Ralph Hasenhüttl

Ralph Hasenhüttl

Ralph Hasenhüttl (2012)
Personal information
Date of birth	(1967-08-09) 9 August 1967
Place of birth	Graz, Austria
Height	1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)
Playing position	Centre forward
Club information
Current team	FC Ingolstadt 04 (Manager)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1988–1989	Grazer AK	65	(20)
1989–1994	FK Austria Wien	134	(44)
1994–1996	SV Austria Salzburg	53	(13)
1996–1997	KV Mechelen	27	(8)
1997–1998	Lierse SK	22	(4)
1998–2000	1. FC Köln	41	(3)
2000–2002	SpVgg Greuther Fürth	51	(13)
2002–2004	FC Bayern Munich II	57	(14)
Total		450	(119)
National team
1988–1994	Austria	8	(3)
Teams managed
2007–2010	SpVgg Unterhaching
2011–2013	VfR Aalen
2013–	FC Ingolstadt 04
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (goals)

Ralph Hasenhüttl (born 9 August 1967) is an Austrian football manager and former player. He is currently the coach of FC Ingolstadt 04.

Playing career

After several successful years playing as a centre-forward in the Austrian league, Hasenhüttl moved abroad, with spells at KV Mechelen and Lierse SK in Belgium. In season 1998–99, he signed for 1. FC Köln, for a fee equivalent to €200,000. In his two years in Cologne, however, he only scored three goals and in 2000 moved to SpVgg Greuther Fürth.

Hasenhüttl finished his career at FC Bayern Munich II, in the Regionalliga Süd.

International career

Hasenhüttl played eight times for the Austrian national team, scoring three goals.

Managerial career

Between 2004 and 2005, Hasenhüttl was a youth-team coach at SpVgg Unterhaching. Following the sacking of Harry Deutinger in March 2007, he became caretaker manager until the appointment of Werner Lorant, under whom he worked as assistant coach. Following the resignation of Lorant in October 2007, Hasenhüttl became the new head coach and finished in sixth place that season. In season 2008–09, in the newly formed 3. Liga, the team's performances earned them fourth place in the table, missing out on a play-off place by only one point. In the 2009–10 season, however, they failed to build upon their success, achieving only 31 points in 24 games, resulting in Hasenhüttl's sacking in February 2010.

In January 2011, Hasenhüttl succeeded Rainer Scharinger as the coach of third-division VfR Aalen, then in 16th place, one point above the relegation zone. Aalen's survival in the 3. Liga earned him a year's contract extension. In the 2011–12 season, he completely rebuilt the team, bringing in eight new players and releasing 14, with the aim of a mid-table finish. After a slow start to the season, the team found itself in sixth place at the winter break, only a point behind the play-off position. The team's run continued into the second half of the season, which included an eight-game winning streak, earning Hasenhüttl a further two-year contract extension in November 2011. At the end of the season, Aalen finished in second place, earning automatic promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

During pre-season training in the summer of 2012, Hasenhüttl contracted a Hantavirus infection, but returned to work three weeks into the 2012–13 season. Hasenhüttl had switched from a 4–4–2 to a 4–5–1 formation, to facilitate a fast, counter-attacking game, with surprising success – by the winter break, Aalen were in fifth place. The team finished the season in ninth place, the highest of the newly promoted teams.

After two-and-a-half successful years at Aalen, Hasenhüttl resigned in June 2013,^[1] following disagreements with sporting director Markus Schupp, who had imposed an austerity program for the following season, with several departing players not being replaced.

In October 2013, Hasenhüttl was appointed as coach of FC Ingolstadt 04,^[2] replacing Marco Kurz. In his first season, he took them from bottom of the 2. Bundesliga to tenth place. In season 2014/15, Hasenhüttl took Ingolstadt to the Bundesliga for the first time, finishing the season as champions.

Coaching record

As of 14 February 2015

References