Monday, April 26, 2021
Weinzierl should stop the descent
Augsburg tries again with the ex
FC Augsburg reacts to its threatening Bundesliga situation. In the relegation battle, the club separates from coach Heiko Herrlich. An old friend should take over – Markus Weinzierl.
Back to the future: With ex-coach Markus Weinzierl, Bundesliga club FC Augsburg want to build on better times and avoid the impending relegation. The 46-year-old, who marked the most successful era of the FCA between 2012 and 2016 and even led the club into the European Cup, should turn things around in the last three games of the season. According to consistent media reports, he succeeds Heiko Herrlich, whom the FCA dismissed after the most recent downturn.
Weinzierl had recently worked for Schalke 04 and VfB Stuttgart without luck and had been given leave of absence. Curiously, VfB Weinzierl released on April 20, 2019 after a 6-0 defeat in Augsburg. Since then he has been without a job.
Weinzierl has to get the insecure Augsburg team on track as quickly as possible in the season’s final spurt. The FCA was recently nine points ahead of the relegation ranks, but after only one point from the past four games, the lead on the relegation place has shrunk to four points. The 2: 3 on Friday against 1. FC Köln after a desperate first half was the low point of the latest development. Manager Stefan Reuter, President Klaus Hofmann and Managing Director Michael Ströll saw themselves forced to pull the emergency brake after discussions at the weekend.
Good memories
Herrlich had only taken over the office from Martin Schmidt a year ago and managed to stay up after the forced Corona break. However, the playful development demanded by Reuter did not materialize under Herrlich. With his “toothpaste affair”, when he violated the quarantine measures and missed his debut, the former striker had an unfortunate start in Augsburg.
The FCA, on the other hand, has fond memories of Weinzierl. In the 2013/2014 season, the native of Straubing was voted the best coach by the Association of Contract Footballers, ahead of Pep Guardiola and Jürgen Klopp. With fifth place a year later and his first entry into the Europa League, Weinzierl set himself a monument to the Bavarian Swabians before he left the club for Schalke in 2016. During the breakup, there were also dissonances with Reuter. But they should have been cleared out long ago.
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