It was another campaign of mediocrity for Augsburg who just about managed to stay clear of the relegation and keep hold of their status as a Bundesliga team. With Markus Weinzierl taking over at Schalke at the start of the season, Augsburg appointed Dirk Schuster as his successor and the former Darmstadt coach got the campaign going to a steady start. Augsburg occupied a comfortable midtable position for majority of the first half of the season but, despite the decent start, Schuster was clearly struggling to win over the fans as well as the club with his safety first approach. Barring their early season win over Werder Bremen, Augsburg were also finding it difficult to beat teams sitting above them in the league table though they did secure decent results against the likes of Bayer Leverkusen and Schalke. Despite the club sitting in a comfortable position in the table, Augsburg decided to go for a change at the top and a narrow defeat to Hamburger SV proved to be the last straw with Schuster quickly replaced by Manuel Baum.
The club had declared that the change was being made in order to facilitate a return to a more adventurous approach but, though Baum had some success initially, with Augsburg winning three of his first five games in charge, they quickly hit a big slump in form that saw them drop dangerously close to the relegation zone before a crucial win over Hamburg at the end of April finally helped them secure their safety for another season, finishing in 13th place. It will be seen as an opportunity lost for Augsburg who were not able to build on a decent first half of the campaign though they were not helped by injuries, especially in the defense. Signings too did not work out for Augsburg and, barring Martin Hinteregger, none of the new arrivals were able to force their way into the starting lineup and the club will have to do better in the summer if they are to avoid another poor campaign next season.
