“The team wants to show that this is their patch”

Steffen Baumgart will take charge of his first game as HSV’s boss in this Sunday’s clash with SV Elversberg. For the 52-year-old Rostock native, his new assignment at HSV is a deeply personal matter, as he explained at his official presentation on Tuesday. On Friday afternoon, Baumgart’s second press conference as HSV head coach focused on this weekend’s game. He spoke in detail about...

... the squad situation: Jean-Luc Dompe missed the last couple of training sessions. We’ll have to wait and see whether he’ll be fit for the game. Everyone else is fully fit, including Sebastian Schonlau, who is likely to start. It’s not just his footballing ability that’s important to us, but also his strength of personality. You can see he’s a leader in everything he does, and his team-mates all think very highly of him.

... his first days at HSV: I’m very happy to be able to be here and I’m enjoying what I’m doing. I’m normally able to get a group out of a hole pretty quickly and give them self-confidence. It’s always good to see the lads having fun. At the same time, we ought to be careful about making wholesale changes and work with what we’ve got. We have a good team. The players are in good condition physically and should certainly be able to play the brand of football I have in mind. 

"Some stadiums speak for themselves. You can’t describe the feeling of being able to run out onto that pitch."

... his first game as HSV’s head coach: I’m going into it with a lot of excitement. Come Sunday, there’ll probably be a few nerves too. A healthy bit of tension is part and parcel of the experience. Some stadiums speak for themselves. You can’t describe the feeling of being able to run out onto that pitch. I spent two and a half years at a great club, with action at every home game, and it’ll be the same here. I’m expecting everyone to pull together and give everything to help us to achieve promotion. The team wants to show that this is their patch. I’ve always experienced a good atmosphere here. Everyone wants a good game of football with lots of atmosphere, fight and willingness to run.

... this weekend’s opponents: Elversberg are not a team that will be quaking in their boots – they’ll come here with a clear goal in mind. They’ll be looking to trip us up; we want to counter that and show our qualities out there on the pitch. Anyone writing off Elversberg as a team promoted from the 3. Liga needs to take a look at the statistics and their games. They have a lot of quality in transition, have a clear shape and are just as organised offensively as they are when defending. We’re aiming for the three points, but we shouldn’t forget that they play very good football.

"I have two goalkeepers who both play at a great level. "

... who will play between the sticks: I haven’t come to a final decision yet, and I’ll be speaking to the boys about it before anyone else. I have two goalkeepers who both play at a great level. There was a long period of time where one of them stood out as the clear first choice, but the situation is different now. The lads are giving their all to earn the number 1 shirt, and I’ll be having an extensive conversation with them both surrounding how I envisage the goalkeeper position to look over the coming weeks. I am, of course, keeping in touch with Sven Höh regarding all of this.

... the planned DFL investor deal: The majority of football fans have a strong opinion on the potential deal. Our top priority will be to listen to what the supporters are saying, as the fan culture we have in German football is like nowhere else in the world. It defines the game in Germany. It would obviously be great if we could also get our hands on an international title, but we're already in a pretty good position and are listening to the majority of fans. We shouldn’t be forgetting those who have supported us along the way.