manager Linz was exceptionally difficult. But in spite of the challenge of forming a team from scratch, the majority of managers in the league declared Magdeburg the top candidate for promotion. Following a drop to fourth place in March, the club sacked manager Paul Linz and hired former player Steffen Baumgart as his successor. Baumgart signed a contract until June 2009. Despite a mediocre record in the league, Baumgart' contract was extended another year until June 2010. Promotion was still the target for Baumgart's team, but after the winter break the distance to the promotion spot had increased so much that the board decided to let Baumgart go. Carsten Müller was appointed as an interim manager with the goal of at least winning the Landespokal, but even that failed. For the following season, Magdeburg signed Ruud Kaiser as manager, tasked with building a team capable of winning the league within two years. However, after a string of bad results brought the side dangerously close to relegation, Kaiser was let go and succeeded by Wolfgang Sandhowe. Sandhowe stayed on as manager for the next season, but was unable to get results. Hence he was replaced by assistant manager Ronny Thielemann in October. The continuing string of bad results that saw Magdeburg slip to last place led to Thielemann's dismissal from the manager role. Detlef Ullrich became the new manager in March, with Thielemann working as assistant manager. Towards the end of April, the club presented Andreas Petersen as the manager for the next season and on 3 May announced that Detlef Ullrich had been relieved of all duties, with Carsten Müller again serving as the interim manager for the remaining three matches. After finishing bottom of the league at the end of the 2011–12 season, new manager Andreas Petersen led the club to a 6th-place finish in his first and a 2nd-place finish in his second season, winning the Landespokal on both occasions. Despite this, the board announced in March that the contract with Petersen would not be extended. A month later, the club presented Jens Härtel as his successor. Härtel signed a two-year contract. 2016–present Having qualified for the DFB-Pokal and finished second in the league, the club set their eyes firmly on finishing first in the new season, with promotion to the 3. Liga as the eventual goal. To that end, a number of experienced players were signed, such