At the very end and in a small group, the question of a third farewell came up, which was less due to sensationalism than to the surprising resignations of President Klaus Hofmann and coach Markus Weinzierl. The question was directed at Stefan Reuter, and it was about how certain it was that he would still be the manager of FC Augsburg after the summer break. “You can assume that,” Reuter replied succinctly. He left it at that. Except for the fact that he smiled confidently into the silence.
Shortly after the final whistle, the last game of the season had finally been rendered irrelevant. Hardly anyone was still interested in the 2:1 of the previously saved Augsburg against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, which had long since been relegated. Instead, it was almost all about the next breaking news that the FCA had sent out. Or better: from his previous coach. Because Weinzierl first revealed to his players and then to the equally amazed TV audience that it was his last game as Augsburg coach.
It is not the first time that Reuter has been accused of poor communication
“The basis for a future is missing here,” said Weinzierl, surprising his unsuspecting superior Reuter. “He’ll notice that now,” added Weinzierl, which said a lot about his relationship with Reuter. Weinzierl saw it as a “clear sign” of a lack of trust that his expiring contract had not yet been discussed after he returned to FCA in April 2021. “And that’s why he has it in writing now,” Weinzierl said in the direction of Reuter. That sounded a bit snippy, but above all his criticism of the lack of communication, in his opinion, could hardly have been clearer.
It’s not the first time that Reuter, who has been with FCA since the end of 2012, has faced such allegations. It had also crashed with Weinzierl before, at the end of his first term between 2012 and 2016. At that time, however, because the coach had promised FC Schalke. The fact that Weinzierl became FCA coach again around 13 months ago was largely due to President Hofmann.
Klaus Hofmann has resigned as President of FC Augsburg before Markus Weinzierl. He recently declared that he would never sell his 30.56 percent stake.
(Photo: Christian Kolbert/ikolbert-press/Imago)
Reuter now reported that a conversation about Weinzierl’s future after the season had been agreed, which he wanted to have this week. At the same time, his skepticism towards the trainer sounded. “I think the squad is really good and that we could have had a much stronger season,” said Reuter. For him, the work-up will now include Weinzierl’s sudden farewell, and there is also a search for a trainer with immediate effect.
The association will also deal with the connections of the chain reaction. Around 24 hours before Weinzierl’s departure, FC Augsburg had announced Hofmann’s resignation from all his offices. According to everything that can be heard, the club president and managing director of the professional department, i.e. the central figure of FCA, who has been in office since 2014, should not have retired just because of “health problems”, as it is officially said. Here, too, there is talk of recurring differences with Reuter. Hofmann Reuter is said to have counted several times in the past. Now the impulsive Hofmann apparently preferred to withdraw himself, out of self-protection. Weinzierl made his decision immediately after Hofmann’s resignation. For the coach, that supporting “pillar” that always supported him had broken away.
What happened in Augsburg is something like Hainer, Kahn and Nagelsmann leaving FC Bayern
A comparison with Augsburg’s neighbors FC Bayern helps to understand the personal details and the force of the resignations. What has just happened at FCA is roughly as if the champions from Munich first gave up the president Herbert Hainer and the chairman of the board Oliver Kahn at the same time and the day after that the coach Julian Nagelsmann. What would remain was a rather alone sports director Hasan Salihamidzic (he would still be supported by his fellow board member, the finance expert Jan-Christian Dreesen).
In the case of FC Augsburg, the threads now come together with the managing directors Reuter (sport) and Michael Ströll (finance). They also have a man by the name of Thomas Müller at FCA, who works here as the chairman of the supervisory board. This is a key difference in the organizational chart of Augsburg compared to that of Munich: At FC Bayern, the president is also the head of the supervisory board. Hofmann, on the other hand, was not allowed to hold this office – as president and managing director – in Augsburg, especially since he owns parts of Investors GmbH, which holds 99.4 percent of the shares in FC Augsburg GmbH und Co. KGaA, i.e. in the professional department. The largest share in this investor GmbH lies with the Bolt Football Holdings of the US billionaire David Blitzer (45 percent).
Hofmann recently declared that he would never sell his own shares of 30.56 percent. So far it has not been announced that his resignation could change anything. But even so, they have to reposition themselves almost completely in Augsburg.