Baumgart wants to learn from Schmidt: a beer for the climb!

Steffen Baumgart, the new trainer of the 1. FC Union Berlin, has expressed the wish to learn from Frank Schmidt, the coach of 1. FC Heidenheim. Baumgart described Schmidt as a "type" and plans to take care of him in order to benefit from his experience. Schmidt has been training 1. FC Heidenheim since September 2007 when the team played in the top division. Under his leadership, Heidenheim celebrated the first promotion to the Bundesliga in 2023.

in the first Bundesliga season, Heidenheim achieved eighth place and thus qualified for the European Cup. Baumgart sees clear parallels between the paths of both clubs. The 1. FC Union Berlin also played in the Oberliga until 2006 and rose to the Bundesliga in 2019 to take fourth place in 2023, which led to participation in the Champions League.

debut with ambitions

Baumgart will be debut against Heidenheim as a coach of the Unioner on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The 1. FC Union has been waiting for a win in the championship for eight games. Bo Svensson, the previous chief coach, was released from his function.

Schmidt, who is 49 years old, emphasizes the coaching continuity in Heidenheim. The association has had a stable coaching staff under its leadership for over 15 years. Baumgart praises Schmidt's ability to keep shaping the team again. In addition, Baumgart expressed his wish to drink a beer with Schmidt, which indicates a friendly relationship between the coaches.

Schmidt himself plans to break the record of Volker Finke as the longest professional coach at an association in the course of his coaching accommodation and will call Finke before this occasion. The trainer of the Heidenheim team recently published his first book entitled "Frank Schmidt - Unkuttable" and attaches great importance to communication on both the square and in the cabin.

In addition, striker Tim Kleindienst, who is considered a potential candidate for the German national team, is also mentioned in the discussion about Heidenheim. The market value of the Heidenheim team is around 27 million euros, with the association has the lowest budget in the league. Schmidt emphasizes the need to be strong in the collective and is unimpressed by critics.

Schmidt also has positive memories of the emotions in the stadiums, especially in places such as Dortmund, Cologne, Mönchengladbach and Frankfurt, although he has to think back to an unfortunate floodlight game in 1999 in Cologne (final score 0: 4).

Further information can be found in the reports from Borkener Zeitung and Express