Here we are: the autumn internationals are behind us and FC Magdeburg have parted ways with their coaching staff in a move that appeared overdue. With a quarter of the season played, Magdeburg are thoroughly rooted at the bottom of the table with three points from eight games and a goal difference of 7:19. This is relegation form. We have been there twice. Once in 2018/19 and the story did not end well as Magdeburg were relegated. In 2022 the season started similarly but somehow the team managed to turn things around and avoided being relegated straight away. How have things come the way they are?

The main reason is surely the departure of Christian Titz in June just after the end of last season. He left behind him a team that had missed out on promotion by a few points only. Who knows, though, Titz may have seen something among his former players that made him look for an exit strategy. A home defeat against Preußen Münster ended all dreams of promotion in spring; Magdeburg couldn’t be further away from the top spots in autumn 2025.

In all fairness it must be added that Magdeburg are not that bad, their statistics demonstrate a good percentage of ball possession and the mileage the entire squad has done during those eight matches up to this point, isn’t too far behind that of their opponents. Last season they had a lot of luck and simply had a goalscorer who was there to score. The departure of Martijn Kaars surely left a gap but in the first match after his departure Magdeburg lost 4:5 in a freak match at home to Greuther Fürth. That day they showed that they are no pushovers. However, it was the last time they scored in a league match. Since then a goal in a friendly against Aue was the only goal scored in the league since 31 August! That’s more than 450 minutes without a goal! And while they do create chances, they are just a bit off the mark.

Yet, the overall impression is that of a team deeply insecure about its potential and that is the task of the coaching team. It is here where Markus Fiedler and his assistants have been out of their depth and lacked a strategy to address these issues. Hence the decision to part ways with the coaching team.

There is however, the question whether this decision comes too late and whether this scenario may have been avoided by hiring a different coach in the first place. If things go wrong, it is the coach who will be sacrificed yet the players remain and need to find a way out of their situation. It is therefore questionable whether a change of coach will make a difference. It has not worked in 2018/19 but back then the sacking of Jens Härtel simply came too late and the squad was not strong enough for Bundesliga 2.

Here we are, Magdeburg have parted ways with their coaching staff, hoping that a new coach will turn around the fortunes of the club in just a few weeks time.

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