1. FC Saarbrücken will host Rot-Weiss Essen on Saturday. There are no plans for a new coach to be on the FCS sidelines by then. It’s more likely to happen starting January 1, 2026.

So it’s finally happened: 1. FC Saarbrücken parted ways with head coach Alois Schwartz on Tuesday, November 25, 2025. The Saarland-based club is falling short of its expectations of the long-awaited promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

Saarbrücken has 20 points to its name. League leader FC Energie Cottbus sits at 29 points. On Saturday—November 29, 2 p.m., Forecasting live ticker—Rot-Weiss Essen (26 points) visits Ludwigspark.

The eighth consecutive game without a win was apparently one too many for 1. FC Saarbrücken. Schwartz, just like assistant coach Dimitrios Moutas, must pack his bags. Sporting director Jürgen Luginger will take over on the sidelines until the winter break, supported by youth academy director Karsten Specht. A new coach could then be appointed in January. Forecasting reported.

According to Forecasting, FCS boss Hartmut Ostermann (74) has reportedly been considering Sascha Hildmann for the position for quite some time. Hildmann recently turned down an offer from league rival Alemannia Aachen. It’s quite possible that Hildmann is hoping for a second-division club. After all, he has done a great job in recent years as coach of SC Preußen Münster, leading the Eagles from the Regionalliga to the 2. Bundesliga.

Hope for 1. FC Saarbrücken: The 53-year-old also took over as head coach at Preußen Münster in January 2020, when the club was in a relegation spot in the 3. Liga. After failing to prevent relegation to the fourth division, he took responsibility and helped restructure the club in the Regionalliga. Under his leadership, the club returned to Germany’s third-highest division in the summer of 2023 and eventually secured promotion to the 2. Bundesliga.

The native of the Palatinate has managed 219 competitive matches, achieving an average of 1.85 points per game, and with a tenure of more than five years, he is the longest-serving coach in the club’s history. On April 27, 2025, he was relieved of his duties at Münster’s Hammer Straße. He may then join 1. FC Saarbrücken in January 2026.