Negotiations on the home stretch
©IMAGO
After three years, Arminia Bielefeld and coach Mitch Kniat recently went their separate ways. The extensive season analysis showed that the second division team will start with a new trainer in 2026/27. As the “Neue Westfälische” and the “Kicker” report, a successor is in the starting blocks. The negotiations with top favorite Oliver Kirch are therefore on the home stretch.
The 43-year-old has a history as a player with Arminia and played 77 times for DSC between 2007 and 2010 – more than for any other club. The Soester has been working for Borussia Mönchengladbach since 2023, initially as a U19 coach and with the second team since the beginning of the year. The foals finished sixth in the Regionalliga West. Kirch spent two years (2021 to 2023) with the HSV U19. After retiring from his career as a footballer, he also went through several positions in Bielefeld’s youth ranks. A professional team has not yet been there.
Kniat, coming from SC Verl, took over Arminia in the summer of 2023 and led them back to the 2nd Bundesliga and the DFB Cup final in 2025. This season, the East Westphalians finished in 13th place and narrowly avoided relegation. In 132 games he scored an average of 1.62 points, making him the best Arminia coach after Hans Wendlandt (1966 to 1969) and Ernst Middendorp (1988 to 1990) with over 100 games. Only Benno Möhlmann (2000 to 2004) had a longer term of office in this millennium.
Sports director Michael Mutzel explained the separation: “It speaks for our trusting cooperation over the entire time and also now that we were able to speak to each other openly and honestly about our current assessments – just as we have always done in the past. After several conversations and joint analysis, we also exchanged views on the further development steps and realized that we are not the same when planning for the future.”