“I didn’t need to be released. That hurt me at the time and I wasn’t feeling well at the moment“said Thioune, who had had this experience for the first time in his coaching career, shortly before meeting HSV again on Saturday at the game in Düsseldorf (1.30 p.m.).”The task with Fortuna was exactly the right thing and exactly what I wanted. So it was good that I was a bit more patient.”
When he took office, Thioune emphasized that he had already received a number of inquiries. When the call came from Düsseldorf, he hit it. Fortuna had lost 0-1 at Holstein Kiel a few days earlier and slipped to the relegation place – he needed a new impetus, and Thioune brought it.
Fortuna is a force at home again
Since then, the Düsseldorf team has been unrecognizable. Under Christian Preusser, the club had only won one of ten home games, under Thioune Fortuna has now won all three games in their own arena. The series is to be extended to four wins against HSV.
Over 30,000 tickets have already been sold for the game, and there have not been that many spectators in the Düsseldorf stadium since relegation in 2020. On Friday, the club even received the good news that the capacity would be expanded to 43,000 spectators, given the euphoria surrounding Fortuna and Thioune’s explosive reunion with his former club, more supporters could be lured to the stadium.
Ascending, descending or in the end none of the two?
It is clear that Düsseldorf’s coach wants to win the game against HSV, but he himself emphasizes that it is not about healing old wounds. “I left no scorched earth in Hamburg and am looking forward to seeing some familiar faces. Otherwise, I’m looking forward to a home game with a great backdrop. I am looking forward“said Thioune, who will even keep his fingers crossed for his former club after the game. “I definitely wish HSV that it leaves the league. The thing is really big there and belongs one floor up.“
But first he has to prevent Fortuna from going down a floor. Almost his entire staff is available again against Hamburg. Of the 14 corona-related failures last weekend in the away game against SC Paderborn (1-1) are “only” two left in Marcel Sobottka and Thomas Pledl, and Jakub Piotrowski is suspended after his fifth yellow card.
Source: red