MUNICH - Bayern Munich general manager Uli Hoeness has told Lukas Podolski he expects to see a significant improvement from him in the coming months, saying the striker has "not achieved anything" at the Bavarian outfit.
The Germany striker currently finds himself behind Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose in the Bayern pecking order but has repeatedly said he has nothing to prove to the club or its fans.
Hoeness, however, believes Podolski has it all to do to restore the reputation he had during his days at Cologne, where he scored 46 goals in 81 games.
"When I read interviews where he says he does not need to prove anything anymore, I think he could not be further from the mark," Hoeness told Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper.
"He has actually not achieved anything and if his attitude does not change a lot, then he will not make it here."
Hoeness has now set deadline for Podolski to make his mark in Bavaria.
"He must now take the next step and he has got to explode," he said.
"In the next six to eight months, he has got to show whether he can make it or not. Now is the time for us to get tough with him."
Podolski's spell with Bayern has been blighted by a knee injury, but even before that he had failed to reproduce the form that convinced Bayern to sign him in 2006.
The 22-year-old, a regular in the German national team, has scored just four times in 25 outings for Ottmar Hitzfeld's side.
