Ex-club is still “very grateful”
© Imago
In spring, Lukas Kwasniok was associated with VfB Stuttgart as the possible successor to Sebastian Hoeneß (to the news). However, the coach who had been working for the 1st FC Köln since this summer should have landed with the Swabians in 2023, unless his club SC Paderborn had stood in the way. Kwasniok now revealed this in the “Picture“Podcast” Phrase Mower “.
“It was obvious at the time, there were in-depth conversations,” said the 44-year-old, who trained the SCP from July 2021 to June 2025. At the East Westphalia, he initially worked under sports managing director Fabian Wohlgemuth, who accepted VfB in December 2022 and would have preferred Kwasniok in 2023. “Basically, SC Paderborn just didn’t leave me. You just put a stop there and the chance was gone at the time.”
Kwasniok added a laugh: “But you also have to say fairly that going to Stuttgart as a Badener might have been a delicate matter.” Hoeneß took over in April 2023 as the successor to Bruno Labbadia at the heavily troubled VfB and led the club to relegation through the Bundesliga relegation. It was not the only time that SC Paderborn Kwasniok refused to change: Last winter, he was a hot candidate at Hamburger SV and, according to the “picture”, is said to have reached unity with the north Germans.
“The SC Paderborn did not play there either,” said the native of Pole. “I accepted this for the first time, but accepted it. I was also very grateful that the club saved my butt in one or two private situations. That’s why I already had the feeling that I was simply at the right place. But if you would then get the opportunity to train a large traditional club and become concrete, then it will be difficult to accept it.”
At the climber in Cologne, Kwasniok signed a contract until June 2028, he hopes for a similarly successful time as at his previous station. However, he sees nothing but coach on the sidelines forever. “We are all temporarily in this world and in the end you have a note on your toe (…) I believe that in the very first line your family will be next to you. This is one of the main reasons why I decided to leave this colorful football at some point,” said the trainer.