The first autumn storms are sweeping across the Volkspark – and this time not in a metaphorical sense, because there are once again quarrels in the HSV leadership, but quite real. For coach Tim Walter’s team, that’s all a long way away, the HSV pros are still on the road in the USA until next Tuesday.
It’s a sponsorship marketing journey, but there’s sport under the California sun too, like visiting NBA basketballers the LA Lakers or kicking out second division side Orange County Soccer Club, which HSV won 1-0. The atmosphere in the whole entourage is great, the travelers assure.
How different did it look on the Saturday before last, when the nerves of some of the protagonists, who were now so relaxed, were on edge. After the 4:2 win against Sandhausen, who after all secured second place in the table, Walter slammed a plastic bottle against the wall just before the dressing room with full force and with a loud roar.
At the press conference that followed, he honestly admitted: “The preliminary round was intense, not only in terms of the team, but also all around it.” Walter also means his own contract extension, which can only be finalized when sports director Jonas Boldt has his own in his pocket . He swears loyalty to the coach: “The trainer topic is completely clear to me, others have to approve it now.”
Eleven wins, one draw and five defeats are recorded in the first series. There were eight victories in a row, but also a painful 0:3 defeat at city rivals FC St. Pauli of all places. HSV games in this series are emotionally and tactically a spectacle anyway, characterized by a lot of offensive spirit and high risk.
The security usually worked, but not always. “We always let the opponents come back after taking the lead,” Walter summed up after the game against Sandhausen, whose player budget is eleven million euros, while Hamburg have 25 million euros at their disposal.
These are also arguments for President and Chairman of the Supervisory Board Marcell Jansen to play for time and leave the contracts with Boldt and subsequently Walter in the drawer. At the end of November, the general meeting of Fußball AG decides which seven new supervisory board candidates will be put into the running.
Jansen and his two colleagues on the presidency, Bernd Wehmeyer and Michael Papenfuss, have the right to make proposals here. The ex-professional is trying to pull the strings and get his advice through, only then should decisions be made.
In addition to the two contracts from Boldt and Walter, there is a prospect of an investment sum of 120 million euros, which shareholder and multi-billionaire Klaus Michael Kühne recently announced. However, the logistics entrepreneur said unequivocally that he thought little of Jansen. He was “unsuitable and incapable” to lead HSV professionally.
In January, at the upcoming annual general meeting of the entire club, Jansen will also have to face the vote-out motion that an HSV member submitted against the president at the beginning of October.
There is also an extremely delicate case in the squad. Croatian centre-back Mario Vuskovic, a mainstay in the back series with his physical strength and good technique, has tested positive for the blood doping substance EPO. We are still waiting for the B sample. A long suspension is imminent and HSV will have to look for a new central defender on the transfer market.
For the first time in twelve years, a plus was generated and a surplus of over one million euros was reported for the 2021/22 financial year. HSV CFO Eric Huwer says: “We have benefited from our sporting development despite missing out on promotion.” This means unplanned additional income in the DFB Cup, where the semi-finals were reached, in relegation and transfer income. In addition, an average of around 50,000 spectators come to HSV home games.
In terms of sport, things are much more dramatic a few kilometers into the city: FC St. Pauli ended the first series with a total of only three victories in 15th place in the table. On the one hand, the Kiezkicker have to be careful not to fall deep down in the long run and gamble away house and yard, on the other hand, there is a persistent negative trend that has been going on since the beginning of the last second half of the season.
It is therefore more important than ever at the Millerntor to question fundamentals. “A semi-series with three wins and eight wins in the entire calendar year is not even remotely what meets our own standards,” said St. Pauli’s sports director Andreas Bornemann in an initial analysis. He promised a great reappraisal together with coach Timo Schultz on the podium.
Above all, the offensive that didn’t work over long stretches was long cited as the main reason for the misery. Key players such as Daniel-Kofi Kyereh and Guido Burgstaller were not adequately replaced in the summer. Bornemann does not want to reduce it to this. Above all, as a squad planner, he has to be accused of the fact that the team should play in the top third of the league in terms of individual players, but does not work collectively and is put together incorrectly. Bornemann added that it was now “a matter of giving the team the right support, whether in terms of personnel or content”.
Schultz, who has a good reputation among fans, players and those around him and has a lot of stable smell, now has to be careful not to fall under the wheels as a pawn sacrifice. “In terms of the will, the power and the commitment of the team to execute the plan, that’s right,” he said. “As a coaching team, we now have to turn the screws, the last five to ten percent that were missing.”
It should soon be decided whether Coach Schultz will continue in the second half of the season. Bornemann, who made himself unpopular at the end of last season because of misunderstandings in contract negotiations, especially among players, could then be affected. What speaks for the two is the potential.
The quality of the squad is not bad at its core, the misery is a mixture of bad luck and inability. Eight draws also show this. Leart Paqarada, Jakov Medić, Jackson Irvine, Eric Smith, keeper Nikola Vasilj or Marcel Hartel are able to carry a team along. Bornemann expects striker Johannes Eggestein to “continue the trend” and for the other attackers Etienne Amenyido and Igor Matanović that “the knot will burst”.
If not, there could even be relegation at the end.
