Jürgen Klopp hails "outstanding" Mainz coach Bo Svensson

The Dane did so with Mainz sitting second bottom on six points and with just one Bundesliga win to show from their opening 14 matchdays.

By the end of the campaign, Svensson had taken the 05ers into 12th place, and eight points clear of the automatic relegation place they previously occupied courtesy of nine wins, six draws and just five defeats from the remaining 20 games of the campaign.

Mainz's stunning turnaround has renewed optimism ahead of Svensson's first full season in charge, and drawn high praise from Klopp, the man who brought the former Denmark international to the club as a player in 2007.

"We spoke on the phone Thursday," Klopp told Bild after chatting to Svensson last week. "I only saw him as a player for a year. As a guy, he was a grenade even then. As a coach, he's a great, great talent and has done an outstanding job so far.

"And he has a heart for Mainz 05, that's important. He brings the right mood to the club again. I'm very optimistic that things are going in the right direction with him now."

Svensson's current trajectory continues to follow in the footsteps of Klopp, who himself made 350 appearances for Mainz in his playing days, prior to a seven-year stint as coach that resulted in the club's first ever promotion to the Bundesliga in 2003/04.

Klopp, who jokingly took credit for Svensson's superb transition in his own mould having signed the ex-defender from Borussia Mönchengladbach all those years ago, now believes that "anything's possible" for his former team under their 41-year-old head coach.

And the two-time Bundesliga-winning tactician, who previously cited promotion with Mainz as his greatest achievement as a coach, is adamant that Svensson need only trust his own instincts to maintain the 05ers' momentum next term.

"Stay just as you are," was Klopp's sole advice to his successor. "That's the only thing I can tell him, Bo doesn't need a tip from me. As a coach, you have to be true to yourself."

If Mainz continue where they left off next season, don't be surprised to see Klopp in the stands cheering on Svensson's team.

Asked if he'd consider a return to the Opel Arena in the future, Klopp replied: "Yes, as a paying spectator with a season ticket in the stands!"