He restarted his career in Planitz until 1948 and had his biggest success as a player there, when he won the Championship of the Eastern Zone in the same year.
In 1959, he was made national manager of East Germany and remained in this position until 1961, coaching the team in 8 matches.
When he arrived, the club had just been relegated to the second-tier DDR-Liga, but Krügel rebuilt the squad, winning re-promotion immediately.
When Magdeburg played FC Bayern Munich in the European Champions' Cup in 1974, the Stasi had bugged the West Germans' dressing room, but Krügel declined to make use of these devices.
In 1976, the East German FA banned Krügel from his managerial duties, citing "insufficient development of the Olympic athletes at 1.