Coach never wanted the spotlight
©IMAGO
Sandro Wagner spoke in public for the first time after leaving FC Augsburg and revealed why he changed his cell phone number after his first Bundesliga position as a coach and thus reorganized his environment. “I should have changed my cell phone number much earlier, I think the whole of football in Germany knew my number. But for me it was above all important to stay with myself, to only let outside influences get to me in a controlled manner in order to be able to develop further as a person and coach in this situation. Now was the perfect time. I wanted to think and needed some rest. I actually never had the time until then,” explained the former striker in an interview with “South German newspaper“.
He obviously doesn’t miss the fact that the phone isn’t ringing constantly: “For me that’s a big blessing at the moment.” Wagner was FCA coach for 153 days until his dismissal, the shortest tenure for the Fuggerstadt team this millennium. This was previously held by Dirk Schuster, who sat in the Augsburg coaching bench for 166 days and 16 games from July to December 2016. Criticism of Wagner had increased in the stands and in the transfer market community even before he was released – which also had to do with his self-confident demeanor. “I’ve never sought the spotlight and actually don’t like it at all. This may sound surprising to those who don’t really know me, but it is true,” the 38-year-old clarified.
After the separation in Augsburg, Wagner needed time for himself to come to terms with what had happened. “I’ve always been driven in some way over the last few years, the playing career, the beginnings as a coach, and at the same time the coaching licenses. When you’re in the grind, you don’t realize how exhausting it is. That’s why it was important to take myself away for a moment. I was able to take a breather and reflect.”
Wagner only got ten points from twelve Bundesliga games with Augsburg and failed in the second round of the DFB Cup against second division team VfL Bochum. FCA finished 14th in the Bundesliga. The club had only collected fewer points in the upper house three times in its history, most recently in 2015/16 under Markus Weinzierl. Wagner scored an average of 0.93 points in 14 games, which was the weakest result by a coach since promotion in 2011.
Wagner’s exit from FC Augsburg with no alternative – wanted too much too quickly
“I would have liked to have ended the time better, but I can already say that it was another important experience for me. In the end, we decided together that we would no longer work together. But that’s nothing that makes me waver,” said Wagner. Augsburg’s managing director Michael Ströll described the end of the experiment as “no alternative” after discussions with the coach, who was also doubtful. “What we hoped for in the summer didn’t work out,” said Ströll about the attempt with the dazzling character Wagner.
Maybe he wanted too much too quickly. What he viewed self-critically afterwards: “As a young coach, you want to tear the world down at the beginning, you want to put a lot on the players’ hard drives very quickly,” said Wagner and added: “As a young coach, you sometimes tend to want everything at once. You know the goal and want to get there as quickly as possible. I may have wanted the fourth step before the second – out of a great ambition.” More pragmatism wouldn’t have hurt “in some places,” he admitted.
Matsima in 1st place
Wagner’s most used players
This way!
It was not his plan that Wagner seemed to be very present among the Fuggerstadters and thus overshadowed his team. “That was never my intention! And that won’t happen again. I think I learned the right lessons from it.” According to his stories, the Munich native is not currently attending any Bundesliga games. “If I were to appear somewhere, something would immediately be interpreted into it, it would mean that Wagner is interested in this or that job. No! I don’t want any attention at the moment. I never want to be the trainer who ingratiates himself or is publicly looking, I just want to be prepared if something comes up,” emphasized Wagner.
The eight-time German national player, who played 180 times for six clubs in the German top flight as an active footballer, would not describe himself as an unemployed coach because he is busy every day: “I watch a lot of football, analyze teams, I’m currently fascinated by Serie A in Italy.”
What Wagner is now paying attention to after his first Bundesliga coaching position
There was no fit between FC Augsburg and the eye-catching Wagner – which is why the ex-professional would like to take a closer look at the job selection in the future. “In the future, I will have to think even more carefully about where I fit in as a coach and as a person. Where the entire environment is open to change and everyone is really up for it.” He knows who he is and that he sometimes polarizes people. “That’s why it’s a clear learning from my station in Augsburg that I can’t promote this image any further unnecessarily.”
There were a few statements that “made me a little crazy.” However, he felt “zero” that he had been treated unfairly. Wagner “a little bit” underestimated a mixed situation: “The fact that I had to finish my football teacher training at the same time. And doing that at the same time as a demanding coaching job was certainly not entirely ideal.” In the future, he wants to add more experience to his coaching team. In the table since Manuel Baum’s return, Augsburg is in ninth place with 26 points from 18 games.
