Only one point after nine games and a goal difference of 9:29: VfL Bochum‘s situation is threatening. Now Dieter Hecking is tasked with preventing the bottom team from relegating to the Bundesliga. The 60-year-old last worked as a coach in the Bundesliga more than five years ago.
It was around lunchtime when VfL Bochum announced the deal on Monday: Dieter Hecking was the Bundesliga club’s new coach. The 60-year-old signed a contract with the bottom club until the end of the season.
Managing director Ilja Kaenzig had previously held intensive discussions with the experienced Bundesliga coach and convinced the club management of the personnel. Hecking, who will be introduced on Tuesday at 1.30 p.m. on Castroper Straße, most recently coached Hamburger SV and 1. FC Nürnberg.
Situation devastating
The task for the veteran, who has played over 660 games in the Bundesliga and the 2nd league as a coach, is tricky. Bochum only has one point after nine games and a goal difference of 9:29. Only 1. FC Saarbrücken (1963/1964) and SpVgg Greuther Fürth (2021/2022) have been worse in Bundesliga history. They are seven points behind the non-relegation places.
After the dramatic rescue in the relegation against Fortuna Düsseldorf, Peter Zeidler took over the club from Heiko Butscher. After the false start to the season, VfL parted ways with Zeidler and also with sporting director Marc Lettau. Interim coach Markus Feldhoff took over and his record is devastating. There were bad blows against Bayern Munich (0:5) and Eintracht Frankfurt (2:7).
The club announced on Monday that the previous assistant coach, who looked after the licensed player squad on an interim basis together with Murat Ural, will take on other tasks in the club that have yet to be defined in the spirit of a new beginning.
Hecking was Bundesliga coach until 2019
Hecking was sports director at 1. FC Nürnberg until May. His last coaching job in the Bundesliga was some time ago. After the 2018/2019 season he was replaced by Marco Rose in Gladbach. He led VfL Wolfsburg to DFB Cup victory in 2015. He then missed promotion to the Bundesliga as coach of Hamburger SV. He was on the sidelines 418 times in the Bundesliga alone, for Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96, 1. FC Nürnberg, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg.
dpa/LaGa
