Captain expressed criticism several times
©IMAGO
After the 1-1 draw at 1. FC Kaiserslautern in the fall, Nuremberg central defender Robin Knoche went on the offensive verbally to campaign for more playing time. As a result, he only got it intermittently. A critical first half conclusion followed. Now the captain is apparently about to say goodbye to the FCN. On Thursday, “Bild” reported that work was being done on the 33-year-old’s departure. On Friday, “Sky” added the likely destination. There are advanced negotiations with Arminia Bielefeld, the TV station said without providing further details.
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Knoche is only tied to Nuremberg until the end of the season, where he moved – somewhat surprisingly – from Bundesliga club Union Berlin in the summer of 2024. In the second division he was always on the pitch in his first season with the exception of three games he missed due to injury. In the current season, however, he only got four starting eleven appearances on the first 19 match days and was substituted on seven times; This was also the case in the aforementioned 1-1 draw in Kaiserslautern, where he was able to convert a penalty in stoppage time to win the point.
“You have already seen that I have added value for the team when I am on the pitch, or that the added value is definitely greater,” emphasized Knoche after the game at FCK at the end of October. Coach Miroslav Klose didn’t quite see it that way. The coach reacted: “We know what Robin Knoche can do, what he brings to our team, but unfortunately he has two ahead of him, currently Fabio Gruber and Luka Lochoshvili. They are simply better and that is simply a fact.”
After the 2-1 win against Hannover 96 in the last game before Christmas – Knoche was substituted again – he drew a conclusion from the first half of the season. “We had ups, but above all a lot of downs,” he said. There is still “a lot of work” to do. “We have to make sure we become more consistent. We can’t always hope that one half is enough.” Regarding his own situation, he explained: “I’ve said everything about it as I see it. Nothing has changed.” Former colleague and new captain Gruber emphasized on Tuesday before the club’s Friday game against Preußen Münster (6:30 p.m.): “But when I look at our team now and see what kind of boys we have, I’m not worried at all.”
In my opinion, it would be totally unreasonable to start the second half of the season with only two established IVs. Buchmann and Mandic are not serious alternatives for Gruber and Loccho.
But hey, there’s definitely a hidden gem in the 5th French league that our super manager has had on his radar for a long time. …
A change for Knoches would mean one of three departures from the FCN defense this winter. Ondrej Karafiat (31) was farewelled last week. Hoffenheim’s loan player Tim Drexler (20) should move on to Salzburg soon – the latter against the wishes of the coach. “Somewhere it is normal for a lot of players to come and a lot of players to leave us,” said Klose on the subject. “I’ve had to get used to that as a coach and especially here in Nuremberg. That’s what business brings with it.” The FCN should now look for further alternatives for the defense in the transfer market.
