New experience in Scotland
© Imago
“Hundreds of applications from coaches” were preserved, said Motherwell FC in mid -February – the choice ultimately fell on Michael Wimmer. The former coach of VfB Stuttgart now spoke about his first weeks in the service of the Scottish first division club, who wants to make the championship round in the remaining Premiership games until April.
“The club has and is very special. The connection of the fans with a club and city is very, very narrow. Not just about sport. There is also tackling in social projects, you support wherever you can. This is club philosophy. So far I have not had the opportunity to deal with it deeper, but I have already had contact with parts of the fan scene, ”Wimmer told the magazine“ Kicker ”, asked about his new employer, in which he will work for the first time in a double function as a trainer and sports director.
The latter is “of course a very demanding task because I am responsible for everything. This is a big additional effort. Unlike usual, you also have to take care of the scouting, the squad planning, contracts and so on and so on. This takes time, which could perhaps be better used for training and the training content, for preparation for opponents or for discussions with a team. The position of the assistant coach is of course more important in such a construct than usual. Accordingly, Ahmet Koc also bears much more responsibility. However, this double function also offers me the opportunity to develop myself further. ”
In the meantime, Motherwell had been in the middle of the fight for the European Cup places in 4th place, now 8th place. “The team is in the last place in all relevant statistics, and most recently had to deal with a number of defeats. The approach is and must be to play active football again, to press higher, improve the position game. It is not that easy from one day to the next. Especially not if there is little confidence ”, attested Wimmer and added:
“I believe that we can reach the upper half of the table. Even if the situation is difficult and I could hardly have trained with the team because of the tight schedule. However, I refuse to give up higher ambitions prematurely and voluntarily. (…) We are well aware of the table situation that does not give us security. The last of the relegation group descends directly, the penultimate has to go to the relegation. In any case, this has to be avoided. And we’ll do that too. We’ll see everything else. “
Generally asked about the sporting level in the Scottish Oberhaus, Wimmer, apart from Celtic and the Rangers, gave the rest of the league “at second division level”, “but with a more than first-class atmosphere in the stadiums”. The coach, which was released at Austria Vienna in May 2024, also revealed that Motherwell was not his first point of contact with the Premiership. Rather, there had already been interested in other Scottish clubs. “So I had already dealt with the country, people and the league and quickly found it. In addition, I have always been out in Great Britain in the past few months, I looked at different leagues and games. Football on the island is exciting, Scotland is exciting, ”said Wimmer.
The 44-year-old was also in contact with the English third division club Bristol Rovers in winter, but received no work permit in England. Wimmer said: “The provisions of the FA stipulate that you must have been head coach for 24 months at a time. I only had 21 months with Austria. In Scotland it is required to have the football teacher license and have worked at the highest level. And the FCM tried very hard for me. The fact that I can also work as a trainer and as a sports director and get to know another facet of the business makes things a bit more exciting. ”