European champions have often stuttered in the seasons following a World Cup: Felix Magath was fired in January 2007, while Louis van Gaal was dismissed in April 2011, as both men struggled with a squad fatigued after an insubstantial summer break.

Rummenigge has assured fans that a similar malaise will not befall the club this season and that Guardiola, whom was hired last summer, need not fear for his future.

"Bayern Munich will never fire Pep Guardiola," the club chief affirmed to Morgen Post. "I give you that in writing.

"He will be our coach until at least June 30, 2016, when his contract ends.

"Admittedly, for the players it is not easy to begin again after a short holiday due to the World Cup, but thankfully we have a coach who is very relaxed in dealing with this situation.

"This week, he told me, 'I know what I must do and how we manage it' - Pep knows this very situation from 2010, when Spain became world champions and World Cup stars then barely recovered before returning to Barcelona."

Rummenigge, who starred for West Germany and Bayern in his playing days, also spoke of his own pride at seeing his compatriots lift the World Cup in Brazil.

"I have rarely enjoyed such a tournament like the Brazil one," he continued. "After the final, I was happy because our players were unharmed, unlike Franck Ribery at the Euro 2008 or Arjen Robben at the 2010 World Cup. 

"But also because the older players such as Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger finally had the title which they had been working for so meticulously for all these years.

"Germany longs for such heroes, Germany loves such heroes.