Borussia Mönchengladbach Faces Coaching Crisis After Bundesliga Start

Borussia Mönchengladbach are staring at a crisis after just three Bundesliga matchdays – and the hunt for a new head coach has already been armed with a clear budget and a sharp shortlist.

According to Bild, sporting director Rouven Schröder has around four million euros at his disposal to solve the problem on the touchline. That figure gives Gladbach room to manoeuvre: if the right coach is under contract elsewhere, a compensation fee will not scare them off.

Priske at the top of the list

One name keeps coming up. Brian Priske of Sparta Prague is, according to Danish outlet Tipsbladet, high on Gladbach’s list. The 49‑year‑old Dane has rebuilt his reputation in the Czech top flight, but the exact length of his current deal in Prague remains unclear – and with it the size of any potential buyout.

Gladbach are prepared to find out. The club know they cannot afford another misstep.

Priske is not alone on the radar. Bild also links Alexander Blessin (most recently at St. Pauli), Horst Steffen (currently at SV Werder Bremen), Christian Eichner (Karlsruher SC) and Steffen Baumgart (Union Berlin) with the vacant job. Schröder is not working through that list by himself, either.

His predecessor Roland Virkus, who moved into the Scouting & Recruitment directorate in July with a focus on “coach scouting”, is heavily involved in the process. Together they are sifting through profiles, personalities and playing philosophies. One candidate, in particular, would bring a very clear edge to Borussia‑Park.

Baumgart: from Köln cult figure to Gladbach candidate

Steffen Baumgart’s name jumps off the page. Before his current spell in Berlin and his time at HSV, he stood on the other side of the Rhine derby divide as coach of 1. FC Köln – Gladbach’s arch‑rivals.

At Köln, Baumgart turned the “Billy Goats” into one of the stories of the season. In his first year, he drove them to a sensational seventh place and into the UEFA Europa Conference League. The club rediscovered its bite, its noise, its belief.

The run lasted 98 competitive matches. In December 2023, after a sustained downturn in results, Baumgart and Köln went their separate ways. The affection in the stands remained; the points did not.

Even with that Köln past, Baumgart fits almost perfectly the profile now being drawn up in Mönchengladbach: a coach with Bundesliga experience, hardened by setbacks, unafraid of turbulence. Decision‑makers also value another detail: he has already dealt intensively with Gladbach as an opponent. He knows the squad, the dynamics, the weaknesses. He would not need weeks of video study just to get up to speed.

Time is something Borussia do not have.

A table that tells its own story

After three matchdays, the situation is brutal. Gladbach sit 17th in the Bundesliga, on zero points with a goal difference of 3:12. Only HSV, still goalless at 0:12, are worse off.

The low point came last weekend. Away at SC Freiburg, Borussia collapsed in a 0:5 defeat, a performance so alarming that it effectively sealed the fate of coach Eugen Polanski.

Polanski, 40, had initially stepped in on an interim basis last season after the dismissal of Gerardo Seoane. Even before this campaign kicked off, his position was under scrutiny. Once promoted to permanent head coach, he managed an average of just 1.10 points across 29 matches – not enough to calm the noise around a club with Gladbach’s expectations.

Now the Foals are back at a familiar crossroads: tradition on one side, a precarious present on the other, and a shortlist of coaches who must convince they can drag a wounded team out of the relegation places and into something resembling stability.

With four million euros on the table and the season already slipping into dangerous territory, the next decision on the bench will say a lot about where Borussia Mönchengladbach are heading – and how quickly they plan to get there.