1. FC Cologne
Kwasniok explains coach’s departure: “Then you have to separate”
02/19/2026 – 4:59 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
1. FC Köln has parted ways with assistant coach Hannes Dold due to his standard weakness. Lukas Kwasniok explains the decision and the next steps.
Lukas Kwasniok started last summer with three assistants. Before the last third of the season, the hot phase in the Bundesliga relegation battle, there are only two left. Due to the persistent and blatant weakness in standard situations, the 1. FC Cologne Most recently, the responsible assistant coach Hannes Dold was relieved of his duties.
The decision was leaked on Rose Monday of all days. Before the home game against TSG Hoffenheim (Saturday, 3:30 p.m.), Kwasniok explained how his team was eliminated and why Dold will not be replaced for the time being. “First and foremost, I’m very, very sorry as a person. I really appreciate Hannes, he’s just a fine person,” said the Cologne head coach, before adding: “Nevertheless, we’re in professional football.”
And here are the bare numbers that speak for themselves: FC conceded 19 of their 37 goals – 51 percent – from set pieces. So far this season, the dead balls have been the domain of Dold, who has been working for FC for twelve years and rose from video analyst to assistant coach at Geißbockheim.
“We gave Hannes, as a long-time analyst, the opportunity to expand our coaching team and tackle the standard topic in a focused and isolated manner. He was totally committed to this task and was incredibly hard-working,” emphasized Kwasniok at the press conference on Thursday. What was missing, however, was success – also offensively. The 19 standard goals conceded are only matched by four own goals.
“Sometimes things don’t work quite like that anymore. At some point, faith is lost a little,” says Kwasniok about the mechanics of the business: “If faith is lost, you have to separate yourself from someone as the person responsible.” Now it has hit Dold, whose future at the club will be clarified in further discussions with sports director Thomas Kessler.
The standard situations construction site is now being worked on jointly in Kwasniok’s coaching team – by his remaining two assistants René Wagner and Frank Kaspari as well as game analyst Denis Huckestein. Wagner takes care of the work on the pitch, Kaspari takes care of the adjustments during substitutions, Huckestein takes care of the video analysis.
Since Dold recently became a father and was therefore only available to FC to a limited extent before his leave of absence, the new constellation was already in place. “I have the feeling that we had more clarity on the matter. That’s why we decided to continue to deal with it internally,” said Kwasniok, now optimistic that the FC will finally get their standard problem under control.