Before the basement duel with VfB
Niko Kovac and VfL Wolfsburg are treading water: the first and so far only win of the season against Eintracht Frankfurt was followed by another defeat at Union Berlin – the fourth in seven games. While sports director Jörg Schmadtke, despite the sporting crisis before the basement duel against VfB Stuttgart, once again stood behind his coach, the patience of the owner VW seems to be coming to an end one floor up, reports “Sport Bild”. Accordingly, Thomas Reis, who was released in Bochum, is said to have already been chosen as the successor candidate.
community
Discuss VfL Wolfsburg now in the forumRight this way
“We don’t question the coach. And we don’t put it in the wind either,” the “Wolfsburger Allgemeine Zeitung” quoted Schmadtke on Wednesday. The 58-year-old has “great” trust in the former FC Bayern coach: “The coach is someone who thinks about things in a very reflective manner.” The “Wolves” have Kovac, who was hired in the summer and has so far averaged the points from one point per game, already the third coach within a year.
Not only on, but also off the pitch, Kovac has recently had a difficult time: the discussions about Max Kruse’s release excluded, according to “Sport Bild” there have also been public statements about his former club Eintracht Frankfurt or about the “fears of existence” of professionals, who do not hold regular positions, caused confusion at management level. In the team, however, Kovac’s saying that he would return to the pitch with his brother and assistant coach Robert if necessary to ensure more toughness in the VfL game was not well received. With Stuttgart, Augsburg, Mönchengladbach and the cup game against Eintracht Braunschweig ahead of them, trend-setting weeks are beginning for both the club and its coach.
If the 50-year-old doesn’t manage to turn things around, his time in Wolfsburg could end earlier than planned, regardless of Schmadtke’s words. According to the newspaper, the name of Thomas Reis has been haunting the hallways at VfL since his dismissal in Bochum. Born in Wertheim, he knows the club and the environment in Wolfsburg well, coached the U19s of the “Wolves” for three years between 2016 and 2019 – and was reportedly considered a candidate for the post of head coach even then.
Since the promotion to the Bundesliga: All Wolfsburg coaches with a record
VfL Wolfsburg: Schmadtke is self-critical with regard to squad planning
The outgoing managing director Schmadtke would have to take responsibility for a possible renewed failure as a coach after previously Florian Kohfeldt and Mark van Bommel. “Sometimes you have to be self-critical enough and question whether the analyzes you made were all correct in their entirety. Or whether you misjudged one or the other protagonist you have with you,” Schmadtke told the “WAZ” about squad planning. In the spring of next year he will be replaced by the previous sports director Marcel Schäfer – who should already be responsible for finding a new coach if the Wolfsburg downturn continues.
To home page