Ex-Bundesliga coach makes people sit up and take notice
Sandro Wagner “doesn’t want any attention at the moment”
April 24, 2026 – 5:21 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
The former assistant coach of DFB coach Julian Nagelsmann speaks about his professional situation months after the failure in Augsburg – and surprises with a role model.
Almost five months after his separation from FC Augsburg, Sandro Wagner does not want to actively promote himself with other clubs. “I don’t want any attention at the moment. I never want to be the coach who ingratiates himself or is publicly looking, I just want to be prepared if something comes up,” said the 38-year-old. “I could have gone back to work if I had wanted to,” he told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” in his first interview since he failed at the Bundesliga club. “If something fits, I’ll get started, and if it doesn’t, then not.”
Wagner took up his first position as head coach in the Bundesliga in Augsburg last summer and was supposed to take the Swabians to a new level of success. After 14 competitive games, the team was eliminated. “I would have liked to have ended the time better, but I can already say that it was another important experience for me,” he summed up. “In the end, we decided together that we would no longer work together. But that’s not something that makes me waver.”
Nevertheless, he took his first dismissal as a coach as an opportunity to change and question a few things. He withdrew from public life and changed his telephone number. “I should have changed my cell phone number much earlier, I think the whole of football Germany knew my number.” Wagner also said: “When you’re stuck in the grinder, you don’t realize how tiring it is. That’s why it was important to take myself out for a moment. I was able to take a breather and reflect.”
Despite the huge media stir in those months, he doesn’t think he was treated unfairly. “No, zero,” said Wagner. “We are totally privileged in football, which is why I don’t think anything was unfair. I was the coach, I was responsible for the results. In that respect: no problem! I don’t have anything negative left of my time at Augsburg. I learned a lot and am forever grateful to FCA.”
One lesson he learned from his experience in Augsburg was that he should not further promote his image as an already polarizing and opinionated person. “There have already been one or two statements I made where I was a bit off track. Or where a half-sentence was simply missing,” he said. He has to stay calmer after games – and reminded of the current Bayern coach: “Vincent Kompany is a great role model in this respect: Hardly anyone is as good at not making oneself vulnerable as he is.”
