A professional football club is a sensitive entity. A small crack here, a reverberating echo there can lead to an explosion after a while. Coach Thomas Reis has reached such a point with VfL Bochum before the Bundesliga derby on Saturday (September 10th, 2022, 6.30 p.m.) at FC Schalke 04.
There is of course the precarious sporting situation of Bochum. Five Bundesliga games, five defeats, 3:15 goals after the 0:2 in the home game against Werder Bremen. It doesn’t get any worse. Every defeat means a small tear in self-confidence and increasing pressure. And a derby away from the neighbor, who is also ailing, reinforces this effect even more.
“The most important thing is that we continue to believe in ourselves. We can only pull ourselves out of this mess on our own.”emphasizes Reis and appeals to the sense of togetherness: “We have to stand together – we’ve proven time and again during my time here that we can do that.”
However, that was only partially the case within the team. Goalkeeper Manuel Riemann poisoned his teammates during training during the week (“Miscarriages”), but apologized for his gaffe on social media the same day. He is his “Failed to do justice to role model function”.
In addition, recent speculation about rice caused a stir. The coach sought contact with the Revier neighbors in the summer when the “Royal Blues” were looking for a coach after their return to the Bundesliga. Reis denied it immediately and with words like “absolutely annoyed”. He no longer wants to comment on this.
An (imagined) relationship here, a mistake there
And anyone who wants to overdo it in the best conspiracy manner could also point out that the VfL coach is advised by Maikel Stevens, son of Schalke coach Huub Stevens of the century, and that he has already played with the current S04 sports director Rouven Schröder in Bochum Has. Something like that doesn’t necessarily have to be important, but repeated before such an important game it can just be the next little echo that gets stuck somewhere.
And then there are of course the many other small cracks that have been destabilizing the successful Bochum model since this summer, which has been rewarded with promotion and relegation to the Bundesliga since 2019.
Too many sideshows
First of all, sports director Sebastian Schindzielorz announced his farewell, which has now ended on August 31, after what was actually a very successful season with 13th place. At the same time, with ten players, a considerable part of the VfL basic corset left Castroper Straße. Upheaval when saying goodbye is certainly not a favorable working basis in any club.
Then Reis and those responsible for the club did not get together when it came to extending the contract, so that the 48-year-old already had a look at the summer of 2023 as “job seeking” designated. Certainly not a clever choice of words and again one of those little echoes for the back of your head.
Explosion at Schalke?
Since a small, clingy club like VfL is particularly dependent on its sporting managers – who in this case have worked successfully for three years – there are now a few many of these echoes and cracks. The sixth defeat in a row and that of all things at the neighbors from Gelsenkirchen, who didn’t start much better, could then be one too many of them, for Reis, for VfL Bochum.
According to Reis himself, he doesn’t think about it: “Firstly, there hasn’t been a defeat yet. Secondly, we have made it very clear what the next steps are: that we will meet in November.” During the World Cup break, it should be about a contract extension. The fact that the game against Schalke should be a “gamble of fate” did not come from the club, said Reis.
No ultimatum, no job guarantee
There really isn’t a public ultimatum for him along the lines of win or fly – but neither is a job guarantee. “We are involved in competitive sports, so results are an important ingredient”said the new sports director Patrick Fabian to the newspapers of the “Funke Mediengruppe”: “However, we are not ready to make any decisions solely dependent on this.” You will wait for the performance and then “continue”.
And then certainly assess how deep the many small cracks actually are.