Westliga side Bischofshofen have made a surprise coaching change just two rounds into the new season. On Monday evening, the club announced the immediate departure of head coach Thomas Schnöll, citing “a difficult but necessary decision regarding the strategic and structural direction of the first team.”
The move comes as a shock, especially given that Schnöll had only extended his contract in April. Under his leadership, Bischofshofen opened the campaign with a 2–1 win over Kufstein before falling 1–3 in the derby against St. Johann.
Schnöll admitted the split was painful, revealing that talks with the board did not go as he had hoped:
“The club wants to realign and rethink everything. The wish was for me to stay, but the coaching staff should change. I’m a man of principle. In the end, we resigned together as a team.”
He added that the decision hit the squad hard:
“We had a long meeting with the players. I’ve never seen players cry over something like this. They even came up with suggestions to turn things around.”
With Schnöll gone, the responsibility now falls to 23-year-old Latvian Jekābs Lagūns, who takes charge as interim player-coach. He will be supported by experienced teammates Bohdan Kuksenko and Oleksandr Safonov.
For Lagūns, the youngest man in the dressing room hierarchy suddenly steps into the spotlight — tasked with steadying the team and keeping Bischofshofen’s season on track.
Source: https://www.krone.at/3866864
