Wolfsburg in crisis
Bundesliga team is looking for a coach – three names have been traded
Updated 11/10/2025 – 11:20 amReading time: 2 minutes
VfL Wolfsburg is the third Bundesliga club this season to take their coach on leave. But who will be the successor?
Looking for a coach again: VfL Wolfsburg is planning for the time after Paul Simonis. The Dutchman was released at the weekend – now an experienced coach will take over. The list of possible successors is long, but a decision is still pending.
One thing is clear: U19 coach Daniel Bauer will initially take over training “until further notice”. The 43-year-old will be back on the pitch on Monday afternoon, as he was in May after Ralph Hasenhüttl was eliminated. But Bauer is not a permanent solution.
Behind the scenes, the Bundesliga club is working on a solution with first division experience. Urs Fischer, who led Union Berlin into the Champions League, and Thomas Reis are currently the favorites. The former Bochum and Schalke coach is currently in charge of Samsunspor in Turkey. In Wolfsburg he was responsible for the U19s between 2016 and 2019.
Tim Walter will also continue to be traded. The former HSV coach has been without a club since leaving Hull City a year ago. Marco Rose (most recently RB Leipzig) and Matthias Jaissle (Al-Ahli, Saudi Arabia) were also discussed, but are considered difficult and expensive options.
Sports director Peter Christiansen is responsible for finding coaches. But his future is also uncertain. After just four months, Christiansen and sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz had to correct their decision for Simonis. The coach had no sporting impact. Squad planning is also criticized.
The “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung” already describes Christiansen as a “sports director under scrutiny”. After Simonis was released, the 50-year-old admitted: “We all bear responsibility for the current situation – the sporting management, the coaching team, the players and the entire club.”