Rost, record player for the former Bundesliga club Energie Cottbus and born 43 years ago less than an hour’s drive from Bayreuth in Central Franconia, is the screenwriter, director and producer of this success story. He transformed a team that finished the 2017/2018 season with a -26 goal difference into an attacking steamroller with 103 goals and a staggering +64 goal difference.
“My primary goal was to implement a clear style of play that quickly gave the team the confidence to be able to win games like this. I’ve been working on this style with the team for three years. The result is this season of promotion,” explains Rost im Conversation with t-online his way to success.
The SpVgg supporters also appreciate that. After the final whistle of the last home game against Viktoria Aschaffenburg (2:1) they storm the interior of the stadium. It’s not goalscorer Markus Ziereis, nor cross-god Tim Danhof that’s the target of fan desire. The first beer shower is dedicated to Rost, whom the fans embrace, sing about, and prefer not to let go of. Maybe because deep down they already know that this will be their last dance together.
Rost leaves Bayreuth in the direction of the Ore Mountains
Rumors have been circulating for weeks that Rost will switch to Aue, who have been relegated to the second division. The courted person is initially surprised by the reports and denies an agreement. Only a few weeks after the promotion party in the Hans-Walter-Wild-Stadion it becomes reality: Rost is presented as the new Erzgebirge head coach. In addition, his close confidante, sports director Marcel Rozgonyi, had previously informed SpVgg that he wanted to end the cooperation. Hangover mood in Bayreuth.
In the summer of 2022, SpVgg will be faced with a great deal of nothing despite being promoted to the 3rd division. Because with Rost, the club not only loses a gifted and charismatic coach, but also its revolutionary. The transformation of the crisis and intrigue-ridden provincial club into one of the most exciting addresses in German football is his work. Or as Rost himself puts it: “When I took over in Bayreuth in 2018, the club was dead as a doornail. The SpVgg had saved itself from relegation to the Oberliga twice in a row with oh and noisy relegation. If that had happened, you would have been here probably lock the gates.”
All of this allows parallels to Rost’s old employer from Cottbus. At the turn of the millennium, the starting position for energy was as modest as in Bayreuth. And yet, with diligence, ambition and the tireless work of coach icon Eduard “Ede” Geyer, the Lausitzers made it into the Bundesliga. “I kept this Gallic village mentality that Geyer conveyed and encouraged me as a player in Cottbus for my coaching work,” says Rost today.