The Styrian signed a long-term contract with Lower Saxony. The 56-year-old will be introduced on Monday and will conduct his first training session in Wolfsburg on Tuesday, where two compatriots, ÖFB team player Patrick Wimmer and goalkeeper Pavao Pervan, are under contract.
Hasenhüttl most recently worked at English Premier League club Southampton from 2018 to November 2022. He should first lead VfL, which is still winless this year, out of the relegation zone and then, next season at the latest, pursue the goals that Kovac failed to achieve: a place in an international competition.
Wolfsburg still winless in 2024
Wolfsburg are still winless following ten league games in 2024 and have slipped to 14th place in the table. On Saturday there was a 3-1 home defeat once morest FC Augsburg, in which Wimmer was ruled out shortly before half-time.
In addition to his Bundesliga experience, Hasenhüttl also has many successes as a coach. The former Bayern Munich II striker led FC Ingolstadt to the first division in 2015 and RB Leipzig to the Champions League as a promoted team in 2017 before moving to Southampton in England.
The last coach who had success in Wolfsburg over a longer period of time was also an Austrian: With Oliver Glasner, the Volkswagen club qualified for the Champions League in 2021. Since then, three coaches have followed in less than three years: Mark van Bommel, Florian Kohfeldt and Kovac. Under Kovac, VfL only won two of the last 20 Bundesliga games.
Kovac might not meet expectations
The former Salzburg kicker and assistant coach Kovac moved to Wolfsburg in 2022 with high expectations. In his first season, the Croatian narrowly missed out on a Europa League place with the ambitious VW club. There was no further sporting development in the current season. The first game following the international break will be once morest Werder Bremen on March 30th.
Wimmer was a regular player under Kovac last year, but this season the 22-year-old offensive man was set back by a torn syndesmosis in his ankle. The Lower Austrian made his comeback at the end of February; the unfortunate game once morest Augsburg was his first in the starting line-up since the injury. Wimmer gave Wolfsburg the lead in the ninth minute, but was then wrongly shown a red card when the score was 1-0. He wasn’t last man when he fouled outside the penalty area. Substitute goalkeeper Pervan replaced the injured Koen Casteels in goal.
Wolfsburg’s lead over the relegation place, which FSV Mainz currently occupies, is now only six points. “We regret the development and believe it is necessary to give the team a new impetus in order to stabilize the situation,” said VfL managing director Marcel Schäfer, explaining the separation from Kovac. “Of course, as head coach, I am particularly disappointed that we were unable to achieve a turnaround despite promising approaches,” Kovac was quoted as saying in a club statement.
