Kuntz: "We don’t want to disturb our good rhythm"

On Monday morning, the HSV coaching staff took to the training pitches by the Volksparkstadion along with the players who did not feature heavily during Sunday’s match. Head coach Merlin Polzin was accompanied by board member Stefan Kuntz for the session, after the latter had already informed Polzin on Sunday evening that he would once again take charge of preparations for the upcoming home match against SV Darmstadt 98 on Sunday (8th December), following the success of the 3-1 win away to Karlsruher SC. HSV board member Stefan Kuntz then spoke to the media after training about...

… the search for a new head coach: The most important thing is that we don’t let ourselves be rushed into a decision, because it needs to be a good one for the club. I have said from the get-go that this will be a decision based on a number of different factors as there are many varied paths we can take. We are asking ourselves a lot of questions, holding interviews, gathering information and collecting feedback. It’s an ongoing process and I can’t rule anything out right now.

… the decision to keep Merlin Polzin in the dugout for the Darmstadt game: We don’t want to disturb the good rhythm that we’ve got at the moment, so Merlin Polzin and his coaching staff will once again take charge against Darmstadt. Of course, not everything went entirely to plan in Karlsruhe and there is plenty to be sorted out in training this week, but for the most part the coaching staff did a very good job. The result against Karlsruhe is a signal of intent from us.

… the reasons for this decision: I kept a close eye on everything going on in and around the team over the course of the week leading up to the Karlsruhe game, as well as ahead of the match, at half time, and then afterwards as well. I paid close attention to it all including the reaction from the team. From the impression I got, this was then the right decision to make. The decision was agreed upon by the rest of the board as well as those responsible for the club’s sporting directives before Merlin was informed on Sunday evening. He and his team have earned it.