When Manuel Baum (whose head coaching career appeared well and truly dead following his disastrous Schalke stint) was gifted a chance to coach in the Bundesliga again by FC Augsburg, the 46-year-old k...
When Manuel Baum (whose head coaching career appeared well and truly dead following his disastrous Schalke stint) was gifted a chance to coach in the Bundesliga again by FC Augsburg, the 46-year-old knew that he simply needed to enjoy his brief stint. Baum was assigned the team for three matches. After an unexpected win against Bayer Leverkusen and a bitterly controversial loss against Frankfurt, the time has come.
Baum appeared in a reflective mood at his pre-match press conference ahead of this weekend’s Werder Bremen fixture. Baum – who did get a chance to see the Augsburg ultras endorse his permanent appointment – did seem a bit wistful. He nevertheless appeared consigned to the fact that he would soon be making way for a higher profile head coach. With Augsburg heading into the encounter with six players out injured, Baum insisted his thoughts were on other things.
Baum references his personal notes
“I’m not letting that topic inside my head,” Baum remarked with a laugh. “Everything that doesn’t have something to do with the game saps my energy. If you’d like, you can ask me that question again at the post-match press conference. Every other day I look down at the words I jotted down in my notebook [at the beginning of this appointment].
“It reads: ‘Enjoy the three weeks,” Baum continued. “And I’m still in the act of doing that. There’s really no room for anything else.“
The reporter then posed a follow-up question. Did Baum hope that his successor would keep in place some of the ideas and spirit Baum had instilled?
Baum reaches for an Autobahn metaphor
“It’s not about my ideas living on,” Baum answered. “The club has ideas. I’m just establishing a border framework. To take an example, I drove here on the Autobahn from Munich. At one point, there were four lanes. There were guardrails and painted lines between the lanes.
“We need those things in order to orient ourselves,” Baum continued. “Imagine what would happen if we took the lines between the lanes away. Then everything. Insofar as the club is concerned, it’s about deciding where to install the guardrails.”
Baum seemed to look forward to getting back to his originally intended post as FCA academy director. After all, that’s where Wagner can truly feel comfortable doing “his thing“.
“[Once that’s done] everyone associated with the club needs some autonomy and a chance to implement their own ideas,” Baum concluded. “On the Autobahn, I decide how fast I want to drive and which lane I want to join.“
Category: General Sports
