Wolfsburg officially announced the sacking of head coach Daniel Bauer, renowned coach Dieter Hecking to return to the club after 10 years as his successor..

VfL Wolfsburg announced on their official website on Sunday that head coach Daniel Bauer has been sacked effective immediately, and renowned coach Dieter Hecking will return to the club after 10 years as his successor.

According to Wolfsburg's official statement, given the club's extremely poor results and form, the management had no choice but to make the decision to part ways with Bauer in order to preserve their hopes of avoiding relegation.

As a chain effect of this event, sporting director Peter Christiansen will also be sacked effective immediately.

Meanwhile, veteran coach Dieter Hecking will return immediately as Bauer's successor.

Hecking has signed on a short-term contract with the club which will only run until the end of the season. If the club avoids relegation, his contract can be automatically extended for another year.

This will also mark Hecking's return to Wolfsburg as head coach after 10 years.

Ten years ago, under Hecking's leadership, Wolfsburg transformed from a relegation-threatened club into a regular Europa League participant.

During this spell, he successfully nurtured former Manchester City Belgium international midfielder Kevin De Bruyne, who was then still unknown, and led the club to one DFB-Pokal title.

However, due to the club's inability to secure a Champions League spot and a subsequent decline in performance, Hecking was sacked in October 2016.

Nevertheless, he achieved similar success while managing Borussia Mönchengladbach, earning him the title of "relegation avoiding expert" from the German media.

Wolfsburg recently suffered a shock 1-2 defeat to newly promoted Hamburg after leading by one goal, forcing the management to make personnel changes to the coaching staff.

Following the loss to Hamburg, Wolves set a new record for their worst result and form in club history, raising concerns among fans and media about their chances of avoiding relegation.

About Daniel Bauer

The 43-year-old Daniel Bauer played only for non-league clubs during his playing career. After retiring in 2014, he briefly served as assistant coach for Hannover 96's reserve team.

In the summer of 2025, Bauer was appointed assistant coach of Wolfsburg, and in December of the same year, following the dismissal of Dutch coach Paulo Simmonis, he was promoted as head coach.

During his near four-month stint as Die Wolfe's head coach, Bauer coached the Bundesliga club in 15 matches across all competitions, achieving 3 wins, 3 draws, and 9 losses, a win percentage of only 20%.

Image source: Internet / Bild