VfL Bochum have found a successor following the departure of Peter Zeidler - at least for the time being. The new coach will face the toughest possible opponent. There are rumors about Urs Fischer.
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- Former St.Gallen coach Peter Zeidler was sacked by VfL Bochum after just seven matchdays.
- Co-coaches Markus Feldhoff and Murat Ural have taken over the first team on an interim basis. Ural had already stepped in as interim coach at FC Zurich last season.
- Bochum, meanwhile, is looking for a new head coach. According to a media report, Urs Fischer is the preferred candidate.
An internal solution is to be found first: Markus Feldhoff and Murat Ural will take over VfL Bochum as interim coaches. They are to take the first steps out of the crisis with the team. The arrangement with the two as successors to Peter Zeidler is valid "until further notice", as VfL announced. The Bundesliga's bottom club parted company with Zeidler on Sunday.
Both Feldhoff and Ural are already at VfL and know the team. Both were most recently assistant coaches and have a UEFA Pro license. The Swiss Ural already stepped in with Umberto Romano in February of this year following the departure of Bo Henriksen from FC Zurich, but had to leave after eleven games. Feldhoff has already gained experience as a head coach in Germany: in 2021, the former Bundesliga striker coached VfL Osnabrück, but was unable to prevent relegation to the 3rd division at the time.
Rumors about Urs Fischer
The communication without a concrete planned duration of the commitment is quite clever. Feldhoff and Ural are now giving the club time to look for a long-term successor to Zeidler. They may even be able to recommend themselves for a longer period in their new role. If VfL had decided on a permanent solution straight away, this would have involved a certain amount of risk.
Nevertheless, the search for a new head coach is in full swing in Bochum. According to "Blick", Swiss VfL managing director Ilja Kaenzig also has a preferred candidate: Urs Fischer. There is said to have already been an initial exchange with the Zurich native, but it has not yet become concrete. Fischer left Union Berlin in November 2023 after five successful years and has been without a club ever since.
Mammoth program for Bochum
VfL Bochum face the toughest of all possible home games on Sunday: Bochum welcome league leaders FC Bayern Munich to the Ruhrstadion. This is followed by games at Eintracht Frankfurt and against champions Bayer Leverkusen before the international break.
Under Zeidler, the Revierclub picked up just one point from the first seven Bundesliga games of the season. VfL were also eliminated in the DFB Cup by Jahn Regensburg. Like Zeidler, sporting director Marc Lettau also had to leave after the recent defeat at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. A successor has not yet been found.