Coach question and transfer window awaits
©IMAGO
After more than twelve years late, Pirmin Schwegler ended up at VfL Wolfsburg. In 2013, the Wolves really wanted to sign the then captain of Eintracht Frankfurt as a player. Now the 38-year-old Swiss has been introduced as the new sports director. “In the end it wasn’t a decision against Frankfurt, but in favor of Wolfsburg. We had exceptionally good conversations. It hit me straight away,” he said. As sports director in Wolfsburg, he will be given significantly more authority than he previously had as head of professional football at Eintracht.
The fact that VfL initially negotiated with Andreas Schicker from TSG Hoffenheim and was also interested in Marcus Mann from Hannover 96 doesn’t bother the former Swiss international: “A solution, B solution, Z solution: I don’t give a damn about that,” he emphasized. “Vincent Kompany wasn’t the A solution in Munich either. Now everyone is happy with him.”
One of the winners of the Schwegler signing is Peter Christiansen, at least for the time being. The sports director has been heavily criticized in the crisis of the past few months. After the separation of coach Paul Simonis and Schwegler’s predecessor Sebastian Schindzielorz, Christiansen was also questioned on the supervisory board.
Now both the head of the supervisory board Sebastian Rudolph (“Peter Christiansen was in charge”) and Schwegler himself praised the Dane’s role in this change: “I was able to get to know Peter as an absolute team player who also conveys trust and responsibility. That was also a crucial point for me.”
Christiansen himself also made his position clear: “I am the boss,” he emphasized. “But I think this question of power is a bit strange in Germany. I leave a lot of leeway. We have directors for men, women and young talent. If they can’t take responsibility, then we don’t need them here.” Getting VfL back out of the crisis is “not a one-man show. One person alone can’t do it. It’s about the club. Club first!”
Waiting for Schwegler on the coaching question at VfL Wolfsburg
Christiansen and Schwegler also want to decide the coaching question together in the next few weeks. Daniel Bauer has only taken over from Simonis on a temporary basis. However, its chances of moving from an interim to a permanent solution increase. “We can’t say today: we’ll have a decision in five days or 14 days. Now Pirmin has to arrive and see everything with his own eyes,” said Christiansen.
Another important topic for the new sports director: getting reinforcements during the winter break. The new center forward in Wolfsburg is the German international Niclas Füllkrug, who is dissatisfied with West Ham United in England and with whom Schwegler once played together at Hannover 96. “I actually know a lot of people and am still in contact with many of them,” admitted Schwegler. “But it definitely makes no sense to comment on rumors here and now.”
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