Daniel Thioune

Daniel Thioune
Personal information
Full name Daniel Moustapha Thioune[1]
Date of birth (1974-07-21) 21 July 1974 (age 50)
Place of birth Georgsmarienhütte, West Germany
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Fortuna Düsseldorf (head coach)
Youth career
1980–1987 Raspo Osnabrück
1987–1988 Osnabrücker SC
1988–1989 Raspo Osnabrück
1989–1992 Post SV Osnabrück
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Post SV Osnabrück
1994–1996 Sportfreunde Oesede
1996–2002 VfL Osnabrück 161 (61)
2002–2004 VfB Lübeck 47 (8)
2004–2010 LR / Rot Weiss Ahlen 112 (13)
Managerial career
2017–2020 VfL Osnabrück
2020–2021 Hamburger SV
2022– Fortuna Düsseldorf
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Daniel Moustapha Thioune[1] (born 21 July 1974) is a German professional football manager and former player who is the currently head coach of 2. Bundesliga side Fortuna Düsseldorf.

Thioune spent most of his playing career at VfL Osnabrück, where he established himself as a prolific scorer from midfield. Upon retiring in 2010 after playing for multiple lower league sides, he began coaching different teams in the VfL Osnabrück academy before being appointed as the first team coach in 2017. He was hired as Hamburger SV head coach in 2020.[2][3]

Playing career

Thioune started playing for local club Raspo Osnabrück at the age of six, living across their home ground and training facilities. As a junior player, he would also play for Osnabrücker SC and Post SV Osnabrück.[1]

After two years of senior football playing for Post SV Osnabrück, Thioune moved to Sportfreunde Oesede in 1994, who were playing in the fifth-tier Oberliga Niedersachsen at the time. Prior to the 1996–97 season he was signed by third tier Regionalliga club VfL Osnabrück, with whom he won promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in 2000. There, he made his professional debut in the 2000–01 season and scored 10 goals in 22 appearances. After the club's relegation in 2001, Thioune initially stayed with the club, but moved to 2. Bundesliga side VfB Lübeck in 2002, for whom he played 47 league games in two years and scored eight goals. In the 2003–04 season, he reached the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal with Lübeck under head coach Dieter Hecking, in which the team was eliminated after leading twice in extra time against the eventual Double winners from Werder Bremen.

Ahead of the 2004–05 season, Thioune moved to 2. Bundesliga side LR Ahlen (Rot Weiss Ahlen from 2006). With the club he suffered relegation to the Regionalliga for the second time in his career, in 2006. As team captain, however, he won promotion to the 2. Bundesliga in the 2007–08 season after being down for two years. After a serious injury, Thioune stepped down as captain in January 2010 and retired from professional football on 15 April 2010.

Thioune made 126-second-tier and 192 third-tier appearances during his career, in which he scored 24 goals in the 2. Bundesliga and 60 goals in the Regionalliga. After finishing his professional career, he would play alongside former German international Ronald Maul at Eintracht Osnabrück for a while.[4]

Managerial career

Beginnings

Thioune started out in management in the 2010–11 season, where he functioned as Arie van Lent's assistant at 3. Liga club Rot Weiss Ahlen, but was released from his duties after the club faced bankruptcy in June 2011. In the 2011–12 season, he moved to a position as scout for Rot-Weiß Erfurt.[5]

From the 2013–14 season, Thioune coached the B1 Jugend (U17) of VfL Osnabrück and led them to promotion to the B-Junioren Bundesliga (Under 17 Bundesliga) from the North/Northeast group in 2015. When Joe Enochs succeeded Maik Walpurgis as head coach of the VfL Osnabrück senior team in 2015, Thioune took over Enochs' position as the head of the youth academy and became head coach of the A-Junioren (U19). Under his leadership, the U19 managed to get promoted from the A-Jugend-Regionalliga Nord to the A-Junioren Bundesliga (Under 19 Bundesliga) from the North/Northeast group in 2016. In March 2016, Thioune received his coaching license, after taking courses at the Hennes-Weisweiler Academy together with the likes of Julian Nagelsmann, Alexander Nouri and Domenico Tedesco.[6]

VfL Osnabrück

After a poor start to the 2017–18 season, Joe Enochs was relieved of his duties as head coach of the VfL Osnabrück senior team competing in the 3. Liga, in early October 2017. Thioune initially took over as an caretaker manager,[7] but in early November 2017, he was appointed the permanent head coach.[8] Thioune managed to turn around the team and eventually reach the 17th place in the league standings with 6 points down to the relegations spots. In the 2018–19 season, he led VfL Osnabrück to the 3. Liga championship and thus to promotion to the 2. Bundesliga. In September 2019, his contract with the club was extended to June 2021.[9] In the 2019–20 season, Thioune's side held 5th place in the league table after the first half of the season with 26 points; only four points behind a direct promotion spot. In the second half of the season, the team from Osnabrück finished as the worst team of the league with a mere 14 points, which in the end resulted in a relegation battle. Another season in the 2. Bundesliga was only secured on the 33rd matchday,[10] and VfL finished the season as the best promotee with 40 points and a 13th place finish.

Hamburger SV

For the 2020–21 season, Thioune took over the 2. Bundesliga side of Hamburger SV, which had previously missed out on promotion to the Bundesliga for two consecutive seasons in fourth place. He succeeded Dieter Hecking, whose contract had expired and under whom he had played at VfB Lübeck. Thioune triggered a release clause in his contract at VfL Osnabrück to sign a two-year contract in Hamburg.[11]

Thioune was sacked on 3 May 2021, three matchdays before end of season.[12]

Fortuna Düsseldorf

On 8 February 2022, Thioune was hired by Fortuna Düsseldorf, replacing Christian Preußer. He signed a contract until 2023.[13]

Personal life

Thioune was born in Germany to a Senegalese father and German mother, and holds dual citizenship. He is the first black professional football manager in Germany.[14] As a youngster he attended the Graf-Stauffenberg High School in Osnabrück.[15] Thioune studied sports and pedagogy at the University of Vechta and graduated in 2019 with a bachelor's degree.[16][17] He is married and has a daughter and a son.[18]

Managerial statistics

As of 20 December 2024
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
VfL Osnabrück 5 October 2017 6 July 2020 105 39 33 33 152 135 +17 037.14 [19]
Hamburger SV 6 July 2020 3 May 2021 33 15 10 8 66 45 +21 045.45 [20]
Fortuna Düsseldorf 8 February 2022 Present 109 53 29 27 201 138 +63 048.62 [21]
Total 247 107 72 68 419 318 +101 043.32 —

Honours

Player

VfL Osnabrück

Rot Weiss Ahlen

Manager

VfL Osnabrück

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c Kenzo, Roland (6 July 2020). "Ex-Lübecker wird Trainer beim HSV und äußert sich gleich zum Thema Aufstieg". hlsports.de. HL Sports. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  2. ^ "DANNY THIOUNE NEUER CO-TRAINER UND PRAKTIKANT". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 27 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Daniel Thioune – 2014/2015". Fussballdaten.
  4. ^ "Christian Schäfer: "Wir haben einen Drei-Jahres-Plan"". eintracht08.de. Eintracht Osnabrück. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  5. ^ "Nur eine Station als Chefcoach! Das ist der neue HSV-Trainer Daniel Thioune". hsv24.mopo.de. Hamburger Morgenpost. 6 June 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  6. ^ "Video: 23 Fußball-Lehrer erhalten Lizenz". dfb.de. German Football Association. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  7. ^ Koch, Julian (4 October 2017). "Joe Enochs um 2 Uhr freigestellt – Thioune übernimmt vorerst". liga3-online.de. 3. Liga. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  8. ^ "Thioune nun offiziell Cheftrainer". kicker.de. kicker. 8 November 2017. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  9. ^ "VfL Osnabrück und Trainer Daniel Thioune verlängern Vertrag". vfl.de. VfL Osnabrück. 17 September 2019. Archived from the original on 24 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Heyer eröffnet früh: Aufsteiger Osnabrück hält die Klasse". kicker.de. kicker. 21 June 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  11. ^ "APP: Daniel Thioune ist neuer HSV-Trainer". hsv.de. Hamburger SV. 6 July 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  12. ^ "HSV entlässt Thioune – Hrubesch neuer Trainer" [HSV sacks Thioune – Hrubesch new manager]. kicker.de (in German). kicker. 3 May 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2021.
  13. ^ "Perfekt: Fortuna setzt auf Thioune". kicker.de (in German). kicker. 8 February 2022. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  14. ^ "Emedia : DANIEL THIOUNE, D'ORIGINE SÉNÉGALAISE, PREMIER ENTRAÎNEUR NOIR EN ALLEMAGNE". emedia.sn. Archived from the original on 17 April 2022. Retrieved 19 October 2019.
  15. ^ ""Schule ohne Rassismus – Schule mit Courage" am Graf-Stauffenberg-Gymnasium". vfl.de. VfL Osnabrück. 6 June 2019. Archived from the original on 14 June 2019. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  16. ^ Harding, Jonathan (29 January 2019). "Daniel Thioune: Der Trainer, der neue Wege geht". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  17. ^ Riepe, Louisa (3 September 2019). "Spieltag #5 mit Trainer Daniel Thioune – Die Intensität stimmt". noz.de. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  18. ^ Alberti, Stefan (26 November 2018). "VfL-Coach Daniel Thioune liefert souveränen TV-Auftritt ab". noz.de. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
  19. ^ "Vfl Osnabrück: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  20. ^ "Hamburger SV: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
  21. ^ "Düsseldorfer TuS Fortuna 1895: Matches". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  22. ^ "Daniel Thioune ist 'Trainer der Saison'" [Daniel Thioune is "manager of the season"]. DFB.de (in German). German Football Association. 9 May 2019. Retrieved 1 July 2020.