Borussia Mönchengladbach Faces Crisis After Poor Start
Borussia Mönchengladbach are staring at the table and seeing a number they never expected this early in the season: 17th place, zero points, a goal difference of 3:12. Only HSV, yet to score and stuck at 0:12, are worse off. Three matchdays in, the mood around the club is already one of alarm.
The 0:5 collapse at SC Freiburg last weekend didn’t just sting. It ended Eugen Polanski’s tenure.
Polanski, 40, had stepped up from interim to permanent head coach after Gerardo Seoane’s dismissal last season. Even then, he was walking a thin line. Across 29 matches in charge, he managed an average of just 1.10 points per game. The Freiburg defeat removed any remaining doubt. Gladbach needed a reset — and quickly.
Four million to fix a crisis
The search for that reset is now in full swing. According to Bild, sporting director Rouven Schröder has a budget of around four million euros to find the new head coach. That figure matters. It means Gladbach are prepared to pay compensation if the right candidate is under contract elsewhere. No more bargain hunting. This is about survival and direction.
Schröder is not working alone. His predecessor Roland Virkus, now operating in the Scouting & Recruitment department with a focus on “coach scouting” since July, is also heavily involved. Together, they are working through a shortlist that mixes fresh ideas with proven Bundesliga edge.
Priske, Blessin, Steffen – and one very familiar face
Brian Priske of Sparta Prague features prominently on Gladbach’s list. The Danish coach, 49, is, according to Tipsbladet, high among the Foals’ preferred options. The exact length of his contract in Prague is not publicly known, but with Schröder’s budget, the Czech champions’ bench is no longer out of reach.
Bild also links a cluster of other candidates to the vacancy: Alexander Blessin, most recently at St. Pauli; Horst Steffen, currently on the staff at SV Werder Bremen; and Christian Eichner of Karlsruher SC. Each would represent a different stylistic turn, a different bet on how to drag this side away from the relegation zone.
Then there is Steffen Baumgart of Union Berlin. And that name carries extra weight.
Baumgart and the Köln question
His past, of all things, makes the story sharper. Before his spells in Berlin and at HSV, Baumgart coached Gladbach’s arch-rivals 1. FC Köln. He turned the Billy Goats into a snarling, high-energy side that punched above its weight. In his first season there, he led Köln to a remarkable seventh place, securing qualification for the Conference League and igniting the city.
The run lasted 98 matches. In December 2023, after a sporting downturn, the club and the then hugely popular coach went their separate ways. But the impression he left — intensity, emotion, a clear idea of how his team should play — has not faded.
That Köln chapter would not disqualify him in Gladbach. Quite the opposite. Despite the rivalry, Baumgart fits the profile the club hierarchy are chasing: experience, resilience, and a track record of handling turbulence rather than being overwhelmed by it.
Decision-makers at Borussia are also said to value something more specific: Baumgart has already dealt intensively with Gladbach. He knows the squad, the environment, the demands. He would not need weeks of video study just to get up to speed. For a club already in a precarious spot after only three matchdays, that matters.
A shortlist, a budget – and no time to waste
So the picture is clear. A club with zero points and a shredded goal difference. A sporting director armed with four million euros and a mandate to act. A shortlist that stretches from Prague to Berlin, via Bremen, Karlsruhe and Hamburg.
Gladbach cannot afford to get this one wrong. The next coach will not just be asked to stabilise a leaky defence or squeeze a few more goals out of a fragile attack. He will be asked to change the mood of a club that has slipped, far too quickly, into crisis mode.
The question now is simple, and brutal: who is willing to walk into this storm and turn the Foals around before the table makes the damage permanent?
