Magdeburg interim coach Sander: Laying on a hand is not enough

0:6 defeat was the end for Fiedler

The 64-year-old Sander knows his way around East German soccer. In May 2006, he managed promotion back to the Bundesliga with Energie Cottbus and then kept them in the league with three match days to go. He was later head coach at FC Carl Zeiss Jena (2011 - 2013) before moving to Koblenz and taking charge of Budissa Bautzen in 2019. Born in Quedlinburg, he has been working with FCM's young talent since 2020, where he most recently achieved promotion to the Regionalliga Nordost with the U23s. Sander has had hearing damage to his right ear since 2005, after a firecracker shot outside the stadium exploded right next to him during a match in Aue.

Magdeburg parted ways with head coach Markus Fiedler last Sunday. Although sporting director Otmar Schork vehemently stuck by his newly appointed coach after the 4-0 defeat to Elversberg, it was clear that the coach and team were no longer a unit after the 6-0 loss in the test match against league rivals Eintracht Braunschweig, who were also struggling. "We have come to the conclusion that the team no longer has confidence in Markus and that there is no longer any hope of a turnaround," the sporting director then announced.