Watten coach search

Thomas Grumser waves goodbye, Zoki Barisic still hesitates

WSG Tirol's retention in the Bundesliga is as certain as the departure of coach Thomas Silberberger after the current and ultimately successful season. And yet: The search for a new green-white coach is taking an unexpectedly long time, but something should happen next week.

Sit back and wait. Not a role that WSG sports director Stefan Köck is particularly comfortable with. There are too many things on the agenda and time is too important a factor to let things lie. The head coach's job is still vacant and 14 players' contracts are due to expire.

Difficult search for a coach
But it's difficult to deal with point B (players) before point A (coach). Certain coordination is needed. And the replacement for Thomas Silberberger has come to a bit of a standstill. "I'm a little surprised that it's not going as smoothly as I thought," admits Köck.

Coach candidate Thomas Grumser has already waved goodbye internally to those responsible at Akademie Tirol. He will remain with the best youngsters in the country and will not make a comeback on the sidelines of the top division.

Barisic still has a contract with Rapid
This has reduced the number of top candidates from Watten to Zoki Barisic. However, he still has a contract with Rapid until the summer of 2025. As WSG Tirol cannot and will not pay any transfer fees, the former FC Tirol player will have to resolve the link with the Hütteldorfer himself. Which is no easy task.

Which means Köck also has to put the brakes on negotiations with the players. "Perhaps," admits the sporting director, "I also need to rethink my ideas a little."

Legend Pipo Gorosito, who sat in the Tivoli stands during the 0-0 draw, is not on Köck's list - a very good knowledge of German and experience in the Bundesliga are basic requirements for the WSG sporting director. There are other Tyrolean coaches with a past in our top division: Michael Streiter, Michael Baur, Heli Kraft, Miron Muslic, Manfred Linzmaier . . .