War of words in Wolfsburg: Glasner termination may be imminent
A series of fast-moving events at Germany's green company team may lead to the dismissal of head-coach Oliver Glasner at VfL Wolfsburg.
Wolfsburg trainer Oliver Glasner expressed disappointment with his club's most recent transfer window in an interview with Sky on Thursday. The 46-year-old complained the the VfL front office failed to deliver on the personnel augmentations he and his coaching staff deemed necessary, saying "We couldn't realize our transfer goals in the attack, which is a pity because we had been talking about it for months."
When asked if his statements represented a serious conflict between him and management figures Jörg Schmadtke and Marcel Schäfer, Glasner did not take the opportunity to smooth things over. "You can interpret it that way," Glasner said, "I stand by my statement."
On Friday afternoon, managing director Schmadtke struck back, calling timing of the statements "unfortunate" and saying that he would speak to his coach directly about "his public dissatisfaction."
Schmadtke has overseen the dismissal of many coaches in an 11-year-long football administrative career that included stints as the sporting director at Hannover 96, Hamburger SV, and 1. FC Köln. The 56-year-old is not known as someone who takes affronts to his authority lightly.
Journalists at German footballing magazine Kicker surmise that such a divide cannot be healed easily and that the club may very well part company with Glasner before the end of the weekend.