Baumgart cult is not enough
Cologne is not worried after bankruptcy
Tobias Holtkamp
Things are not going well at 1. FC Köln – despite cult figure Steffen Baumgart. SPORT1 columnist Tobias Holtkamp questions whether his status as untouchable is enough.
The 1. FC Cologne In the past two years, he has lived off the incredible energy that Steffen Baumgart has brought to the club and especially to the first team.
Since the summer of 2021, when Baumgart took over, it has been the case Cologne for many experts as the biggest Bundesliga surprise. Baumgart, who apparently never needed rest, regularly pushed an average squad of players to the limit of their performance. Actually even about it.
Still standing in the relegation relegation, Baumgart led the Cologne team straight to seventh place – and thus into the European Cup. He became a cult coach nationwide, got his own party hit, is celebrated for cool and short sleeves, and his flat cap with his own number was sold out for weeks.
The hype continued at the beginning of the current season. Baumgart’s team made it incredibly difficult for any opponent to survive against them. Always full throttle, always on it. reverse gear? No option.
Cologne and Baumgart in crisis
The first defeat (0:1 against Union) only came on the 6th matchday. After that, the Cologne team beat BVB, but the exhausting style of play became more and more noticeable in the autumn.
Even the top scorer of the previous season was missing more and more. The club had sold Anthony Modeste to Dortmund for five million euros on the first day of the game.
The World Cup break in November came like a lifeline after three defeats in a row. Highest level of urgency. The patient looked completely flat.
But it hasn’t gotten much better. On the contrary. Steffen Baumgart faces his most strenuous weeks in Cologne this spring – a look at the table as well as the field shows that.
The Geißbock-Klub has not had a goal of its own for four games. The low point was the 0:2 against Bochum. The bottom of the table, in their own stadium.
Resentment in Cologne is growing
The displeasure in the environment, among fans and local reporters, is growing almost daily. FC is like the Cologne national team, identification is huge.
This brings maximum excitement when the team wins, but also genuine sadness, incomprehension and anger when things don’t go as they should in the eyes of the supporters. That’s almost a personal disappointment.
Exactly this situation could now be dangerous for the team and coach. Because especially Baumgart, the Mr. continuous fire, is not necessarily known in the club for his pedagogical streak.
Can Cologne coach Baumgart still turn things around?
“Cult doesn’t bring any points,” commented a fan on Instagram on Saturday. Truth, of course, and yet it sums up the mood on the Rhine quite well. At least the view from the outside.
The last third of the season will show whether Baumgart can use the soft tones to carefully rebuild disappointed players – many of whom are inexperienced – even if there are further blows to the neck.
The opponents are named one after the other now Dortmund (Saturday, 6.30 p.m.) and Mönchengladbach (April 2nd). Two XL tasks, also emotional.
the pad, seven points on a relegation zone, is still good in Cologne. But the trend, and that’s the big “Caution”, is unfortunately bad. cult or not.