VfL Bochum didn’t have much patience with their new coach. An unsuccessful start to the season cost <a href="https://time.news/borussia-dortmund-triumphs-over-bochum-with-4-2-victory-in-bundesliga-showdown/" title="Borussia Dortmund Triumphs Over Bochum with 4-2 Victory in Bundesliga Showdown”>Peter Zeidler, who was in St. Gallen last season, his job soon. Sporting director Marc Lettau also has to go.
VfL Bochum are parting ways with coach Peter Zeidler with immediate effect.
Bochum caused the first dismissal of a coach of the current Bundesliga season. After eight competitive matches without a win, the Revierclub had lost its confidence in the work of the 62-year-old football teacher Zeidler. There is currently no successor. It was said that the club will inform you of the next steps as soon as possible.
“There is a lack of certainty that VfL can achieve the goal of staying in the league with the current constellation of personnel,” the club said in a statement. “Despite many discussions and efforts in recent weeks, it was not possible to achieve significant improvements in terms of sports or tables.”
First round exit in the cup at second division club Regensburg (0:1) as well as unsuccessful Bundesliga matches against Leipzig (0:1), Mönchengladbach (0:2), Freiburg (1:2), Kiel (2: 2), Dortmund (2:4), Wolfsburg (1:3) and Hoffenheim (1:3) was too heavy a burden for Zeidler. The fall to last place in the table prompted the club’s management to take action. VfL have collected just one point this Bundesliga season.
Less credit than its predecessors
Unlike his previous club FC St. Gallen, where Zeidler stayed from 2018 to 2024 and was therefore the longest-serving coach in the top Swiss league, had to leave Bochum after a few months. He was supposed to start the rebuilding of the Revierclub after the separation from Thomas Letsch last April and the successful rescue mission of Heiko Butscher’s interim solution with the narrow victory in the relegation against Düsseldorf.
But unlike at the start of last season, when the first win only came on the tenth game day and when Letsch stayed in his job, Zeidler had less credit. According to reports, not only the lack of success but also the mood of the team contributed to the separation. In addition, after various drops in the team’s performance in the second half, allegations were made that the professionals lacked fitness.
Zeidler was still fighting after the defeat at TSG Hoffenheim on Saturday: “This is a team that is alive. People know that I completely identify with myself, that I am hardworking and also very capable. And so, I am a coach at VfL Bochum and hopefully for a long time.”
Is Breitenreiter coming now?
The lower team is now trying to speed up the search for a new football teacher. According to reports, former FCZ and Schalke coach André Breitenreiter is one of the candidates. The 51-year-old had to leave the coaching chair at English second division side Huddersfield last May and was already considered a candidate for the Bochum coaching job in the summer.
A difficult startup program awaits Zeidler’s successor. In the next four matches, VfL will face top teams such as FC Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt, Leverkusen and VfB Stuttgart.