The unrest in the top management of TSG Hoffenheim never ends. Now sports director Andreas Schicker may also be facing a change.
He’s still there. Nothing has been decided yet. Andreas Schicker is still under contract as sports director in Kraichgau. But the question that concerns many around TSG Hoffenheim these days is: How much longer?
The calling of VfL Wolfsburg
The clock is ticking. According to information from SWR Sport, including from the Wolfsburg area, there will be talks between those responsible at VfL and TSG Hoffenheim this week. At the club from the Autostadt, which is well supported by VW funds and is one of the big disappointments in the current Bundesliga season, Schicker is considered the preferred candidate for the position of the new strong man as sports director. After the free fall towards the bottom of the table, the expulsion of coach Paul Simonis and the separation from the previous sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz, a desk in the management floor became available at VfL a few days ago.
Hoffenheim’s Andreas Schicker should replace him if possible. “One of the best managers in the Bundesliga,” was what Lower Saxony recently told SWR Sport about Schicker. According to a report in the “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung” on Monday evening, Schicker is said to have already given VfL his yes to a change.
Schicker’s successful turnaround at TSG
The fierce competition for Schicker is well founded. The Austrian only came to Hoffenheim a good year ago as an Austrian double winner with Sturm Graz. The Austrian was the sports director at TSG, which was caught in the vortex of the relegation battle a sensational change a. First, the 39-year-old brought in his closest colleagues from Sturm and also the Graz master trainer Christian Ilzer to Kraichgau to get to the just managed to stay in the league to turn almost Hoffenheim’s entire Bundesliga team inside out.
The new Hoffenheim mix does it
There was now a successful facelift par excellence: more than 20 players from the overcrowded and not particularly homogeneously composed squad were sold, loaned out or sent into a lack of prospects. In return, numerous new guys, especially fast and talented guys, were brought in during the last transfer summer and integrated very well.
Schicker’s mix does it: the highly gifted Fisnik Asllani, Tim Lemperle, Leon Avdullahu or Albian Hajdari With the remaining veterans such as Oliver Baumann, Andrej Kramaric and Grischa Prömel, they form a powerful and stormy unit with the best running values in the league. This team has currently shot up to sixth place.
Finally fast football again in Kraichgau
But now the roof of this building is threatening to collapse again far too quickly. In other words: The departure of the maker Schicker, who is also very popular in the Zuzenhausen office, could be imminent at short notice. Right in the middle of the promising development phase. It would be a slap in the face to all those fans and supporters of TSG who, after the frustrating years under Schicker and Ilzer, thought they were at least temporarily back in the good old days of Ralf Rangnick or Julian Nagelsmann. With fast football and a promising perspective towards the European Cup.
Does the unrest in the environment lead to you leaving?
If Schicker actually succumbs to the temptations of the competition from Wolfsburg, an outsider could certainly understand it. The circumstances surrounding the management staff in Hoffenheim over the last few weeks and months have been too adverse.
Above all, there is that Ongoing dispute among management over the influence of player agent Roger Wittmann with friend patron and main shareholder Dietmar Hopp. In addition the TSG management’s stadium ban for Wittmann in August including court proceedings and Repeal of the same in September. This was followed by the dismissal of the two co-managing directors, Dr. Markus Schütz and Frank Briel, who obtained the sanction.
And finally the sudden resignation of the club president Jörg Albrecht, who was in poor health Mid-November and the resulting vacuum in the leadership: There are plenty of obvious reasons for Andreas Schicker to possibly no longer see his professional work in Kraichgau.
High transfer fee for Andreas Schicker?
According to information from SWR Sport, the intended discussions between the remaining Hoffenheim club management around Dietmar Hopp and the interested parties from Wolfsburg have not yet taken place. The last word about a change has not yet been spoken, especially since the “Wolves” would certainly have to present themselves with a lavishly filled suitcase of money. Finally, Schicker still has a long-term contract with TSG until 2029. A correspondingly high pecuniary compensation from VfL would certainly be necessary in order to release the sought-after sports director in a timely manner.
Promotion as a reward?
Or can a solution still be found in which Schicker can be made to stay in Hoffenheim with a higher hierarchical grouping? We are talking about the idea of promoting the Austrian to the new top boss of the management, in modern German, CEO, with appropriate sporting powers. It certainly wouldn’t be to the detriment of TSG.
We’ll see. Probably this week. By the way: VfL Wolfsburg is also still looking for a new head coach. But that’s another story…
Broadcast on Thursday, November 20th, 2025 at 6:40 p.m., SWR1 Baden-Württemberg
