Eintracht Braunschweig has pulled the ripcord and fired coach Jens Härtel. The coach only moved to the “Lions” at the start of the season, who are in last place in the second league. Marc Pfitzner takes over on an interim basis.
The performance in the away game against newly promoted SV Elversberg (0:3) last Friday was a declaration of bankruptcy – and apparently too much for those responsible for Eintracht. They announced their separation from Härtel in a statement on Monday. The Saxon was only in office for around four months.
Peter Vollmann, Sports Director, said: “We really appreciate Jens Härtel and thank him for his great commitment and his meticulous work with our team. In a very challenging situation, he tried everything to initiate the sporting turnaround and get the team on the road to success.” After the clear defeat in Saarland, however, “we were no longer convinced that we could achieve the turnaround in this constellation.”
Pfitzner takes over against Düsseldorf and Hanover
Marc Pfitzner, previously assistant coach of the professionals and U23 coach, will take over the team on an interim basis. He will lead training for the first time in the afternoon and will lead the team together with Marcel Goslar, Manfred Petz and Janning Michels in the next two games next Friday against Fortuna Düsseldorf (6.30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter) and in the derby against Hannover 96 (November 5th , 1:30 p.m.).
Vollmann said: “With Marc Pfitzner we have found the best solution for the two extremely important games against Düsseldorf and in the derby, which will have a direct impact on the team. With his positive charisma and emotionality, he lives Eintracht Braunschweig, and he also knows the players all from daily training.”
Härtel’s devastating results in Braunschweig
The results of Härtel, who replaced Michael Schiele, who was unexpectedly on leave after relegation, in the summer, are disastrous: the Braunschweig team were only able to win one of ten league games under his direction, they only have five points and were thrown out of the cup them out in the first round.
Härtel himself saw his team “despondent and fearful” in the game against the Saarlanders and emphasized in an interview with “Sky” after the final whistle that “it’s not about me at all. If someone can do it better, then they should do it .”
BTSV conceded too many goals
Almost exactly four months ago to the day, the 54-year-old played his first test match with his new team. However, Härtel’s handwriting was still difficult to discern even after almost a third of the season. The Saxon is actually relying on a stable defense – but Eintracht has already conceded 18 goals. In Saarland, even the simplest things often didn’t work.
Manager Vollmann had the coach’s back before the international break, but after the game in Elversberg he announced talks for the weekend, even though he said: “First of all, Jens is our coach. And I assume that he will stay that way becomes.”
What’s next for Vollmann in Braunschweig?
It remains to be seen what will happen to Vollmann after Härtel’s dismissal. After all, it was the 65-year-old who kicked out promotion coach Schiele in the summer and replaced him with Härtel. As Sports Director, Vollmann is responsible for putting together the squad. And after almost a third of the season, the personnel changes of the summer must be viewed as a failure. The loss of the injured Anthony Ujah is even more serious.
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Sports current | Oct 23, 2023 | 12:17 p.m
