Struggling Bundesliga club Ingolstadt have appointed Michael Henke as their interim coach. This follows the sacking of Markus Kauczinski following the team’s 2-0 defeat at the hands of Augsburg at the weekend.FC Ingolstadt announced the appointment of Michael Henke as caretaker coach via their Twitter account on Tuesday. The club said Henke would take training later in the day as the search for a permanent replacement for Markus Kauczinski continues.
Henke, 59, was already a member of Ingolstadt's staff, responsable for the development of the club's international relations as a club ambassador. Between 2013 and 2016, Henke also served as assistant coach under former boss Ralph Hasenhüttl, before the Austrian left to take over RB Leipzig in the summer.
In a statement posted on the club's website on Tuesday morning, Managing Director Harald Gärtner said that the board was was in no rush to find a long-term replacement for Kauczinski, who was sacked following a run of ten league games without a win.
"We are working hard to find the right (permanent) coach for us," Gärtner said. "In Michael Henke we have found an optimal interim solution, because he knows the team and the conditions."
Henke is best known as the longtime assistant to Ottmar Hitzfeld in his days at both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich. In the summer of 2005 he was appointed head coach of then-Bundesliga side Kaiserslautern, but following a disastrous start to the season was sacked after just 13 games in charge.
Ingolstadt parted company with former head coach Kauczinskiless than 24 hours after the team were defeated 2-0 by Augsburg on Saturday, leaving them second from bottom in the Bundesliga, ahead of Hamburg only on goal difference.
pfd/ (SID, dpa)
