Borussia Mönchengladbach's Urgent Search for a New Coach

Borussia Mönchengladbach are staring at the table from the wrong end, and the search for a new coach reflects the urgency. The club have handed sporting director Rouven Schröder a budget of around four million euros to solve the problem on the touchline – a clear signal that a compensation fee will not scare them off if the right man is under contract elsewhere.

Four million to fix a crisis

Three games, three defeats, a goal difference of 3:12 and 17th place in the Bundesliga. Only HSV, still goalless at 0:12, are worse off. The 0:5 collapse at SC Freiburg last weekend didn’t just sting; it closed the chapter on coach Eugen Polanski.

Polanski, 40, had stepped in as interim boss last season after Gerardo Seoane’s dismissal and was already under heavy scrutiny before this campaign kicked off. Promoted to head coach, he managed an average of just 1.10 points over 29 matches. The Freiburg debacle removed any remaining doubt. Gladbach need a reset.

Schröder now leads that reset – but he is not alone. His predecessor Roland Virkus, moved into the Scouting & Recruitment directorate and focused on “coach scouting” since July, is heavily involved in drawing up and refining the shortlist.

Priske, Blessin, Steffen – and a familiar face

The list is long, and it is ambitious.

High on it, according to reports from Denmark’s Tipsbladet, is Brian Priske of Sparta Prague. The 49-year-old Dane has rebuilt his reputation in the Czech top flight and ticks the box of a modern, tactically sharp coach. The exact length of his contract in Prague remains unclear, but with a transfer budget in place, Gladbach are prepared to negotiate if he is the chosen one.

Bild also links several other names to the vacancy: Alexander Blessin, most recently at St. Pauli; Horst Steffen, currently at SV Werder Bremen; and Christian Eichner of Karlsruher SC. Each would bring a different profile, from pressing-heavy football to more structured, possession-based approaches.

Then there is Steffen Baumgart, now at Union Berlin – and perhaps the most intriguing option of all.

Baumgart: the rival who knows the neighbourhood

Baumgart carries a past that would normally make the Borussia fan base bristle. Before his current spell in Berlin and a stint at HSV, he stood on the touchline of arch-rivals 1. FC Köln.

And he did more than just stand there. In his first season, he dragged the Billy Goats to a sensational seventh place, punching a ticket to the Conference League and reviving a club that had been drifting. His Köln chapter ended in December 2023 after a sporting downturn, closing a run of 98 matches and a relationship that had long seemed unbreakable.

That Köln history would usually be a red flag in Mönchengladbach. This time, it might be a selling point.

Baumgart embodies edge. He is loud, emotional, unapologetically direct – the kind of figure who can jolt a drifting team awake. Those involved in the process say he fits the profile the club want: experienced, hardened by setbacks, and capable of handling the pressure of a club that expects more than survival.

Crucially, he already knows Gladbach in detail. Decision-makers value that he has studied the Foals extensively in recent years and would not need weeks of video work just to understand what he is inheriting. He could, in theory, walk into the dressing room and start changing things from day one.

A precarious table, a narrowing window

The situation is already precarious after only three matchdays. Zero points, heavy defeats, and a defence leaking goals at an alarming rate. The Freiburg humiliation did not just cost Polanski his job; it exposed a team short on confidence, structure, and leadership.

Schröder and Virkus now comb through their shortlist with that reality in mind. Priske, Blessin, Steffen, Eichner, Baumgart – different styles, different backgrounds, one shared task if appointed: stop the slide before a bad start becomes a full-blown relegation fight.

The money is there. The names are on the table. The clock, though, is already ticking on Gladbach’s season.