Cup tie with Union: Cologne coach Wagner under pressure after 'Wagner out' chants
Cologne host Union Berlin in the German Cup second round at 8:45 p.m. on Tuesday before facing them again in the league on Sunday. Sporting director Kessler calls them "two brutally important games".
Archive image · Photo: Raimond Spekking / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
René Wagner faces a defining week starting on Tuesday night. 1. FC Köln host Union Berlin in the second round of the DFB-Pokal at 8:45 p.m. local time (Sky), and the two clubs meet again in the Bundesliga in Berlin on Sunday. Some Cologne supporters chanted "Wagner out" after a goalless draw with Schalke 04 at the weekend, which followed a 2-1 derby win over Borussia Mönchengladbach and a 1-0 defeat at Eintracht Frankfurt. Former player Pierre Littbarski also criticised Wagner on Instagram, particularly for substituting Mikey Moore and Said El Mala.
Sporting director Thomas Kessler backed the 38-year-old, who was promoted from assistant to head coach in March: "Yes, he has full backing." At the same time, he described the Union fixtures as "two brutally important games" and said the club would take stock after ten Bundesliga matchdays: "Then you will at least see a trend." Wagner admitted the chants had "of course hit me personally". Looking ahead to the cup tie, he said: "We want to prove that we can do better and we want to make the fans happy."
According to Wagner, Cologne are without Rav van den Berg, Ellyes Skhiri, Thijs Dallinga and Imad Rondic. A decision on whether striker Ragnar Ache, returning from a muscle injury, is an option was due on Tuesday morning. Wagner also received support from former Cologne coach Steffen Baumgart, who told the Kölner Stadt-Anzeiger: "I have no understanding for the chants." After the two Union games, Cologne face Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.