Unemployed keeper in an interview
Robin Himmelmann guarded FC St. Pauli’s goal 184 times, which is only surpassed by two keepers in the club’s history. This was followed by stints at KAS Eupen in Belgium and Holstein Kiel, where the 34-year-old’s contract was not extended in the summer. Around six months later, Himmelmann is back between the posts – at Hamburger SV, of all places. He is currently training with the U21 team there because a knee injury to goalkeeper Malte Brüning caused a bottleneck. And at the same time, Himmelmann can position himself for a new club.
The keeper confirmed in an interview with Transfermarkt that the commitment will “probably” last until shortly before the winter break. His advisor Jörg Neblung is “generally in contact with a lot of people”, in this case with HSV goalkeeping coach Sven Höh. This is how Himmelmann found out about the option in Hamburg. In the city where he experienced his most intense time in football in the FCSP jersey between 2012 and 2021. And where Himmelmann has long since settled down privately and kept fit. In the gym and on numerous runs around the Alster. To prepare for day X.
“How can I get involved in team training that will help me move forward?” was Himmelmann’s question. In terms of the conditions that suit him, “the clubs are limited”. For personal reasons, starting outside of Hamburg was not up for debate; Himmelmann’s focus is the Hanseatic city, and his wife is expecting their second child shortly. So the HSV II – “with a view of a winter change”. Because: “After careful consideration, this is a step that puts me in a better position.” Helping out with the “Rothosen” is more valuable to him than if he “presents my gym and running stats from the last few months to interested clubs without having been intensively in team training to be”.
Himmelmann is not finished yet, but would like to fight for points again for a club from winter onwards. To achieve this, he wants to get himself in good shape at HSV: “That is my clear goal.” Thanks to his nine appearances in the second half of the season for the “Storks”, he was once again in the spotlight. “Unfortunately, it didn’t work in the summer to find a new club through the Kiel showcase, even though I achieved visibility.” Himmelmann’s intention for the period until the end of the year: “Be ready to step in.”
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Why didn’t it work around six months ago? The goalkeeper tries to explain: “I believe that significantly more goalkeepers come onto the market every year than there are free places. Then there are some clubs that want to work with young players first.” Patience was required. “In the meantime there were a few rapprochements. If only one piece of the puzzle had fit, you would have been there immediately. Two or three things would have been really good. “The door didn’t open in the end,” Himmelmann reveals. “Then you stand there from September 1st (deadline day; editor) and of course keep checking over the weekend to see if anything happens. With very few exceptions, this has not been the case. At Schalke the situation was such that they didn’t really have to upgrade. Accordingly, the search for a club has not been successful so far.”
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This was nothing new for Himmelmann. After his contract ended in Eupen in 2022, it took over half a year before he signed in Kiel on January 23, 2023 and was able to show his skills from the 23rd to the 31st matchday. However, there shouldn’t be a sequel. For what Himmelmann says is a “simple” reason: three goalkeepers were contractually bound and there should be no place for him in the existing constellation in the 2023/24 season. That was the clear trend, especially at the end of March after the extension of Thomas Dähne (29), who had to sit out with a knee injury at the beginning of the year.
From the archive: Robin Himmelmann in a TM interview (read here)
If, contrary to expectations, no suitable job is found in the winter, the end of Himmelmann’s career could be closer. “If, like me, you’re almost 35 and don’t have a club for the second time in a row, you’re worried about what will happen if nothing happens in the next few months. You can’t say at some point: ‘Now I’ll just found a club and play in it,'” says the veteran with a smile. “With the end of the winter transfer window on January 31st, the doors are closed in most markets until the summer. And will more clubs want me than last summer?” Himmelmann asks with a laugh and gives the answer himself: “I dare to say the probability is very low.”
However, he does not feel any “acute stress” about having to do something professionally today or tomorrow because of his private situation. Himmelmann defines his conditions as follows: “It is not impossible that it will go further away. This is not a co-criterion for us. But of course the circumstances have to be right, there are many factors. How can you reconcile your local professional situation with your family? And what level of sport is it about?” If these conditions are met, Himmelmann can “definitely” imagine getting involved. “Everything else” wouldn’t be an issue for him.
Bundesliga promotion 2024: Himmelmann sees FC St. Pauli “very well positioned”
In the event that it ends at the beginning of 2024 or a little later, the goalkeeper, who was born in Moers (North Rhine-Westphalia), has made initial considerations. “There are one or two rough ideas. But they still need to be refined.” Himmelmann can’t say anything concrete yet, including whether his future field of activity will be in football – which is “honestly” completely open today. “There are good arguments for and some arguments against.” But for now Himmelmann only wants one thing: to fly between the posts regularly for a club again.
Of course, one question should not be left out at the end: Who will be promoted to the Bundesliga in 2024? His long-time employer and frontrunner St. Pauli? HSV as the first pursuer? Or even both in the end? “HSV in particular has learned that a good to very good first half of the season doesn’t necessarily mean that you go up. I believe that the derbies are at a very exciting time (December 1st and May 3rd to 5th),” says Himmelmann, who is “brutally difficult” to make an assessment. But it still tries: “If all the key players stay fit, then I see St. Pauli in a very good position because they concede very few goals and win even nasty games.”
Behind the top duo from Hamburg, Holstein Kiel is lurking “with momentum and verve with a newly thrown together team”. Taking into account possible surprise candidates that no one has currently on the radar, Himmelmann says: “I know a lot of Hamburgers who say: It would be great if St. Pauli and HSV were promoted together. Who knows. Maybe in May everyone will burst into tears and neither of them will get up. The 2nd league has always been competitive right up to the end in recent years. I’m really excited to see how it turns out.” An answer that should also apply to his future.
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