Wolfsburg desperately need Ralph Hasenhüttl - but why does he need them?
Following a turbulent end to his spell at Southampton, the Austrian head coach has returned to German football in search of a long-term project he can sink his teeth into.
The Bundesliga title race is now little more than a foregone conclusion and most fans of the German top-flight could probably predict which six clubs will be competing in Europe next season with relative clarity. But when it comes to the bottom half of the league table and the growing concern over which teams will be relegated or indeed have to fight for their survival via the play-off round, it’s getting trickier and trickier to predict with each passing week.
Following an unexpected 2-0 win over Bochum, sixteenth-place Mainz now sit just six points off their aforementioned foes and Wolfsburg. Another three clubs - Union Berlin, Borussia Mönchengladbach and Heidenheim - sit just three or four points above them and, if they were being entirely truthful, even Werder Bremen fans would admit that they’re not entirely convinced that they’ve managed to shake off fears of relegation just yet. As such, in a desperate attempt to alleviate the symptoms of this severe pressure, one club have decided to act.
On Sunday, following a 3-1 defeat to Augsburg that confirmed the club’s eleventh straight match without a win, Wolfsburg announced that they had parted ways with head coach Niko Kovac. Despite very strong suggestions that they had been tempted to push the big red button ahead of the winter break when the club was in tenth place in the league table, the club hierarchy opted to instead give the former Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt tactician more time. In the following two months Wolfsburg picked up just six points and slumped to fourteenth place, where they now find themselves just two defeats away from a potential sixteenth place finish.
If there is hope for fans of the Volkswagen club, it came shortly after Kovac’s departure, when his successor was quickly confirmed to be none other than Ralph Hasenhüttl. Far from an impulsive hire, plucked from managing director Marcel Schäfer’s rolodex, the 56-year-old Austrian manager was likely courted by Wolfsburg some time ago. But why he’s opted to return to football management now, with just eight remaining league games of the season to quickly come to terms with his new squad, immediately improve their form and steer Wolfsburg away from the drop, is peculiar to say the least.
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