Bundesliga - Pawlak leads first Cologne training session - coach search continues
FC Köln will start 2024 without a new head coach. The Bundesliga club has announced that André Pawlak will lead the first training session on January 2.
Alongside René Wagner and Kevin McKenna, the 52-year-old was one of three assistant coaches under Steffen Baumgart, who left the club on December 21. The interim solution with Pawlak buys more time in the search for a new head coach. Sporting director Christian Keller will comment on the current state of affairs ahead of the meeting. For FC, the new soccer year begins with the match against 1. FC Heidenheim on January 13.
Transfer ban for Cologne
Pawlak enjoys a good reputation in Cologne. As a long-time assistant head coach and former U21 coach, he is familiar with the processes at the club. He also led the team back into the Bundesliga after Markus Anfang left at the end of April 2019.
According to "Kicker", Jaka Cuber Potocnik will also train with the professionals for the first time. The signing of the youth player in January 2022 had earned FC a transfer ban for the next two transfer periods. His former club Olimpija Ljubljana had accused Cologne of instigating the transfer of the then 16-year-old talent and lodged a complaint with FIFA. The punishment imposed by the world governing body was confirmed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas shortly before Christmas.
Read also:
- NFL kicker out injured, then something unbelievable happens!
- Taylor Swift talks about love for her NFL star
- Crazy victory in the NFL top game
- NFL star breaks referee's leg
- Despite Andre Pawlak leading the first training session for FC Köln on January 2, the search for a new head coach continues in Germany's Bundesliga.
- Steffen Baumgart, who previously worked with André Pawlak as an assistant coach at FC Köln, recently left the club on December 21.
- The 1. FC Cologne will face 1. FC Heidenheim in their first match of the new soccer year on January 13, with Pawlak serving as the interim head coach during the ongoing search for a permanent replacement.
- Jaka Cuber Potocnik, who previously trained with FC Köln's U21 team and contributed to the team's promotion to the Bundesliga under Pawlak in 2019, will also join the first-team training sessions starting in January.
- The transfer ban imposed on FC Köln in January 2022, due to a dispute with Olimpija Ljubljana over the signing of Potocnik, will still be in effect for the club's next two transfer periods, making it challenging for them to bolster their squad during this time.
Source: www.stern.de
