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Augsburg (dpa) - The hotel staff takes care of Markus Weinzierl.
An employee even offered him an extra croissant at breakfast because he had allegedly lost so much weight compared to his first term at FC Augsburg.
The 46-year-old happily told this anecdote when he was introduced as the coach of the hopefuls of the relegation-threatened Bundesliga club.
Support and encouragement are important to Weinzierl.
He knows that better now than before.
“That of course gives me the security I need to be successful with the team.
The feel-good factor also plays a major role here, ”he emphasized.
Weinzierl looked after the FCA in the Bundesliga for four years and cultivated a courageous football game against which his successors were later measured with great regularity.
In 2016, after weeks of contract poker and "background noise", as he himself put it, he only switched to FC Schalke 04 against a payment of allegedly around three million euros.
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Manager Stefan Reuter, who has now also brought him back as Heiko Herrlich's successor, was not very enthusiastic about the circumstances at the time.
"How it broke up was not an argument between Markus Weinzierl and Stefan Reuter, but we here at FC Augsburg were unhappy about the way the separation took place," explained Reuter.
Since the farewell after the joint Europa League season with the end against Jürgen Klopp's Liverpool FC, there have been "some meetings and talks".
According to Reuter, there is “no longer a problem at all”, one is “on the same wavelength”.
Weinzierl even spoke of a "difference of opinion" that one had at the time.
“It was difficult to find the golden path,” said the man from Straubing, describing his wish to take the next step in his career with Schalke and to have to leave his wellbeing club for it.
"I certainly made mistakes back then, but I regretted that too."
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The end of Schalke and the interlude at VfB Stuttgart made some things clear to Weinzierl. "Often you only notice when you're gone, what you've had," he said and asked the Augsburg fans, who were disappointed at the time, to apologize and give them a second chance. «For me it was like coming home. It's no secret that I regretted leaving and am happy to be here again, ”Weinzierl continued. He feels "the comer-home effect, I'm very happy about that".
The short-term goal is clear: Weinzierl should keep FC Augsburg in the league.
Reuter's predecessor Herrlich no longer believed in that.
Three game days before the end of the season, Augsburg are in 13th place in the table, they have four points more than 1. FC Köln in relegation rank 16. VfB Stuttgart, Werder Bremen and FC Bayern Munich are the hurdles on the longed-for path to relegation.
“There was an incredible amount of life, a lot of fire in it.
For us it was very important at the weekend to feel that Markus is burning, that he is fresh, that he feels like doing the task.
We were impressed, "said Reuter after Weinzierl's first training session in the morning and emphasized:" It was our absolute dream solution. "
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Both Weinzierl, who still knows many players from back then, and Reuter are convinced of relegation.
The new old man's contract is valid until summer 2022, but it also applies to the second division.
That is so common at FC Augsburg, said Reuter.
Weinzierl was also supported by the fact that he knew the environment.
"Markus is fully on the subject," assured Reuter, who had previously had "deep" and "intensive" discussions with the new coach.
"It doesn't take any getting used to."
The best thing to do for the Augsburgers is to just keep it as it was.
"That is a huge motivation for me," said Weinzierl, referring to the old days that he wanted to build on.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210427-99-373468 / 2
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