What was a great opportunity turned into great chaos. Nowhere does this happen as quickly as at SK Rapid Vienna. The title was dreamed of in September. At the beginning of December, Rapid fans whistled at their team for minutes.
Everything was in place for the record champions, who have been waiting for a title since 2008: the competition is weakening, and Rapid has achieved record sales of 61 million euros and has put more money into the squad than ever before. When, if not now? But now Rapid is last in the European Cup and only seventh in the league. The new coach Peter Stöger was fired again after 187 days – despite a contract until the summer of 2027. The million-dollar team is heavily criticized. Most recently, for the first time in 20 years, there were five bankruptcies in a row.
Rapid is in crisis. Again. The club has currently made serious mistakes – but the problems go deeper. Basically, the question is whether the million-dollar company Rapid relies on the best. Or just best friends.
The WZ looked into the club’s engine room – and traced the (avoidable) chain of errors.
Rapid was actually on the right track. The club bosses around ex-ORF boss Alexander Wrabetz and billionaire Michael Tojner promised three years ago to “subordinate everything to sporting success”.
Rapid should play modern, offensive and intensive in the future. At the end of 2023 – after three Rapid legends – the German Robert Klauß took over as coach; a modern tactics freak who had worked under capazunders like Julian Nagelsmann. The result: inspiring offensive football. In the European Cup they even made it to the quarter-finals – the biggest international success in almost 30 years. Millions flowed into the club’s coffers.
But then the crash followed. Rapidly lost and lost. Internally it was said: Klauss had lost the team. Someone who was in the middle of it all tells the WZ that leading players had demanded more say, but Klauß was said to have acted aloof, self-important and cold. When star striker Guido Burgstaller was knocked down in front of a Viennese bar at the end of 2024 and was out for a long time, Klauss is said to have hardly contacted him, “after that he was lost to many in the team,” it is said. The German had to leave in April; within the club he was said to have interpersonal deficits and a lack of communication skills.
Stöger “wanted to give up a lot when it came to day-to-day business”
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Today we know: This is where the dilemma began. Rapid was not looking for a coach who would continue the attacking style of play, but rather a man with empathy. Peter Stöger, 59, was hired, a former master trainer who most recently appeared as an expert for the TV channel Sky – and is considered a human catcher. But the new guy also posed a lot of risk: Stöger’s successes were almost ten years ago, and he doesn’t represent the offensive football that Rapid wants. On the contrary. “Peter Stöger is someone who manages to create a good atmosphere,” explained his ex-player Florian Klein in 2022. “But his way of playing is more defensive.”
The club provided Stöger with two assistants. Thomas Sageder, who was influenced by offensive Red Bull football, was supposed to develop intensive pressing, the ex-Rapid kicker Stefan Kulovits was supposed to develop offensive plays – and Stöger was given the task of uniting the team with human qualities. Stöger was initially fine with that. From Rapid circles it is said: “Peter wanted to give up a lot when it came to day-to-day business.” Even earlier, during his successes in Vienna and Cologne, he had delegated tactical tasks to his assistant.
Now that became a problem. The three coaches disagreed about what the perfect game should look like. Stöger wanted to get in front of the goal from a secure defense and through counterattacking football, Sageder with active pressing and Kulovits with ball pushing. On the field one could increasingly see a torn team that was losing game after game.
Sports director Katzer criticized
The man who is responsible for all of this is Markus Katzer, 46, an ambitious guy who has been the sports director for three years. As a player he became champion with Rapid. But as a sports boss, he is still a learner. His only stop before Rapid: First Vienna FC in the second division.
Katzer has nevertheless earned a good reputation. Most recently he bought two kickers for almost two million and sold them tenfold – an unprecedented windfall for the club. The problem: Generating transfer revenue is only one of the tasks of a good sports manager. In addition: developing a sustainable style of play, creating a harmonious squad, choosing a suitable coach. A lot of it didn’t work.
Katzer has purchased rough diamonds from all over the world. But Stöger and Sageder were not satisfied with that. According to WZ information, the desired intensive game was not possible with some players. For example with the 4 million record purchaser Tobias Gulliksen, who is a ball distributor but not a ball conqueror.
When Katzer came to Rapid in 2023, he himself complained about the lack of intensity in the Rapid game – and confirmed that he wanted to change exactly that. But now Stöger and Sageder criticized internally that there was a lack of physicality and fitness. Players were repeatedly sidelined with muscle injuries. According to WZ research, there were conflicts between the two coaches and the athletic department. Athletics coach David Lechner was fired in mid-October.
On the pitch, Rapid didn’t play intensively, but rather passively and staidly – and lost more and more often. Stöger made a desperate, perplexed impression.
Conflicts, accusations and disappointed expectations
According to WZ-Info, the athletics department accused Stöger and Sageder of wanting to train too intensively – and paying little attention to load control. New signing Nosa Dahl was advised to take it easy after an injury, but little consideration was given during training, which made the injury worse. The two coaches in turn criticized the athletic team for putting the wrong strain on the players, acting sleepily and recognizing the lack of fitness of million-dollar newcomer Martin Ndzie too late.
There was also a crisis within the coaching team. Stöger (who also played for Rapid, but is actually considered an Austrian) and Sageder were the two new guys. The second assistant coach Kulovits, on the other hand, is a Rapid veteran, a champion as a player, has been with the club for years and is friends with many people – including the athletic trainers. Kulovits, it is said in the club, has been aiming for the head coach position for a long time. He was already part of the coaching team under the German Klauss – and took over on an interim basis after his dismissal. In the summer he is said to have hoped to be allowed to continue. But then Stöger came along – and quickly made himself vulnerable.
Tips against Stöger
Stöger criticized the squad, spoke strongly to weak opponents and made cryptic hints; for example, that there was something wrong in the club and that he now wanted to drive in with a jackhammer. The club, on the other hand, was disappointed that Stöger acted less confidently than expected, hardly provided any tactical content, but instead expected ready-made concepts from his assistants. He is said to have once preferred a sponsorship appearance to training. And after a blustering reform speech from him, he gave the team four days off despite the crisis. In addition, football became increasingly unsightly. Many players, it is said internally, would have preferred to play the ball possession style favored by Kulovits. Stöger is said to have noticed increasing allegations against him within the club, addressed them and argued with the friends’ economy.
The management team appeared irritated. Stöger was brought in so that he could unite Rapid and sell them perfectly to the outside world. But now he positioned himself as a misunderstood innovator who was failing at a desolate club.
After only 27 competitive games, Stöger and Sageder were released at the end of November. Rapidler Kulovits, however, was allowed to stay – and took over as head coach.
The club sees itself as a family business that is run and shaped by former heroes. The problem: Many of them were champions here as players, but are still apprentices in their new professional field, often without any significant experience or proof of success.
Stefan Kulovits, 42, also has little to show for himself – apart from his connections to powerful fans and ex-kicker colleagues in the club. As coach of Rapid II, he was relegated from the second league to the regional league. He has only just completed his coaching training – but he is now allowed to coach a million-dollar club, so to speak as a graduation test. Kulovits immediately relied on Rapidler, who had long been anchored in the club, and brought club legend Burgstaller into the coaching team. But success did not return. None of the five games were won.
Family business and friendly business
Rapid has become a supply facility and playground for a generation of rapid kickers. Managing director, sports director, trainer, squad planner, goalie coach, young striker coach, individual supervisor – all Rapidler.
A prime example: Steffen Hofmann, 45, once revered as the green and white football god, now managing director. In 2022 he helped Wrabetz’s executive committee come to power – only to be given a leadership role shortly afterwards. He has no experience; before that he worked as an assistant coach and talent promoter. Some in the club also deny his competence and criticize that he has little responsibility. In the current crisis he refers to sports director Katzer. He recently explained that decisions are “made by those who at some point hold their head.”
In the end, however, real Rapidlers never had to hold their own. In the spring, Robert Klauß and his German assistant coach were shown the door – currently Stöger and Sageder. Kulovits, who was allowed to stay, spoke of “a cool week” before his first game, despite coach dismissals and a series of defeats.
Not even the hard core of fans in Block West think it’s really cool anymore. “You will always be legends,” one banner read recently. “But if you love and understand Rapid, it’s time for you to go!”
Chaostage
There is a lot at stake for the club. In the summer, a lot of the money earned was invested in the most expensive squad in Rapid history. But now promotion to the European Cup has been clearly missed – and there are no longer any roosters crowing for Rapid players on the transfer market. If success fails to materialize for a longer period of time, it would also have major economic consequences.
Rapid is already looking for a new coach. According to WZ-Info, some players want the German Robert Klauß back. Others would prefer to keep Kulovits; This is after all “a real Rapidler,” explained Nenad Cvetković. Sports director Katzer is under pressure. It is not clear which style of play the squad was put together for – and which coach is now suitable. The decisive criterion, Katzer noted a few days ago, is “that the coach fits our game idea”. But which one is that? Recently, the club played differently with each coach. According to Katzer, the new person should “think modern” and bring “professional expertise”. That sounds like meaningless football phrases. After all, they say he doesn’t have to be an ex-Rapid player.
