After finishing fourth at the European Championships, the Bundesliga leaders want Alfred Gislason to remain national coach. Harsh criticism comes from Bob Hanning – which Gislason counters quite coolly.
“Why should you change anything now? The team is already successful in this formation and is on a very good path”said HBL President Uwe Schwenker to Sport Bild. With fourth place at the home European Championships “succeeded in achieving what was intended as the maximum goal” wanted.
Gislason wants to continue
Gislason’s contract expires after this summer’s Olympic Games in Paris. The Icelander emphasized after the European Championships that he wanted to continue working with the team. “I have signaled that I would like to do it, but in the end it is not my decision”, he said. The German Handball Association has announced talks after the tournament.
HBL managing director Frank Bohmann also hopes for continuity at the DHB. “If you look at the successful nations, you see that they have relied on the same coach for many years and have developed a playing system for themselves”said the 59-year-old. He assumes “that the DHB will make a good decision”.
“Bob is not a luminary in world handball”
Gislason rejected Füchse managing director Bob Hanning’s criticism of the German national team’s performance with clear words: “I don’t think too much of his assessment of our European Championship performance because he is not objective. He would very much like to force the deployment of some people out of his own interest.”said the Icelander and added: “For me, Bob is not a luminary in world handball. That’s why I would rather listen if the league’s top coaches commented on our performance.”
“Celebrated like Bayern’s win against Cottbus”
Hanning had harshly criticized the performance of Gislason and his team: “The bottom line is four wins, four defeats and one draw. If you subtract the home advantage, there isn’t much left. With all due respect: celebrating a win against North Macedonia is legitimate. But in principle it’s like Bayern Munich’s footballers winning against Cottbus.”said the Berlin official and former vice president of the German Handball Association.
Gislason, on the other hand, thinks the squad is “well and broadly positioned” and still sees a lot of potential for the future. The DHB team lost at the European Championships against the big three France, Denmark and Sweden and in the insignificant main round game against Croatia.