Pirmin Schwegler new sports director in Wolfsburg: confusion of names, titles and competencies

In earlier times, things were almost symbiotic at VfL Wolfsburg. From 1998 to 2003 the coach was Wolfgang Wolf match made in heavenas the young people would say. The factory club didn’t make any peaks in these years, but everyone knew what to expect from Wolfgang Wolf’s Wolfsburg team: work and passion – as luck would have it, these two terms make up two thirds of the current club slogan, which is also supplemented by the claim to “football”.

In any case, Wolf’s Wolfsburg laid the foundation for all the successes that were to come: Felix Magath’s championship in 2009, Dieter Hecking’s DFB Cup victory in 2015, a 2-0 win against Real Madrid in the Champions League the following year, a productive club episode under the Austrian Oliver Glasner between 2019 and 2021.

The key data prove: In theory, it is possible to exploit the opportunities in Wolfsburg that are made available to those responsible by the parent company VW. However, when you look at the current Bundesliga table, you can see that work, football and passion are by no means a given. That’s why on Saturday, in the away game against Borussia Mönchengladbach, a new face will face a familiar danger.

Pirmin Schwegler, who was introduced as Wolfsburg’s new sports director on Thursday, should make his contribution so that this so far promising season can at least come to a reconciliatory end. In 2017 and 2018, the factory club was only able to secure their place in the league through relegation – a prospect that had also threatened in previous seasons and is far from averted in the current season.

Who actually does what in Wolfsburg? And who reports what to whom?

Schwegler is coming from Eintracht Frankfurt, where he has been head of professional football since the beginning of this year, for a fee reportedly worth 250,000 euros; He had previously been employed, among other things, as chief scout at FC Bayern and director of professional football in Hoffenheim. Manager, director, now sports director – from this jumble of titles, profiles and competencies it can be seen that Schwegler, 38, with an excellent reputation, brings a wealth of experience to the crisis location of Wolfsburg. On the other hand, this confusion of job titles is representative of a problem that has been with them at this location for a while: Who actually does what? And who reports what to whom?

At VfL they have been so careless with their organizational chart in recent years that the names, titles and competencies have become jumbled up. A (hopefully understandable) overview: Schwegler succeeds sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz, who was released a month ago and who was almost brought in as sports director in 2023, but then lost out to Marcel Schäfer, who is now working in Leipzig. That shepherd was previously sports director under sports director Jörg Schmadtke and was appointed by him as his successor, but since July 2024 the Wolfsburg sports director has been called Peter Christiansen.

Christiansen himself had come under criticism during the recent failures, but was allowed to take part in the search for a new sports director and afterwards praised the atmosphere in the conversation with Schwegler. Wolfsburg’s end-of-season results during this period: twelfth, eighth, twelfth and eleventh place; VfL is currently in 15th place. In any case, a connection with the Wolfsburg hierarchy wrangling should not be negligently ruled out.

Schwegler’s contract runs three years longer than that of his superior Peter Christiansen

The Dane Christiansen made it clear on Thursday that he remains the “boss”, although he finds the constant questions of power in Germany “a bit strange”. Schwegler, once a tough defensive man in Hanover, Hoffenheim, Frankfurt and Leverkusen, assured that he would “not let anyone slip away” in the business corridors. In any case, those involved would do well to devote themselves to the work immediately: Under interim coach Daniel Bauer, who took over from the hapless Dutchman Paul Simonis in November, Wolfsburg’s performances have become more stable – but is that enough to throw a previous U19 coach into the rigors of a possible class war?

In addition, a new striker and a new midfielder are being sought on the winter market, although Christiansen and Schwegler – after all, they work in Wolfsburg – at least don’t have to worry about a lack of financial resources in this matter. According to reports, money should be available for access. As is well known, not all damage in football can be repaired with money alone. Especially since there could soon be movement in the Wolfsburg organizational chart: Schwegler’s contract runs until 2030, that of boss Christiansen until the beginning of 2027. Not only that Kicker recognizes this as an “extraordinary constellation”.

The Wolfsburg supervisory board is responsible for filling these positions. The newest member of the committee: VW boss Oliver Blume – a man who is certainly very busy given the current economic situation.