VfB Stuttgart has managed to stay up in the league, albeit via detours. So time for Alexander Wehrle to draw a conclusion. The club boss found clear words about ex-coach Bruno Labbadia in particular.
At the end of the 2022/23 season, VfB Stuttgart was saved. For this, however, the Swabians had to go into relegation, where they beat Hamburger SV. “It was not a successful season,” said VfB CEO Alexander Wehrle to “Sky” and added: “But in the end we reached the goal. We will go into an analysis and cannot just continue like this.”
Stuttgart had to tremble for a long time last year, after all, they managed to stay up on the last day of the game, still under coach Pellegrino Matarazzo, who then had to resign in October.
Interim coach Michael Wimmer followed. At the beginning of December, Bruno Labbadia was finally presented as the great savior. In retrospect, a wrong decision by those responsible, as Wehrle had to admit.
“Getting six points in eleven games is not enough. So it wasn’t the right decision based on the points alone,” said the 48-year-old, adding: “We corrected that.”
After only four months, Labbadia had to go again at the beginning of April, Sebastian Hoeneß took over. “There is also not enough talk about the fact that he was the right decision, but always about the fact that Bruno Labbadia was the wrong decision,” Wehrle emphasized to the TV station.
VfB Stuttgart should be “established Bundesliga team”
“It’s always difficult to break up, but in the end it was the right decision,” said the club boss. In fact, under Hoeneß, VfB only lost one of the following eight Bundesliga games and thus fought for the chance of relegation, which the Swabians successfully managed.
In the new season, relegation should be clear earlier. “That’s why I say that we have to change a few things in order to achieve long-term success for VfB again,” said Wehrle.
His club should be “an established Bundesliga club and not mentally commute between the first and second divisions”.