Arya News - Holstein Kiel are currently sitting in last place in the Bundesliga table and have now opted for a managerial shake-up. Current Kiel sporting director Carsten Wehlmann will be replaced by former FC N�...
Holstein Kiel are currently sitting in last place in the Bundesliga table and have now opted for a managerial shake-up. Current Kiel sporting director Carsten Wehlmann will be replaced by former FC Nürnberg sporting director Olaf Rebbe at the beginning of next week. Wehlmann had been in office at Kiel since March 2024 and also served as the north German club’s vice president since last summer.
Interestingly enough, Wehlmann was let go by the Bundesliga’s last-placed side (SV Darmstadt 98) in the middle of last season. With relegation appearing a certainty, Darmstadt wished to begin searching for a new personnel executive to help plan their 2. Bundesliga campaign. Wehlmann signed on with Kiel four months after being let go by Darmstadt.
As an administrator for both Darmstadt and Kiel, Wehlmann oversaw promotions to the German top flight for two separate clubs in consecutive seasons. Kiel’s new sporting director is nonetheless considered a highly competent sporting executive. In four years at Nürnberg, Rebbe generated more than €61m in player sales. Rebbe’s overall transfer balance at der Club stood at plus €36m.
In his final January transfer window at Nürnberg, Rebbe liquidated players such as Jens Castrop and Stefanos Tzimas. Rebbe departed Nürnberg after the January transfer window and was very much a sought after commodity linked with other clubs. Kiel have outpaced plenty of other second division sides to secure the 46-year-old’s services.
“ Carsten Wehlmann had the challenging task of getting Holstein Kiel into the Bundesliga, ” Kiel’s supervisory board chairman Stefan Tholund noted in a club statement. “ The fact that the team still has a chance of avoiding relegation shortly before the end of the season shows that he has succeeded in doing so in a strong league with much more financially powerful competitors .”
“ We have nevertheless, we have come to the conclusion that it is time to restructure the club’s sporting management, ” Tholund’s statement continued. “ [Rebbe] has proven that he can act prudently and successfully in the transfer market. [He has]repeatedly succeeded in signing promising players who have always exceeded sporting expectations. “
GGFN | Peter Weis