SSV Jahn Regensburg is entering its sixth year in the second division. If you take the past second half of the season as a benchmark, the Upper Palatinate are likely to have a difficult season ahead of them. On the other hand, they have shown that they can surprise positively.
SSV Jahn has been playing in the 2nd Bundesliga since 2017. After the march from the Regionalliga Bayern to the German lower house of football, very few believed that the red and white could last there for long. But under the then coach Achim Beierlorzer and the resourceful sports director Christian Keller, Jahn established himself in professional football. The team is now in its sixth second division season.
It is the first season without Keller, who now works for 1. FC Köln. These personal details certainly don’t make the mission of “staying up again” any easier. Staying in is and remains the goal of Regensburg.
That’s how last season went
In the first half of the past season, the fans could hardly believe their eyes: on the 8th match day, Jahn greeted from first place, until the 16th match day the team occupied the relegation place. The team got off to a fantastic start, led by a strong midfield line around Max Besuschkow, Sarpreeth Sing, Benedikt Gimber and Jan-Niklas Beste and with strong backing from Alexander Meyer in goal. The team convinced both in the duel and the running values, but also in terms of play.
But after the winter break, the thread broke. After a still convincing 3:0 win at SV Sandhausen, there was no win in seven games, Jahn only got a meager twelve points and was passed down the table. The team was no longer in serious danger of relegation, as the three last-placed teams were already too far behind.
In the end, they finished 16th in the second half of the table and ended the season with 40 points in 15th place. Disappointing after the furious start to the season. “When I think about the fact that we finished 15th, I get really grumpy,” coach Mersad Selimbegovic drew a sobering conclusion.
Who is coming, who is going?
The SSV Jahn really had to lose feathers in this transfer period. Because the very players who caused a sensation with their performances in the first half of the season are gone. Keeper Alexander Meyer moved to Champions League participants Borussia Dortmund, where he starts the season as number two behind Gregor Kobel. Jan-Niklas Beste, who was last loaned out from Bremen, switched to 1. FC Heidenheim, Max Besuschkow to Hannover 96. There are also Sarpreeth Sing (FC Bayern Munich II), Carlo Boukhalfa, David Otto (both FC St. Pauli) and Erik Wekesser ( 1. FC Nuremberg) no longer there.
Roger Stilz, who took over from Christian Keller as sporting director in November 2021, was and is asked to compensate for this personal bloodletting with newcomers who are as equal as possible. Dejan Stojanovic, who was loaned to FC Ingolstadt from FC Middlesbrough in the second half of the previous season and who will probably start the season as number one, came in for the goal, where the previous number two Thorsten Kirschbaum is also making claims.
There will be a reunion with Maximilian Thalhammer (SC Paderborn) and midfielder Joshua Mees (Holstein Kiel), both of whom have worn the Jahn jersey before. It was also clear early on that Minos Gouras (1. FC Saarbrücken) would strengthen the team and try one league higher. Christian Viet, who FC St. Pauli had “parked” there, also played recently in the 3rd division with Borussia Dortmund II.
Striker Prince Osei Owusu (FC Erzgebirge Aue) has more experience in the second division. Offensive player Oscar Schönfelder also has ten second division games in his vita, he comes on loan from SV Werder Bremen.
Can work in peace: coach Mersad Selimbegovic
The trainer
At Jahn Regensburg, coaches are allowed to work in peace, which has paid off. The last coach who had to leave early was Christian Brand in the 2015/16 Regionalliga championship season. After that, Heiko Herrlich, Achim Beierlorzer and since July 1, 2019 Mersad Selimbegovic were allowed to form a team according to their ideas without having to fear for their job in the event of a losing streak.
Even after the disappointing second half of the season, Selimbegovic’s coaching chair was not shaken. Club management and fans remained calm and did not want to bow to the famous “laws of the market”. As the Upper Palatinate says: “Kast drahn wey’sd mogsd, because Oasch stays behind.”
The 40-year-old Bosnian knows that other teams have more money and consequently more individual quality in their squad. The coach does not see the fact that the second division has become easier due to the promotion of the top teams from Schalke and Bremen and refers to the three well-sounding promoted teams from Magdeburg, Braunschweig and Kaiserslautern.
This is exactly why Selimbegovic focuses on other virtues: mileage, duel toughness, team spirit. Last season, the man, who doesn’t like to push himself to the fore, played with a back four, preferably in a 4-2-3-1 system. It remains to be seen whether this also fits the current squad.
expectations for the season
“We can’t shake our goal: get 40 points as quickly as possible!” Mersad Selimbegovic has a clear goal in mind and doesn’t allow for daydreams. Compared to the second half of the season, Jahn has to improve significantly in order to be able to stay up again. In fact, it takes a lot of effort to remain second-class in the sixth year. Given the many changes in the squad, it is not to be expected that the team will once again have such a great semi-series as last year.
“We want to get away from the places that cause headaches as quickly as possible,” says the coach, who is satisfied with the level of performance of his team. “We have seen in the tests that it works better and better.” In fact, the most recent appearances in some friendlies are encouraging, when they wrested a 2-2 win from English second division club Norwich City or third division club FSV Zwickau 6:1. However, there is also a meager 2:1 against regional division SpVgg Unterhaching and a 0:0 against third division newcomer SpVgg Bayreuth.
“We created a lot of chances and allowed relatively few,” said newcomer Mees after the Norwich test on club TV. “I think it was a very decent test. I think we showed that we are ready for next week.” Ready and hot. Incidentally, this also applies to the first main round of the DFB Cup two weeks after the start of the season against Darmstadt 98. That is when 1. FC Köln come to the Jahn Arena with ex-Jahn sports director Christian Keller. The perfect opportunity to prove that good work is still being done here after his term in office.
The 1st matchday of the 2nd Bundesliga
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Source: BR24 07/14/2022 – 6:30 p.m
