Heiko Butscher is the new coach
The internal emergency solution is intended to save VfL Bochum
April 9, 2024, 1:42 p.m
The fears of relegation are great, now Heiko Butscher should drive them away. At VfL Bochum, the U19 coach takes over the fortunes of the Bundesliga team. It is his fourth time on the club’s sidelines.
It was too short a notice for Peter Stöger, and Stefan Kuntz probably won’t be drawn back to the Ruhr area either: Heiko Butscher’s internal solution is intended to save VfL Bochum from relegation from the Bundesliga. The club confirms this. It is the fourth time that Butscher has taken over as coach on an interim basis. He will be leading the “Anne Castroper” training again today.
Butscher had already stepped in as interim coach in 2018, 2019 and 2022. The former central defender most recently looked after VfL in the last game before Thomas Letsch was signed in September 2022 and ensured the then bottom team won their first point (1-1 against 1. FC Köln). At that time there was initially even speculation about a permanent commitment for the calm Allgäu native before the VfL officials pulled Letsch out of the hat.
But just as suddenly as the 55-year-old arrived in Bochum, he is now gone again. Letsch lacked support for the Ruhrpott club, which was now in serious danger of relegation again, after six games without a win and a fall to 15th place. The Letsch chapter in Bochum ended on Monday.
Butscher has been with Bochum since 2005
Initially, prominent names such as ex-Bochum Kuntz and former Cologne and BVB coach Stöger were traded. At least Stöger had publicly declared his rejection. The mission was “interesting, but it was too short notice,” said the Austrian on Sky.
Butscher will now take on the delicate task, who will probably be in charge for six games this time. Three points separate the Bochum team from FSV Mainz 05 in relegation place 16 in the final spurt of the season; VfL only got one point from the three key games against Mainz, Darmstadt 98 and Cologne.
Even if Butscher is more of an emergency solution than a preferred candidate, the choice is definitely obvious. He knows the club and its surroundings very well, signed his first professional contract there in 2005 and has worked in various positions since retiring in 2015 (also in Bochum). Most recently as sporting director of the youth department and coach of the U19. Butscher will make his comeback to the bench next Saturday (3.30 p.m./Sky and in the ntv.de live ticker) then Bayern conqueror 1. FC Heidenheim comes to the Ruhrstadion for the important game.