Next Saturday VfB will be visiting Wolfsburg. However, the obligatory press conference had to be cancelled.
The ailing coach Sebastian Hoeneß has reported fit again in time for VfB Stuttgart’s upcoming away game. “I’m feeling much better now, I’ve used the last few days to regenerate,” said the 41-year-old on Thursday: “On Friday I’ll lead the final training session and then travel to Wolfsburg with the team.”
Hoeneß was unable to lead training in preparation for the game at VfL Wolfsburg on Saturday (6.30 p.m./Sky) this week due to a gastrointestinal upset. The press conference planned for Friday was also canceled so that, according to the club, the remaining time could be “optimally used for further preparation for the game”.
Hoeneß speaks of a “stubborn matter”
“Unfortunately, it was a really stubborn matter that prevented me from being able to take care of the training work to the usual extent,” Hoeneß was quoted as saying in a press release. But he was in “intensive exchange” with his coaching team.
In Wolfsburg, Hoeneß striker Deniz Undav is available again after a torn fiber in his thigh, and Atakan Karazor is also fit for action after a bruised thigh. Both had “signaled that they can play in Wolfsburg,” explained Hoeneß. He is also “in good spirits” about goalkeeper Alexander Nübel being able to play again after a bruised hip. Genki Haraguchi, however, is out due to illness.
In Wolfsburg, his team had to “play to the limit” in order to “persist,” said Hoeneß. In Niko Kovac, the team has “an experienced coach. They have a lot of quality in the squad and recently played on equal terms against the top teams in the league in the games against Borussia Dortmund and Eintracht Frankfurt.”
Power struggle behind the scenes
Planning is also underway behind the scenes at VfB. As the club announced on Thursday evening, the supervisory board has been expanded to include two more members. “Lutz Meschke and Albrecht Reimold from Porsche AG are now members of the supervisory board of VfB Stuttgart 1893 AG, which has been expanded to eleven seats,” the club announced.
Porsche recently acquired shares in VfB Stuttgart AG. Porsche AG is investing 41.5 million euros for 10.4 percent of the shares. A power struggle then arose in the club over who would be at the head of the supervisory board in the future. Some members fear that the investor will exert too much influence and demand that the president and thus also the chairman of the eV continue to chair the AG – or that the members be asked about it.