Es was a flying head coach change at the Böllenfall gate. The old one, Dimitrios Grammozis, vacated his office on Monday, the new one, Markus Beginning, moved in on Wednesday. And was officially presented on Thursday, the second working day after the start of the contract. Of course, the beginning also spoke of “a lot of potential” and the “appealing task” as you would do as a good employee. But the more the 46-year-old went into detail, the clearer it became that the second division club SV Darmstadt 98 had committed an eloquent, clear and confident sporty helmsman.
Who already announced at the first opportunity that the pure results, i.e. the success, were not the only criteria in his eyes. In the beginning, his work focused on “three pillars”, as he said. “The result is just one of them. The others are that we play good football and develop players. If the fans have had a great game and seen that the players are passionate and brave, then it is not just the results that are decisive. But then you will inevitably be rewarded. I can’t do magic – but I can work well on the basis of the three pillars. ”
At the end of his Cologne months, the football teacher had the experience that superficial sporting success and sometimes spectacular offensive football do not protect against dismissal. As the second division table leader, he was relieved of his duties at the beginning of May 2019 shortly before the crowning of the season – by the way after a home defeat against the “Lilies”, who at the time celebrated the class achieved in the Cologne arena. At the time, he was accused of having conceded too many goals and defeats of the season with the Rhinelanders and did not trust him to lead the team promisingly in the Bundesliga.
Away from the big club “FC”, to the regional power Darmstadt 98. After a little more than a year away from the professional football scene, Beginning, who signed a contract until June 2022, continues his career a few numbers smaller. SVD sports director Carsten Wehlmann described the new man in his resume as “an absolute candidate of choice. It was an absolute stroke of luck that we were able to win him for Darmstadt 98. “The beginning comes to a club that is currently looking at the second best second half of all second division clubs and ended up exceeding expectations with fifth place.
The fact that the bar for him is now significantly higher than when his commitment was announced in March does not challenge him. “Coming to a club that has had positive experiences is good. It’s great to deal with, ”said Beginning. The native of Cologne could not yet know how to deal with the problems with a season that was generally difficult for the second division. Timely scheduling of the second division games while simultaneously reducing the squad and reducing the budget – the Darmstadt season preparations move between these three poles.
Club president Rüdiger Fritsch announced this week that lower TV revenues, lack of viewer revenues and falling sponsorship revenues will lead to a reduction of the budget by 2.5 to four million euros. The beginning was involved in the planning of the squad. From Grammozis, with whom he once played in Kaiserslautern, he had got the okay to get in touch with players whose contracts were to be extended. He got to know the Presidium during the lockdown by video conference. The formalities were also discussed with Wehlmann mostly without personal contact.
In the beginning he moved into an apartment in Darmstadt, he leaves his patchwork family with five children, mostly of school age, in Cologne. Especially since in Darmstadt the time of head coaches – Meier, Frings, Schuster, Grammozis – has always run out quickly. From the beginning, the “lilies” definitely put a line under the time when football at the Böllenfalltor was mainly understood as a maloche and fighting game small against large. The new head coach stands for technically demanding, offensive football. “I want us to always be active on the field, both in possession of the ball and in defense.”
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