New Coach: VfL Bochum Bring In Relegation Expert Hecking

Dieter Hecking is back in the Bundesliga as a head coach and will take on the task of saving VfL Bochum from relegation.

The 60-year-old signed a contract with the bottom-placed club until the end of the season, as Vfl Bochum announced on Monday.

The task for the veteran coach who has managed over 660 games in the Bundesliga and 2. Bundesliga could hardly be more challenging. Bochum has just one point from nine games and, crucially, a goal difference of -20.

Only 1. FC Saarbrücken in 1963/1964 and Greuther Fürth in 2021/2022 have made worse starts to a Bundesliga season.

The Ruhrstadion-based club is currently seven points off the non-relegation 15th place. On Saturday, they suffered a dismal 7-2 thrashing at the hands of Eintracht Frankfurt having lost 5-0 at home to Bayern Munich a week earlier.

The competition also gained points at the weekend: Holstein Kiel secured the first Bundesliga win in the club’s history against 1. FC Heidenheim (1-0), while FC St. Pauli won at TSG 1899 Hoffenheim (2-0).

The recent run of poor form cost coaching duo Markus Feldhoff and Murat Unal their posts, with fans up in arms and booing the team once more on Saturday. Even interventions by captain Gerrit Holtmann couldn’t get the faithful back on the side again at the Waldstadion, and something was going to give.

Born just 11km from Bochum, Dieter Hecking, who has, according to Ruhr Nachrichten, signed a contract until June 2025, was most recently the Sporting director at 1. FC Nürnberg until May.

However, his last coaching role in the Bundesliga was some time back. Marco Rose replaced him at Borussia Moenchengladbach after the 2018/2019 season.

The former midfielder led VfL Wolfsburg to the DFB Pokal win in 2015. He then narrowly missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga as coach of Hamburger SV in 2020.

He has been in the dugout 418 times in the Bundesliga alone: ​​for Alemannia Aachen, Hannover 96, 1. FC Nuremberg, Borussia Mönchengladbach and VfL Wolfsburg.

The appointment of the highly experienced coach appears to make sense. Hecking is a relegation specialist with Hannover 96, 1. FC Nuremberg, and VfL Wolfsburg. He stepped up during the season and saved all three teams from relegation.

A budget for the January transfer window will be needed. The club is weak in several areas, mainly the defence, with Brazilian left-back Bernardo and former Norwich City right-back Felix Passlack both out of contention due to injury.

The expected return of main keeper Manuel Riemann, who was suspended in the summer due to a falling out with then-manager Thomas Letsch, is a bonus.

The squad, which is valued at just €61m, the third-lowest in the top tier, only gained out-of-contract players in the summer, and Myron Boadu and Matus Bero, both midfielders, with two goals apiece, are the only regular scorers on the side.

The new VfL Bochum coach’s first task is a tricky home tie against Xabi Alonso’s title holders Leverkusen on Saturday.