“We thank Bruno Labbadia for his work here,” said VfB CEO Alexander Wehrle. “We appointed Bruno last December because we firmly believed we could initiate a turnaround with him. Bruno worked with the players with great commitment and passion from day one, but unfortunately it didn’t pay off as far as points are concerned. In the end, we decided we needed a fresh spark. Sebastian Hoeneß already has important Bundesliga experience and is very familiar with managing youth and second teams. We’re sure that Sebastian is the right coach for the challenges facing us and that he’ll overcome this difficult situation with the help of the team.”
VfB sporting director Fabian Wohlgemuth: “Bruno Labbadia took on this big challenge last December. Under difficult circumstances, he tried a number of things to get the team back on track. He wasn’t able to turn things around and despite some good performances, we’ve lost further ground in our battle against relegation in recent weeks. We thank Bruno for his commitment to VfB and wish him all the best for the future.”
Sebastian Hoeneß: “I’m really looking forward to the challenge at VfB and thank the management for their trust and the productive talks. I have a great emotional attachment to VfB. I was a fan of the club as a youngster, was a youth player here myself for several years and won the German title with the U17s in 1999. We now have three tasks ahead of us – in this exact order:
- Win the cup game in Nuremberg.
- Secure survival in the Bundesliga.
- Conduct a thorough analysis with the sporting management at the end of the season in order to take the necessary steps to ensure a successful future for VfB Stuttgart.”
A former VfB youth team player, Sebastian Hoeneß has previously coached youth teams at RB Leipzig and FC Bayern Munich and won the third division title with Bayern’s second team. He also enjoyed a spell as head coach of TSG Hoffenheim in the Bundesliga.