Robin Dutt is a retired German football player, who last coached VfL Bochum. He was also the manager of Bundesliga side Werder Bremen and Bayer Leverkusen. Previously he coached SC Freiburg after taking over from the long-serving Volker Finke in July 2007. He had previously been manager of Stuttgarter Kickers for four years. Starting from the 2011–12 season, he signed a two-year managerial contract with Bayer Leverkusen after the previous manager Jupp Heynckes confirmed on 21 March 2011 that he would not be extending his stay at the BayArena.
Family
He was born and brought up in Germany as the son of a German mother and Indian Bengali father from Kolkata. The father moved to Germany in the late 1950s.
Playing career
As a football player, Dutt never made it big, playing amateur football in the fifth, sixth, and seventh divisions in Germany.
Coaching and executive career
Early career
Dutt's coaching career started with the TSG Leonberg whom he coached until 1999, while he was winding down his playing career and they gained promotion to the next higher division in the last year. He then joined TSF Ditzingen, first as their second team coach and then coaching the first team.
Stuttgarter Kickers
Dutt's success brought him into the limelight locally and he then went on to join former Bundesliga side Stuttgarter Kickers as their second team coach in summer 2002. Doing good work at the club, the Kickers gave Robin a chance as their first team coach on 28 October 2003 and he would guide the club well with a young team in the Regionalliga in difficult times as the club didn't have necessary funds. The highlight came in the 2006–07 season when the Kickers beat Bundesliga side Hamburger SV 4–3 in extra time in the DFB-Pokal.
SC Freiburg
Dutt decided to take up the job at 2. Bundesliga club SC Freiburg in summer 2007. It was the end of an era as previous coach Volker Finke had coached Freiburg for 16 years, a record in German professional football. The going initially wasn't easy for Robin, but in year two he was able to win the 2. Bundesliga title and Freiburg was back in the Bundesliga after four years. The first season in Bundesliga with SC Freiburg saw Robin Dutt escaping relegation. They finished four points ahead of the relegation playoff spot. The 2010–11 season proved to be Dutt's last season at SC Freiburg, the club managed to cling onto the respectable ninth position in the league table.
Bayer Leverkusen
The decision to take Robin Dutt to succeed Bayern Munich bound Jupp Heynckes as coach of Bayer 04 Leverkusen was made in March 2011. "I didn’t come to Leverkusen to turn a second-placed team into a fourth- or fifth-placed team. We came second and I want to improve on that," said Robin Dutt when he took the reins on 19 June 2011. Robin Dutt was dismissed from his post on 1 April 2012, after a poor run that included a 7–1 away defeat at Barcelona in the round of 162011–12 UEFA Champions League, In which Leo Messi became the first player to score 5 goal in a Champions League match and a streak of four consecutive Bundesliga defeats which left Leverkusen in sixth position in the Bundesliga.
On 6 January 2015 Dutt became board representative for sport of VfB Stuttgart. In May 2016, he was sacked by VfB Stuttgart following the team's relegation from the Bundesliga for the first time in 40 years.
VfL Bochum
On 11 February 2018 Dutt was appointed as manager of VfL Bochum. He was sacked on 26 August 2019.
