To succeed at Union, Baumgart will need to replace both Svensson and Fischer

The Berlin side have been crying out for the return of attacking football and leadership in the dug out. Baumgart will need to provide both in the coming months.

It’s been a while since anyone at the Stadion An der Alten Försterei has had any reason to crack a smile, but many did so and even burst into laughter when Steffen Baumgart was unveiled to the German press as Union Berlin’s new head coach last week. In his typically honest and down-to-earth manner, the 52-year-old coach met the surprise and notable bewilderment of his appointment with a healthy dose of self-deprecation.

"I was brought in with a lot of skepticism at the time because I was an old fart,” joked Baumgart joining the club as a player 20 years ago. “Then there was this one scene in the first game: Marco Rose was my victim in my first tackle. After that, the whole block was on its feet,” said the new Union boss with a grin across his face, knowing full well that any misfortune aimed towards the RB Leipzig head coach just a few hours down the road would be welcomed with joyous rapture by his new support.

Such remarks undoubtedly provided a welcome respite from the misfortune that has plagued Union for the past few months. Baumgart’s return to the capital club is unquestionably intended to be a soothing balm for a terrible run of form that had seen the club go nine games without a single victory before to the winter break. Such a run had not only seen the club exit the German Cup at the hands of Arminia Bielefeld, but also sink down to fifteenth in the Bundesliga table. And following Bochum and Hoffenheim’s decisions to make changes in the dugout, Union clearly felt obliged to do the same by parting ways with Bo Svensson.

The question that Baumgart will undoubtedly have to answer before too long is whether his persona off the pitch can match results on it. Or whether the former Paderborn, FC Köln and HSV head coach has simply been parachuted into Union as a desperate, mid-season PR stunt from a club that has looked increasingly erratic over the course of the last few years. Having enjoyed five years of steady improvements under Urs Fischer, the Berlin side are now on to their third head coaches in the last 14 months. And few would doubt that Baumgart is on the completely different side of the spectrum from his predecessor in more ways than one.