But then a disastrous 1:3 in Braunschweig follows. Baumgart feels that things are getting tight. “These are things that are my responsibility, that we clearly prevent these chains of errors,” he said at the press conference after the game.
Davie Selke remembers this in “Always Hamburg”: “The way we played was no longer quite what he always stood for. It’s difficult to judge why that was the case.” On the way back in the car, Kuntz also said: “The bad thing is that the team really doesn’t reflect Steffen Baumgart.” The audience sees the experienced HSV board thoughtful, almost at a loss.
Baumgart still gets the following international break. He wants to change the system, remembers Kuntz. Against Schalke, HSV leads 2-0 at halftime. The film team is allowed into the dressing room again: the atmosphere there seems tense and the pressure seems to be great. In the second half, Schalke hits back, HSV plays shockingly poorly – it ends 2-2.
Stefan Kuntz’s disappointment can be seen in the documentary when he speaks of the crucial conversation with Steffen Baumgart: “He said to me: ‘Yes, Stefan, what do you want to say now? The fact that the team isn’t performing is the responsibility of the coach. I’m the coach, so I’m responsible. I can understand if you say to me, we want to try something different.'”
Kuntz finally ends Baumgart’s HSV chapter briefly and painlessly: “Yes. We would like to try something different.” After just 278 days in office, the coach’s childhood dream is over.
“Always Hamburg – Hope. Pain. Connection.”: All six parts of the documentary are available for viewing in the ZDF media library.
Note: The author of this text is neither related nor related by marriage to Jonas Boldt.
