Drumbeat at Rapid: End for Coach Stöger
Football Bundesliga club SK Rapid has pulled the emergency brake and relieved head coach Peter Stöger and his assistant coach Thomas Sageder of their duties. The Vienna club announced this on Friday afternoon. The separation comes just a few hours after the 1:4 defeat against Rakow Czestochowa in the Conference League. Stefan Kulovits takes over as interim coach and is already challenged on Sunday against the high-flying LASK (17.00).
Rapid Last in Conference League
Stöger was already under pressure after the again sobering defeat in the European Cup. In the last four competitive matches, the Green-Whites suffered three defeats and managed only a meager draw (1:1 at WSG Tirol). The 1:4 at the Polish runner-up was ultimately too much. "This decision is extremely difficult because not only do I highly value Peter Stöger and also Thomas Sageder for their expertise and character. However, the developments of the last few weeks make these dismissals necessary," explained Managing Director of Sport Markus Katzer in a statement.
The 45-year-old Viennese addressed the fact that Rapid's poor results were accompanied by a massive performance crisis. Since the end of September, the Hütteldorf team lost eight out of twelve competitive matches, often delivering extremely poor performances. Although the team around captain Matthias Seidl is still in second place in the league, they are hopelessly last without points in the Conference League.
Stöger "a Stayer and Fighter"
Stöger had repeatedly asked for patience and spoken of a "complicated phase." "I have had more enjoyable days, but I am a fighter and a biter," the 59-year-old said on Thursday evening, but also emphasized, "We already have our ideas." However, this continuation will no longer happen.
Katzer also emphasized on Thursday: "For us, it is important that we do not start a coaching discussion, especially not publicly. It is important to remain calm in such a situation. You must not be guided by emotions, especially not by the emotions of others, and we do not do that."
Kulovits and Pavlovic in Action
By Friday noon, everything was completely different. "We wanted to achieve a turnaround after the last international break and were very confident that this would succeed. Unfortunately, the trend continued to decline both in the home game against GAK and on Thursday in the European Cup in Poland. Both the recent results and performances have now led us to this decision," Katzer was quoted in the Rapid release.
Now Kulovits and - as an additional assistant - Luka Pavlovic are once again playing the role of firefighters in Hütteldorf. The 42-year-old had already taken on this task earlier this spring when Rapid parted ways with Robert Klauß. "Stefan Kulovits and the rest of the coaching team will have every support to ensure we quickly experience a turnaround," said Katzer. "Now the full focus must be on the last games of the year, and in parallel, we are of course exploring the market for suitable personalities for the head coach position without wanting to make a hasty decision."
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.