Peter Bosz replaced by Hannes Wolf as Bayer Leverkusen head coach
Bayer Leverkusen have named Hannes Wolf as their new head coach until the end of the season following the dismissal of Peter Bosz.
Wolf, 38, was a Borussia Dortmund youth and reserves coach before he was given the first-team job at VfB Stuttgart in 2016/17, earning promotion back to the Bundesliga as second-division champions. He then spent a year each with Hamburg and Belgian outfit Genk before taking over Germany’s U18s last October.
“Wolf has already made an impressive impression at big clubs as a very young coach. He stands for the kind of football we want to play at Bayer 04: intense, attacking, aggressive, attractive and, of course, successful,” said Leverkusen sporting director Simon Rolfes.
“Our international ambitions still exist. We’re currently sixth in the table and in a Europa League place, which we at least want to defend.”
Wolf takes over from Bosz after the Dutchman was dismissed in the wake of Sunday’s 3-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin, meaning Die Werkself have won only three of their 14 league fixtures in 2021. They were also knocked out of the DFB Cup by lower-league Rot-Weiss Essen and the UEFA Europa League by Young Boys.
Watch: Highlights from Bosz's final game in charge, a 3-0 loss at Hertha Berlin
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“Given the footballing development of recent weeks, we’ve come to the conclusion that the dismissal of Peter Bosz can no longer be avoided,” added club managing director Rudi Völler. “After a factual and very open analysis of the sporting situation, we therefore agreed to take the decision, despite the fact we still hold Peter in high regard.”
Wolf’s assistant will be the vastly experienced Peter Hermann, whose numerous previous jobs include being No.2 to Jupp Heynckes as Bayern Munich won the treble in 2013. He was also his assistant at Leverkusen between 2009 and 2011, having also made over 200 appearances for the club as a player.
Die Werkself return from the international break with a home game against bottom side Schalke on Saturday, 3 April. They have eight games remaining in this season, including against fellow European contenders Bayern, Eintracht Frankfurt and Dortmund, as well as a derby against local rivals Cologne.
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