German Bundesliga

Niko Kovac must go! Is Ralph Hasenhüttl coming?

Niko Kovac (right) had to vacate his post for Ralph Hasenhüttl (left).

(Bild: APA/AFP/Ronny HARTMANN, GEPA)

Ralph Hasenhüttl is the new coach of VfL Wolfsburg. The German Bundesliga club made the announcement on Sunday, just a few hours after parting ways with former head coach Niko Kovac. The Styrian signed a long-term contract with the club from Lower Saxony. The 56-year-old will be introduced on Monday and will conduct his first training session in Wolfsburg on Tuesday, where two of his compatriots, ÖFB team player Patrick Wimmer and goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, are under contract.

The Styrian has signed a long-term contract with the club from Lower Saxony. The 56-year-old will be introduced on Monday and will conduct his first training session in Wolfsburg on Tuesday, where two of his compatriots, ÖFB team player Patrick Wimmer and goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, are under contract.

Hasenhüttl most recently worked at English Premier League club Southampton from 2018 to November 2022. He will initially lead VfL, who are still winless this year, out of the relegation zone and then, by next season at the latest, pursue the goals that Kovac failed to achieve: a place in an international competition. Wolfsburg are still winless in 2024 after ten league games and have slipped to 14th in the table. On Saturday, they suffered a 3:1 home defeat against FC Augsburg, in which Wimmer was sent off shortly before the break.

In addition to his Bundesliga experience, Hasenhüttl also has many successes as a coach to his name. The former Bayern Munich II striker led FC Ingolstadt to the top flight in 2015 and promoted RB Leipzig to the Champions League in 2017 before moving to Southampton in England.

Things went downhill after Glasner
The last coach to enjoy long-term success at Wolfsburg was also an Austrian: the Volkswagen club qualified for the Champions League in 2021 under Oliver Glasner. Since then, three coaches - Mark van Bommel, Florian Kohfeldt and Kovac - have followed in less than three years. Under Kovac, VfL have won just two of their last 20 Bundesliga games.

Oliver Glasner

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Former Salzburg player and co-coach Kovac moved to Wolfsburg in 2022 with high expectations. In his first season with the ambitious VW club, the Croatian only narrowly missed out on a Europa League place. There has been no further sporting development this season. The first match after the international break will be against Werder Bremen on March 30.

Wimmer was a regular under Kovac last year, but in the current season the 22-year-old attacker has been set back by a syndesmosis tear in his ankle. The Lower Austrian made his comeback at the end of February; the unfortunate match against Augsburg was his first in the starting line-up after the injury. Wimmer gave Wolfsburg the lead in the ninth minute, but was then wrongly shown the red card with the score at 1-0. He had not been the last man when he was fouled outside the penalty area. Substitute goalkeeper Pervan replaced the blistered Koen Casteels in goal.

Relegation place
Wolfsburg's lead over FSV Mainz, who currently occupy the relegation place, is now just six points. "We regret the development and believe it is now necessary to give the team new impetus in order to stabilize the situation," said VfL managing director Marcel Schäfer, explaining Kovac's departure. "Of course, as head coach, I am particularly disappointed that we have not managed to achieve a turnaround despite promising approaches," Kovac was quoted as saying in a club statement.