Lead candidates for Vaduz include FCZ U18 manager and former Swiss International Ludovic Magnin. Vaduz has stated clearly that the manager needs to be willing to go down with the club if they are relegated. They also need a good understanding of Swiss youth soccer and the developmental aspect of a club.
That's part of the problem, though. They don't want to train Swiss youth players to become better. They want those roles going to young Lichtensteiners. They are having a hard time striking a balance between being competitive and developing Lichtenstein players. There was a match this year where no Lichtenstein-eligible players were in the 18 for a Vaduz match and people were very upset about that. Funny thing is that they could have brought in Sandro Wieser on a free, but they never even made a play for him, and now he's rotting somewhere in Reading. That would've been not only a great pickup, but it would've brought a local boy back home.
A little update on Basel. Both Janko and Doumbia are out of contract this summer. There is much speculation that they will let both go and move forward with Cédric Itten, a 20 year old already on their books but loaned to Luzern for the spring and that they will make a move for Nsamé. The main criticism against Janko and Doumbia are that they failed to produce when they were most needed, during CL play. That is a lot of pressure on two players that are not even regulars in the RSL yet.
11 March GCZ - Vaduz FCSG - Luzern 12 March LS - YB Thun - Lugano Sion - Basel Very interesting matches this weekend. I think the early match on Saturday is the most intriguing one. If Vaduz were to win, that would put a much more crowded bottom of the table. If FCSG wants to make a run at the 4th spot, this one needs to be a win for them.
11 March GCZ - Vaduz 1-2 Tami fired after this match for GCZ. Bad news for LS and GCZ. FCSG - Luzern 1-1 12 March LS - YB 0-0 LS hit the post in the 89', but was denied a goal. Thun - Lugano 5-2 Fassnacht with 2 goals and Rapp with two PK's to lead the team to victory. Lugano with two very late goals. Sion - Basel 0-1 Lang with a very nice goal for the win. Basel 63 YB 46 Sion 38 Luzern 36 FCSG 30 Lugano 28 Thun 26 GCZ 23 Vaduz 22 LS 20
Leading Goalscorers: 16 - Guillaume Hoarau YB 12 - Seydou Doumbia Basel 12 - Chadrac Akolo Sion 11 - Marco Schneuwly Luzern 10 - Marc Janko Basel 10- Ezgjan Alioski Lugano 9 - Caio GCZ 9 - Matias Delgado Basel 9 - Dejan Sorgic Thun 9 - Christian Fassnacht Thun Most assists: 15 - Yoric Ravet YB 10 - Matteo Tosetti Thun 9 - Mohamed Elyounoussi Basel 9 - Renato Steffen Basel 8 - Christian Schneuwly Luzern 8 - Carlitos Sion Attendance Basel (12) 26,272 YB (12) 17,818 FCSG (12) 11,924 Luzern (12) 10,784 Sion (12) 9,092 Thun (12) 5,189 GCZ (13) 4,700 LS (12) 4,689 Vaduz (12) 4,006 Lugano (11) 3,611
Vaduz has earned 4 points in the last two matches. Daniel Hasler does not have the correct licenses to remain the head coach. It looks like Patrick Rahmen has emerged as the leading candidate. Rahmen has been the assistant coach at Luzern this year and previous was at Biel and in the youth set-up at Basel.
Konrad Fünfstück, formerly manager of Kaiserslautern, was at the GCZ match on Saturday. It's rumored that he's interested in Vaduz, and they're interested in him, but he doesn't have the proper license to manage in Switzerland. It was also rumored that he could be working to get his Professional License while Hasler is managing in the interim.
Vaduz is being turned down by everyone right now. Three people who were offered the manager position have said no. Patrick Rahmen doesn't want to leave Luzern, and Ludovic Magnin (FCZ U18) and Raphael Wicky (Basel U21) both want to concentrate on their current roles. Hasler is only allowed to manage Vaduz through this Sunday. After that, they must find a licensed manager. Right now, it's not looking good that everyone keeps turning them down.
And now it is not just Vaduz and GCZ who are looking for a manager. FC Thun's Jeff Saibene who people expected to leave in the summer has left to join Arminia Bielefeld. Marc Schneider, the assistant manager who was suspected to take over this summer will assume the reigns of the club now. Now Bielefeld is in last place in the 2nd Bundesliga 4 points from safety.
Saibene was in the same boat as Contini. He was a lame duck who was not going to be renewed, but he stuck around Thun long enough to get another job. Contini kinda cut off his nose to spite his face by resigning. Arminia are probably going down. I don't think Saibene is good enough to save them.
Also, I think there are very few jobs in Swiss football that people are clamoring for and it's actually hurting the league's reputation. Many guys want to stay in the current positions they have, or will try to hold out for a job elsewhere. Seems like no one wants to work in the Swiss leagues.
One has to wonder why an established club coach would want to go to Switzerland. With Basel winning the league every season, it would be very difficult.
18 March Luzern - Sion Basel - GCZ 19 March Lugano - YB Thun - FCSG Vaduz - LS I think the most intersting match will be the Vaduz-LS. Vaduz can further distance themselves from the bottom with a win. One would assume that GCZ will loose as well, that would put GCZ and LS in the last two spots. How will Thun play with Sabine gone? Luzern-Sion will be a very good one for the Europa League spots.
18 March Luzern - Sion 0-0 Basel - GCZ 1-0 19 March Lugano - YB 0-2 Thun - FCSG 2-2 Vaduz - LS 0-1 YB consolidates their 2nd place with the win and the Sion draw. With the LS win, the bottom win are all within 3 points. Vaduz is -25, GCZ -14 and LS -7 so advantage LS. Basel 66 YB 49 Sion 39 Luzern 37 FCSG 31 Lugano 28 Thun 27 LS 23 GCZ 23 Vaduz 22
Leading Goalscorers: 17 - Guillaume Hoarau YB 12 - Seydou Doumbia Basel 12 - Chadrac Akolo Sion 11 - Marco Schneuwly Luzern 10 - Marc Janko Basel 10- Ezgjan Alioski Lugano Most assists: 15 - Yoric Ravet YB 10 - Matteo Tosetti Thun 10 - Renato Steffen Basel 9 - Mohamed Elyounoussi Basel 8 - Christian Schneuwly Luzern 8 - Carlitos Sion Attendance Basel (13) 26,253 YB (12) 17,818 FCSG (12) 11,924 Luzern (13) 10,769 Sion (12) 9,092 Thun (13) 5,254 GCZ (13) 4,700 LS (12) 4,689 Vaduz (13) 3,977 Lugano (11) 3,653
Funny DSC Arminia Bielefeld is my German club... I was able to enlighten my German friends on Saibene and Swiss football a bit. There is mixed reactions on his appointment but when you are in the relegation zone you can't be too picky you just need someone to motivate them and get them above the line.
I personally don't feel Saibene will make a difference. They will stay up... 2-0 victory of Friday over Kaiserslautern without Saibene and they have been playing better the last few weeks even without the results.
Correct me if I am wrong but GCZ has never been relegated out of the top flight? Are they the only Swiss club to have done so? It looks like that is going to end this year.
GCZ is in a LOT of trouble financially. They're apparently losing money hand over fist. This isn't the same situation that FCZ were in last year where they were just bad. GCZ is both bad and broke. It's believed that if they go down this year, they might not be back up for a couple of years, and if they do manage to stay up, they will be playing a bunch of kids on a small roster next year which would put them at jeopardy for relegation again.
That Vaduz result was absolutely heartbreaking. Vaduz goalkeeper Siegrist has been apologizing profusely for bundling the ball. I feel absolutely awful for the kid because his performances lately have been stellar, especially against Basel, and against GCZ when he stopped that penalty. The whole team performed so admirably, but nothing went their way. That red card should not have been given against Brunner, and Vaduz just simply cannot play with 10 men. They never have been able to do that. They almost did yesterday, but still came up just short.
Next 4 rounds in the relegation battle. Young Boys v Vaduz Lausanne v GCZ Thun v Lausanne GCZ v St. Gallen Vaduz v Luzern Vaduz v Sion Lausanne v Basel Young Boys v GCZ GCZ v Luzern Basel v Vaduz Sion v Lausanne Looking at this schedule, obviously Vaduz have the toughest schedule, but LS can actually get clear of the pack with good results against GCZ and Thun. GCZ needs to win against LS in two weeks otherwise they could be in a bit of trouble.
Just looked at my post... what I meant to stay regardless of whether or not Bielefeld got Saibene I feel that they would stay up.