After slipping into the relegation zone
Coach decision made at VfL Wolfsburg
Updated March 2, 2026 – 5:54 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
After VfL Wolfsburg’s clear defeat at VfB Stuttgart, coach Daniel Bauer’s days seemed numbered. But he gets another, possibly final, test.
The 4-0 defeat at VfB Stuttgart on Sunday increased the pressure on Wolfsburg coach Daniel Bauer enormously. After the fifth defeat in the last six games and slipping to second-to-last place in the table, there was already speculation about the 43-year-old’s retirement. Ex-Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking was already considered a potential successor.
But now it is clear: Bauer can continue. Corresponding reports from “Kicker” and “Bild” were confirmed by Lower Saxony on Monday afternoon.
“We discussed and analyzed the overall situation intensively. We came to the conclusion that, together with Daniel Bauer and his coaching team, we were drawing the right conclusions in order to be successful against HSV,” said sports director Peter Christiansen.
And further: “We have complete trust in the team and are convinced that they have the experience and quality to achieve the necessary results as quickly as possible. The sporting situation is serious, but not hopeless.”
The decision is said to have been made in a conversation on Monday in which Christiansen, supervisory board chairman Sebastian Rudolph, sports director Pirmin Schwegler and the coach himself took part.
Sports director Christiansen, whose position was also up for discussion, will also remain in office. The Dane in particular is said to have advocated sticking with Bauer. This will now receive a “job final” next weekend when VfL competes in the important northern derby against Hamburger SV (Saturday, 3:30 p.m., t-online live ticker). Only if he wins this will Bauer be allowed to continue, reports “Bild”.
Bauer only took over from Paul Simonis, who was also unhappy, last November. At that time, VfL was in 14th place. After seven points from his first four games, Bauer was promoted from interim to head coach. In the following ten games, however, only one more victory was achieved under his leadership.
