“Nobody has to be afraid”
©IMAGO
After Jörg Schmadtke’s surprising departure as sports director at Hannover 96, there is still a certain amount of uncertainty about the reasons for the separation. Two days later, long-time club boss Martin Kind and sports director Ralf Becker commented on the personnel and what the farewell after just 81 days means for the Lower Saxony team, who are in the fight for promotion.
Kind told the “Neue Presse” whether hiring Schmadtke was a mistake. “You could say that,” said the 81-year-old and added: “But there may be other findings, and then you have to reassess it in a differentiated way.” The relationship with the 62-year-old has not worsened recently. “Not really,” says Kind. “The only thing I hinted at: He knew that Mr. Titz was the coach here and what the team looked like.” This could strengthen a theory from “Kicker” that Schmadtke may have thought about separating from Christian Titz. In general, Schmadtke’s wires to the rest of the sporting leadership should not be annealed, it was said.
This also includes Becker, who was also surprised by the news. “The news also came as a surprise to me. I found out about it two hours before it was publicly announced. There has been no contact since Sunday and therefore no concrete handover,” Bild quoted the 55-year-old as saying. Becker was therefore informed by the 96 donors Kind, Gregor Baum and Dirk Roßmann. “Then it quickly moved on to the specific topics. We exchanged ideas: What should be done now? What is the situation? I haven’t had an incredible amount of exchange with the shareholders in the past. That’s why it was good and important to exchange ideas, get to know each other and get a bit of a feel for each other. We’ve done all that. And now it’s time to get to work.”
The fans don’t have to worry that this could affect the team, emphasized Becker. “Nobody has to be afraid. We have a coach with whom we are happy. The main core of the team is in place. Of course there will be certain issues that we have to work on in the summer, but we are well positioned. What needs to be done is being prepared well. Nobody has to worry that things won’t get done.” Together with Becker, Finance Director Henning Bindzus will also take over Schmadtke’s duties on an interim basis.
Becker didn’t want to think about whether he could become Schmadtke’s permanent successor. “Above all, I want to do everything I can now, together with Henning, to ensure that we deal with the situation in the best possible way and ensure that we are successful in sport in the next few weeks. That is the absolute focus now. And that is aimed at the end of the season. Everything else is really not the focus right now.” Hannover 96 is fifth in the table after matchday 27, but is only three points behind leaders Schalke 04.
