Bundesliga 2 - Coach quake: FCK parts ways with Schuster
The coaching shake-up at Betzenberg came out of nowhere. In a complete surprise, second division soccer club 1. FC Kaiserslautern parted ways with head coach Dirk Schuster on Thursday and also relieved his assistant Sascha Franz of his duties.
The Palatinate club, who are without a win in five matches, responded to the current sporting situation with the dismissal. "After an unsatisfactory second half of last season in terms of results, the team was able to start a positive series in the first third of the season, but overall the trends show an unsatisfactory development, so that those responsible have decided to take this step," the club announced.
FCK had recently lost three games in a row under Schuster and had slipped to eleventh place in the table. Ahead of the visit to 1. FC Magdeburg on Saturday (20:30/Sky/Sport1), the lead over 16th-placed Schalke 04 is now just five points.
"I think it's relatively normal for there to be difficult phases, especially in the second year," said Schuster in a farewell message to the fans. "Our common goal was a mid-table finish - and that's where we're handing over the team now."
Schuster, whose contract would have expired at the end of the season, was still in charge of training on Wednesday. The 55-year-old was due to comment on the upcoming match in Magdeburg on Thursday afternoon. However, this did not happen. Instead, Schuster expressly thanked the fans: "Betzenberg is once again being spoken about with respect and appreciation in soccer Germany. You can be proud of that. And that makes us proud too. That's why we can say: It was a great time. A great time with you!"
It was initially unclear who would be coaching the team in the next match. The club merely announced that managing director Thomas Hengen would make a statement shortly. According to information from "Kicker", Enrico Maaßen (most recently at FC Augsburg) and Michael Wimmer, who is currently under contract with Austrian first division club Austria Vienna, are possible successor candidates. Talks are said to have already taken place with Wimmer.
Schuster took over the Red Devils in May 2022 shortly before the relegation matches against Dynamo Dresden and led FCK back to Bundesliga 2 after four years in the third tier. In the year of promotion, the Palatinate club was in fourth place at the winter break with 29 points. In the second half of the season, however, they only managed four wins and four draws. In the end, that was enough for ninth place.
After a poor start to the season with defeats against FC St. Pauli and Schalke 04, things seemed to be improving again. Kaiserslautern remained unbeaten in the following seven games and worked their way up to third place. After a 3:1 home win against Hannover 96, the team even topped the table for one night at the beginning of October. "We're having a lot of fun at work here," Schuster said at the time.
But then the form curve dropped sharply. In the DFB Cup, a much-acclaimed 3:2 win against Bundesliga side 1. FC Köln saw the team advance to the round of 16, where they will face 1. FC Nürnberg next Tuesday. In the league, however, there have been four defeats and just one point in the last five games. The poor performance in the recent 3-0 defeat to Holstein Kiel apparently reinforced the view of those responsible that Schuster would not be able to bring about another turnaround.
Table 2nd Bundesliga Club announcement
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Source: www.stern.de
