On Sunday evening, Roland Virkus asked for a night to think things over. Now, Gladbach’s management team has made a decision: Gerardo Seoane is no longer Borussia’s coach. U-23 coach Eugen Polanski will take over for the time being.
After just over two years, Gerardo Seoane’s time as coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach has come to an end. On Monday afternoon, the Foals confirmed that the Swiss coach’s departure had been decided following the bitter 0-4 defeat against Werder Bremen and that U-23 coach Eugen Polanski would take over the team until further notice.
“After an intensive review of our start to the season, we have come to the conclusion that we need to make a change in the position of head coach,” Roland Virkus, Borussia’s sporting director, is quoted as saying in the press release. “After ten Bundesliga games without a win across two seasons, we have lost faith that Gerardo can turn things around.”
The defeat against the Hanseatic club was Borussia’s tenth Bundesliga game without a win across two seasons, with Gladbach failing to score in five consecutive games. After Virkus had strengthened Seoane’s position following the 0-0 draw with Hamburger SV at the start of the season and the 0-1 defeat at VfB Stuttgart due to the noticeable “positive development,” the coach has now also lost the backing of the sporting director, who had indicated on Sunday evening that he needed a night to think things over.
“Gerardo took over the team in a difficult situation, followed the club’s path, pushed the team’s development process forward and stabilized it. However, the end of the season was not what we had imagined, and neither was the start of this season. The decision to bring in new impetus is the right one. We would like to thank Gerardo for his work and wish him all the best, both professionally and personally,” said President Rainer Bonhof on the separation. Whether Polanski will get the chance to stay in the top job for longer remains to be seen. Names of possible successors are already circulating around Borussia Park, such as Urs Fischer (most recently Union Berlin), Pellegrino Matarazzo (most recently TSG Hoffenheim), and Martin Demichelis (most recently CF Monterrey/Mexico), who are currently without a club. Edin Terzic (most recently Borussia Dortmund) is also currently without a club.
Seoane, who was still leading the substitute training session on Monday morning, took over as coach at Borussia in the summer of 2023. He stood on the sidelines for the Foals in 78 competitive games, winning 25 of them. His points average after 71 Bundesliga games as Gladbach coach is 1.13 points per game – the lowest since Michael Frontzeck, who averaged 0.98 during his time at Gladbach between 2009 and 2011.
Improvement in the second year
After finishing 14th with 34 points in his first season, Borussia improved under the Swiss coach in his second year, finishing tenth with 45 points. However, the team’s form dipped again in the final stages of the season, a trend that has continued so far in the new season. The loss of top striker Tim Kleindienst (16 goals, nine assists) hit Borussia particularly hard, and Seoane was unable to compensate for the absence of the 30-year-old.
After Erik ten Hag, who had to leave Leverkusen after two games, Seoane is the second coach of the current Bundesliga season to step down prematurely. On Sunday, Gladbach face a derby against Leverkusen, who won 3-1 against Eintracht Frankfurt on Friday under their new coach Kasper Hjulmand.