After nine months, Steffen Baumgart's time as HSV coach is already over. The club has recently been anything but ready for the Bundesliga. Will a Swiss take over in Hamburg?
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- Hamburger SV is not getting off to the desired start this season either and sacks coach Steffen Baumgart after a 2:2 draw against Schalke.
- The German media are putting forward Ruud van Nistelrooy and Bruno Labbadia, among others, as candidates to succeed him. Lothar Matthäus is also thinking about Urs Fischer.
- "Fischer has a style that goes down well with people and the players," says Matthäus. The Zurich native has been without a club for a year.
After nine months in office, self-confessed HSV fan Steffen Baumgart has to give up his dream job as coach of Hamburger SV. The struggling second division club announced the 52-year-old's departure one day after the disappointing 2:2 draw against Schalke 04, the fourth game in a row without a win.
Baumgart expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to work at his "favorite club of my childhood". "It was an exciting and very intense time," he said and assured that he wanted to stay connected to the club.
Assistant coach Merlin Polzin will take over the team on an interim basis, as he did in the spring, together with Loïc Favé, the coach of HSV's second team in the regional league, until Baumgart's successor is found. HSV are currently in 8th place, but with a four-point deficit to leaders Paderborn, their chances of promotion are still intact.
Who will take over the job now seems to be completely open. The TV channel Sky has brought former HSV professional Ruud van Nistelrooy into play, who was most recently in charge of Manchester United as interim coach. Bild mentions Lukas Kwasniok from league rivals SC Paderborn and former HSV coach Bruno Labbadia as potential candidates.
Urs Fischer a possible candidate?
Sky expert Lothar Matthäus is also considering a Swiss. "I see Urs Fischer as someone who can calm things down and has a certain aplomb," said the record-breaking German international on the Sky90 program. "He has a manner that goes down well with people and the players."
Fischer is not necessarily a coach who likes to play offensively. "But if the squad is put together for Baumgart, who also thinks more defensively, then he would be more suited to Fischer," Matthäus said.
Fischer also started out in the Bundesliga 2 with Union Berlin, achieved promotion to the top flight and celebrated many successes in the Bundesliga. In November 2023, the Zurich native resigned after a difficult start to the season at Union and has been without a club ever since. Matthäus: "I could well imagine Urs Fischer at HSV."
