That’s it. Six points and a significantly worse goal difference separate HSV from third place in the relegation zone four games before the end of the season. “Given the starting position, a miracle is needed now,” said Robert Glatzel after the 0-1 defeat against Holstein Kiel. The seventh season in the second league is getting closer and closer. How could this happen? How does it go from here? These are once again troubled times in the Volkspark.
The hope of a happy ending this season has shrunk to a minimum at HSV after losing the North duel. “There is not much left in our hands, you have to be honest,” explained Jonas Meffert. “Four games, six points, a lot has to happen,” said captain Sebastian Schonlau. And coach Steffen Baumgart also emphasized: “We should be realistic. The guys who are ahead of us do their homework, we don’t do it. That doesn’t mean we give up. Catching up on six points in four games is achievable. But we just don’t win the games.”
While the promotion rivals from Kiel and Düsseldorf are fully there in the decisive phase of the season and have each recently won six wins in a row, HSV has not managed to win on two weekends in a row for over seven months. Hamburg suffered their ninth defeat of the season against Kiel. Never before have HSV suffered so many defeats in the second division at the same point in the season.
No Baumgart football at HSV yet
For Steffen Baumgart, the appearance against Kiel was the eighth game as HSV coach. Four points behind second place (Kiel), he took over the team in February after 22 match days as third in the table. With regard to the defense, the HSV game has basically become more stable under Baumgart. However, there has been little to see in Hamburg so far of the power offensive football that the 52-year-old actually represents. This is less due to the specifications and more to the corresponding implementation. The team always seems unsettled and unclear on the pitch in many situations.
The HSV supervisory board is now in demand
That fits with the movement in the background of HSV. Since the winter break at the latest, the supervisory board has been intensively discussing the future of sporting leadership. At that time, parts of the control committee even had an internal vote on sports director Jonas Boldt. They were unhappy with the decision that Tim Walter was not released after the first half of the season. Ultimately, there was no majority for the initiative in the supervisory board.
It remains to be seen whether that has now changed. The current sporting situation with the clear tendency that there will only be second division football at HSV in the coming season is definitely ensuring that this discussion is now coming back to the fore.
You might also be interested in: Baumgart explains Öztunali deployment: That’s why Jatta and Dompé were outside
It’s about the future – and HSV needs facts quickly in the crucial positions. So it’s the supervisory board’s turn and in demand. Either Boldt will be given a vote of confidence or he will be removed from the board. One thing is certain: In principle, the 42-year-old is still interested in the task and has at least made one decision for himself: According to MOPO information, resignation is not an option for him.