Siewert is Mainz man again as he faces Bayern
JAN Siewert will step back up into the big time this weekend even if only briefly - as he leads German top-flight side Mainz against European champions Bayern Munich.
The former Huddersfield Town boss joined Mainz as academy coach in July and has now been selected to lead the first team as caretaker manager following the dismissal of Jan-Moritz Lichte on Monday.
Siewert could not face a more daunting game for his return to the first-team dugout, however, with Bayern top of the table having lost just one of their 13 Bundesliga games this season.
In fact, they have the complete opposite record to Mainz, who have won one, drawn three and lost nine of their games and are second from bottom, only ahead of Schalke - who sacked former Terriers favourite David Wagner in September.
Former Borussia Dortmund II boss Siewert was in charge at the John Smith’s Stadium between January and August 2019 after taking over from Wagner with the club already firmly in the Premier League mire.
But he was unable to bring about a change in the club’s fortunes even after they dropped into the Championship. His side recorded just one win in his 19 games in charge.
His final game was a 2-1 home defeat to Fulham, after which he was eventually replaced by Danny Cowley.
Mainz have an admirable track record for developing successful coaches.
Wagner was a player for them alongside Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp, who later took his first managerial job in charge of the club’s first team, while former PSG boss Thomas Tuchel also had a successful spell as manager between 2009 and 2014.
HUDDERSFIELD Town ended a pretty miserable 2020 on a high with a run of five wins and a draw in the space of nine games, capped by a last-minute win over Blackburn Rovers that puts them back into the top half of the Championship.
And head coach Carlos Corberan