Union Berlin announce Steffen Baumgart as new coach

Union Berlin announced on Monday the signing of Steffen Baumgart as new coach to take over from the dismissed Bo Svensson as of 2nd January and take over the team in the second half of the season.
Baumgart was a Union player for two seasons between 2002 and 2004 and even captained the team. As a coach, he took Paderborn from the third division to the Bundesliga in only 2 seasons. He has also been in the dugout at Köln and Hamburg.
"We have chosen Steffen Baumgart because we are convinced that he is the right kind of coach for us. His way of leading teams, developing players and challenging them was an important aspect of our decision," said sporting director Horst Held.
"He is a coach who does not need a long adaptation period and who can quickly give a clear direction to the team. I am looking forward to working with him and our newly formed coaching team, and I am convinced that together we will be successful," he added.
Baumgart, for his part, said he was looking forward to returning to the Bundesliga and to Union: “It is certainly an advantage to know the club and many people here well. We don't have much time to prepare and we will work intensively with the players to be ready for the tasks ahead of us,” he said.
Union are currently 12th in the Bundesliga. The team was promoted in 2019 to the top flight of German football where they have remained ever since. Their greatest success so far has been the qualification to the Champions League with the 4th place obtained in the German tournament in the 2022-23 season.
As for the new coach of the Berlin team, he is a special coach, who always wears a beret and who went viral during the pandemic for following the match of Köln, which he managed at the time, with his dog at home.