Bundesliga
Hasenhüttl succeeds Kovac and becomes the new Wolfsburg coach
VfL Wolfsburg has hired Ralph Hasenhüttl as its new coach. photo
© John Walton/PA Wire/dpa
It only took VfL Wolfsburg a few hours to find a successor for Niko Kovac. The new coach has already had success in Leipzig, Ingolstadt and in the English Premier League.
Hasenhüttl signed a long-term contract with Lower Saxony. The 56-year-old will be introduced on Monday and will conduct his first training session in Wolfsburg on Tuesday. “Kicker” and “Bild” had previously reported on the upcoming commitment.
Stations in Ingolstadt and Leipzig
Hasenhüttl should first lead VfL, which is still winless this year, out of the relegation zone and then, next season at the latest, pursue the goals that Kovac failed to achieve: a place in an international competition. In the Bundesliga, Lower Saxony will face Werder Bremen after the international break on March 30th.
The “Bild” newspaper had already reported on Wolfsburg’s interest in Hasenhüttl in January. In addition to his Bundesliga experience, the former Bayern Munich II striker also has many successes as a coach. He led FC Ingolstadt to the first division in 2015 and RB Leipzig to the Champions League in 2017 as promoted teams. From 2018 to 2022 he worked in the strongest league in the world: for Southampton FC in the English Premier League.
The last coach who had success in Wolfsburg over a longer period of time was also an Austrian: With Oliver Glasner, the Volkswagen club qualified for the Champions League in 2021. Since then, three coaches have followed in less than three years: Mark van Bommel, Florian Kohfeldt and Kovac. Under Kovac, VfL only won two of the last 20 Bundesliga games.