Sport VfL Bochum
Stöger cancels, now it’s the eternal emergency solution
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VfL Bochum parts ways with coach Letsch in the relegation battle
With immediate effect, relegation-threatened VfL Bochum and head coach Thomas Letsch are ending their collaboration. After the late bankruptcy in Cologne, the club announced its separation on Monday afternoon.
VfL Bochum fires coach Lepsch and apparently has no alternative up its sleeve. Preferred candidate Peter Stöger doesn’t want to do it in such a short time and is canceling. So the club relies on existing staff. Yet again.
After parting ways with coach Thomas Letsch, VfL Bochum has decided on an interim solution until the end of the season. The previous U19 coach Heiko Butscher will be responsible for the remaining six games after the cancellation of preferred candidate Peter Stöger. On Tuesday afternoon, the club confirmed a corresponding “Bild” report.
He will be supported by assistant coaches Markus Gellhaus and Frank Heinemann. Butscher is VfL’s eternal emergency solution; he already helped out as interim coach of the professionals in 2018, 2019 and most recently in 2022.
“Heiko immediately agreed to take on this challenge. He knows VfL, he knows the situation at VfL and has proven that he can immediately reach a team in terms of content and emotion,” said Managing Director Sport Patrick Fabian.
Heiko Butscher has to get going again
Source: dpa/Bernd Thissen
On Monday, the relegation-threatened Bundesliga club from the Ruhr area announced the departure of coach Letsch. There had recently been a worrying negative trend at VfL – although the club actually seemed to have already been saved after a 3-2 win against FC Bayern Munich on matchday 22. In mid-February, the lead over the relegation relegation place was a comfortable nine points – Bochum was closer to the international ranks than to the 2nd Bundesliga. However, a series with just one point from six games meant that worries grew from week to week.
Stöger confirms “great conversation”
VfL is currently three points ahead of 16th place and four points ahead of a direct relegation zone. The next opponent on Saturday is 1. FC Heidenheim, who also defeated FC Bayern Munich last weekend. Letsch took over VfL in September 2022 in last place in the table. The 55-year-old managed to stay in the league with Bochum last season and was then celebrated in the Ruhr Stadium.
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Former U21 national coach Stefan Kuntz was also considered a candidate for successor. The 61-year-old played for VfL from 1983 to 1986 and 1998/99. From 2006 to 2008 he was manager of the Revierklub, most recently holding the position of national coach of Turkey.
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Things became very specific with Peter Stöger. The former coach of 1. FC Köln and Borussia Dortmund, currently sports director at the Austrian second division club Admira Wacker Mödling, confirmed to meine.at that he had been called by VfL: “It was a great conversation. I considered taking the job to get myself back into the conversation. In the end, the short term spoke against it. Also because of the contract situation at Admira.”
