It had long been apparent that 1. FC Köln and coach Steffen Baumgart had agreed to continue working together during the summer break. In the end, the contract duration was shorter than expected. But both sides have deliberately agreed on that.
Cologne (dpa / lnw) - In the future, Steffen Baumgart and 1. FC Köln will deliberately rely on the "Freiburg model". It was expected that the successful coach would extend his contract, which initially ran until 2023, before the start of training. The contract duration until 2024 initially caused astonishment among media representatives. Actually, an expansion to 2025 was expected.
However, this was not a sign of distrust, assured Baumgart, who led the club from relegation to the conference league playoffs in the first year, and managing director Christian Keller right before the first training session. "The Freiburg model is a very good one," said Baumgart, referring to his colleague Christian Streich, who always extends the contract at SC Freiburg every year and has been the head coach since January 2012.
"You don't have to start everything in three or four years," added the coach, who came to Cologne from second division club SC Paderborn in the summer of 2021: "I find it difficult to plan for the long term. My thoughts are always very short-term. Even if we are currently very successful, we know what can happen if things don't go well. We also always have to talk about one thing or another."
Managing Director Christian Keller emphasized that "we are aiming for a longer cooperation". And confirmed that he had consciously thought of the model in Breisgau. "We have been guided by a positive example that has served as a role model for many years. From now on, we will get together in the rhythm of the Freiburg model and decide together whether and how we want to tackle the future together." Baumgart shouldn't go into a season with an expiring contract, "but we won't get together again in the fall either. But certainly in the spring."
This time the negotiations were not difficult. Both sides had publicly acknowledged each other early on. The elaboration was therefore a formality and has been decided for a long time. "We had been clear with each other for a long time," reported Baumgart: "But we deliberately waited until everyone was there. It's important that we not only had success, but also fun. That's why the matter quickly became clear to me." And Keller assured: "Even if the news was expected, it remains very positive. Everyone was happy. All players and all employees because Steffen was the key person for FC playing such attractive football."
He is sure: "The project is not over yet. I'm sure that you can still achieve a lot with the club." However, he has not (yet) given an exact goal for the coming season. "We have a path that will never end," he said: "It's about how we want to play football. The first goal is always to keep this club out of any difficulties. Maybe we can talk about points and goals, when the preparation is over." As Keller put it, "We always look to get 40 points first, and then we look at how many games are left."
The financially troubled FC has brought in five new players so far, all of whom fall into the category of players with potential. The contracts with Baumgart's staff have not yet been extended. If you believe Keller, that's more or less a formality. "The coaching team is very, very good," he said: "That's why there's nothing against it, everything in favor of extending it step by step. We'll do that in summer or early autumn."
