Hardly any coach has taken fans and teams by storm as impressively as before.

Steffen Baumgart has been the coach of 1. FC Cologne for just six weeks.

And he is already venerated and honored that DAZN commentator Michael Born was impressed and stated: "The new Savior wears flat cap."

The headgear with his birth year 72, which Baumgart says he wears in order not to have to do his hair, he quickly made a cult item in Cologne.

In the 3-1 win against Hertha BSC, the 49-year-old also fired her to the ground in frustration.

In the end, however, there was an almost perfect Bundesliga debut.

And Baumgart acted almost as an additional field player.

He made kilometers on the edge of the field, whistled loudly on his fingers and watched half the game tense in the crouched position like a referee watching the fight.

Afterwards he spoke strikingly and clearly of a "great game".

"That worked out well"

The followers long for such tangible and emotional types, in pandemic times perhaps even more than already.

But not only the fans, of whom 16,500 returned to the stadium for Baumgart's Bundesliga debut, celebrate and praise the coach.

He also found a connection to the recently unsettled team in record time.

Symbolically documented by Anthony Modeste, who splashed a full load of water on Baumgart's face in the exuberance of the goal celebration.

"I forgive him for that," said the coach, smiling graciously.

Captain Jonas Hector, completely unsuspecting of the exuberance in his interviews, also looked impressed.

“He's trying to teach us a different way of playing,” said the former international: “Not only in terms of football, but also in terms of the way of playing.

That worked out well. "

But Baumgart not only drives his players steadily. The former Paderborn man also puts a lot of pressure on himself - sometimes without need. After last year's trembling season, he spoke to the rescue team in relegation about not only wanting to play against relegation. He later named twelfth place as his goal and even claimed that if it was 15th he would probably not be there next summer.

The Cologne squad has nominally not gotten better in the summer. But Baumgart sees something in him. And he tickles out reserves that seemed to have been buried under his predecessor Markus Gisdol, who was mostly on the defensive. Striker Modeste, who had been in constant low for around two years, he spoke strongly. On Sunday, the French turned the game with a goal and an assist for double goalscorer Florian Kainz. Talents like Jan Thielmann are suddenly bursting with self-confidence.

It is the passion and conviction that Baumgart exemplifies and that his team needs for the required power football. Next Sunday is the nominally hardest possible task at Bayern. But of course Baumgart is not afraid of that either. “I don't want to hear that we don't need to go there,” he said: “I'd really like to go there to get something.” If he succeeds, his popularity rating at the billy goat home would take on unimagined proportions.