Changes to the coaching team and backroom staff for the new season
First Team
10.07.2020, 11:00
Following an extensive analysis and evaluation of the season, FC Augsburg have reached some initial decisions regarding changes to the coaching team and the backroom staff. The current assistant coaches, Jonas Scheuermann and Tobias Zellner, will be joined by Iraklis Metaxas, who is celebrating his 53rd birthday today (Friday 10 July). He will act as a third assistant to head coach Heiko Herrlich.
The German-Greek coach was most recently working as assistant coach at second tier side SV Darmstadt 98 under Dimitrios Grammozis. There will also be a change among the goalkeeping coaches, with 43-year-old Kristián Barbuščák, previously goalkeeping coach at second-tier side SSV Jahn Regensburg, will complete the FCA coaching team as of 2020/2021.
“Heiko Herrlich opted to go without a new assistant coach when he started in his new position. We did agree, however, that we would use the season analysis to assess how we could extend the coaching team in a sensible way,” said Stefan Reuter, sporting director at FCA. “We are pleased, therefore, to have acquired two absolute experts in Iraklis Metaxas and Kristián Barbuščák, who will help us make progress through individual work with the players.”
Goalkeeping coach Zdenko Miletić's contract has expired
Current goalkeeping coach Zdenko Miletic, who has been with the club since 2002, first as a player and then as a coach, has been out of contract since 30 June 2020. “In our post-season analysis, we came to the decision that we wished to make a change in the position of goalkeeping coach. Since ‘Mile’ is a merited and long-serving member of the wider team at FCA, we presented him with an offer to work in our academy as the chief goalkeeping coordinator – allowing him to continue work with FCA in developing our youth goalkeepers. We would be delighted if Mile remained at the club in a coaching capacity and laid the foundations for us to have a goalkeeper from the academy one day play at the WWK Arena.”
FCA have also made changes among the backroom staff: Contracts with physiotherapist Michael Deiss and recovery coach Sönke Ermagassen were not renewed. Rudi Ehmann, previously of FC Bayern München Basketball, will join FCA as a physiotherapist.
