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|
 Schuster withAugsburg in 2016 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Eberhard Dirk Schuster[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1967-12-29)29 December 1967 (age 57) | ||
| Place of birth | Karl-Marx-Stadt, East Germany | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Torpedo Kutaisi (head coach) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1985–1986 | Karl-Marx-Stadt | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1986–1988 | Sachsenring Zwickau | 12 | (1) |
| 1988–1990 | Magdeburg | 40 | (0) |
| 1990–1991 | Eintracht Braunschweig | 35 | (4) |
| 1991–1997 | Karlsruher SC | 167 | (3) |
| 1997–1999 | 1. FC Köln | 62 | (5) |
| 1999–2000 | Antalyaspor | 29 | (0) |
| 2000 | VfB Admira Wacker Mödling | 10 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | LR Ahlen | 50 | (6) |
| 2002–2004 | SV Wilhelmshaven | 36 | (4) |
| 2004–2006 | Waldhof Mannheim | 66 | (4) |
| 2006 | ASV Durlach | ||
| 2007 | Alemannia Wilferdingen | ||
| International career | |||
| 1990 | East Germany | 4 | (0) |
| 1994–1995 | Germany | 3 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2007 | ASV Durlach | ||
| 2009–2012 | Stuttgarter Kickers | ||
| 2012–2016 | Darmstadt 98 | ||
| 2016 | FC Augsburg | ||
| 2017–2019 | Darmstadt 98 | ||
| 2019–2021 | Erzgebirge Aue | ||
| 2022–2023 | 1. FC Kaiserslautern | ||
| 2025– | Torpedo Kutaisi | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Eberhard Dirk Schuster (born 29 December 1967) is a German professionalfootballmanager, currently in charge of GeorgianErovnuli Liga clubTorpedo Kutaisi.
Schuster, who lived his youth in theEast Germany, was one of the first East German players to make the move into the West, starting inEintracht Braunschweig and soon moving on toKarlsruher SC in 1991, where he established himself as a respected center-back.[2]
A move to1. FC Köln in 1997 proved less successful, and in the followingjourneyman years he played in Turkey and Austria.[3] He then played for newly promoted Second Bundesliga clubLR Ahlen in 2000, where he had a good stint, before he returned to Austria and then played in the Oberliga, the fourth-highest league with Waldhof.[4]
He was capped three times in the Germany national team and before that four times in the East Germany national team.[5][6] He made his debut forEast Germany against theUnited States inEast Berlin in March 1990.[7]
Schuster's first coaching job was as interim coach forASV Durlach between 16 October 2006 and 10 January 2007.[8]
On 30 May 2009, Schuster was named as the new head coach of theStuttgarter Kickers,[9] where he signed a two-year contract until 30 June 2011, which was prematurely extended on 1 April 2010 until 20 June 2012.[10] He guided Kickers to theRegionalliga Süd title in 2011–12, and promotion to the3. Liga, but was sacked in November 2012 after going five games without scoring a goal. He was appointed manager of 3. liga side SV Darmstadt 98 a month later. He finished with a record of 55 wins, 35 draws, and 26 losses.[11]
Schuster took over asSV Darmstadt 98 head coach on 28 December 2012.[12] Despite Schuster helping Darmstadt 98 off the bottom of the league, they finished among the relegation places in the2012–13 season, Schuster's Darmstadt avoided dropping into Germany's fourth tier, the Regionalliga Südwest, thanks to the failure of fierce local rival Kickers Offenbach in obtaining the licence for the new season due to going into administration.
In the following season, to the surprise of all experts, Darmstadt managed to get third in the league which meant a relegation-promotion play-off spot for the2. Bundesliga. Darmstadt facedArminia Bielefeld in theplay-off and won promotion in dramatic fashion after losing 1–3 at home in the first leg but turning the deficit around in the second leg and scoring the winning 4–2 in the 122nd minute which meant promotion on away goals.
In the followingseason, Schuster managed to surprise everyone for a second time by finishing 2nd in the league and achieving back-to-back promotion to theBundesliga after a 33-year absence.
He finished with a record of 53 wins, 43 draws, and 35 losses.[12]
He was later voted German Coach of the Year for his performance in the 2015–16 Bundesliga season.[13]
Schuster took over as manager ofFC Augsburg on 2 June 2016;[14] he replacedMarkus Weinzierl who left forFC Schalke 04.[14] Schuster was sacked on 14 December 2016.[15]
On 11 December 2017, Schuster was once again appointed manager of Darmstadt 98, replacingTorsten Frings.[16] He was sacked on 18 February 2019.[17]
Schuster was appointed as the new manager ofErzgebirge Aue on 26 August 2019.[18] He left Aue after the 2020–21 season.[19]
He was named head coach of1. FC Kaiserslautern on 10 May 2022.[20] In November 2023, he was sacked.[21]
In February 2025, Schuster took charge ofErovnuli Liga clubTorpedo Kutaisi on a three-year deal.[22]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Stuttgarter Kickers | 30 May 2009[9] | 19 November 2011[11] | 116 | 55 | 35 | 26 | 047.41 | [11] |
| Darmstadt 98 | 28 December 2012[12] | 2 June 2016[14] | 131 | 53 | 43 | 35 | 040.46 | [12] |
| FC Augsburg | 2 June 2016[14] | 14 December 2016 | 16 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 025.00 | [23] |
| Darmstadt 98 | 11 December 2017[16] | 18 February 2019 | 41 | 13 | 12 | 16 | 031.71 | [12] |
| Erzgebirge Aue | 26 August 2019 | 30 June 2021 | 65 | 23 | 15 | 27 | 035.38 | |
| Kaiserslautern | 10 May 2022 | 30 November 2023 | 53 | 19 | 16 | 18 | 035.85 | |
| Total | 422 | 167 | 126 | 129 | 039.57 | |||
Karlsruhe
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