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Hertha BSC: The Berliners keep racing towards a waterfall – sport

Shortly after the goal was scored on Monday evening, which meant the 2-0 and kept Hertha BSC in the first division at Hamburger SV, it became clear once again how naturally the club from Berlin’s Westend plays with fire. A flare flew out of the curve of the Hertha fans onto the field, and one can call it lucky that no one on the pitch was hit. That would have been the next punch line: Hertha keeps the class in sport because the team offers one of their rare first-class games of the season. And quitting the game ruins everything.

If one assumes against the background of empirical values ​​that the shooter more than one Flare rocket smuggled through the control: There were apparently enough forces in the corner of the Berlin fans who called him to reason. And prevent worse.

The fact that Hertha managed to save her in the face of HSV was symbolic. Just as Hamburg had been flirting with relegation for years until the time came in 2018, Hertha has been doing the same for years. Unfazed by the 374 million euros from the investor Lars Windhorst, who holds almost two-thirds of the shares in the professional department with this money – and actually had completely different goals than walking on the first division abyss. On Monday evening it was as if Hertha had discovered a reflection in the face of HSV that they did not want to match – and therefore freed themselves.

Only: The dangers are far from over. The next few days will show whether enough arguments will be found to speak of a new beginning. Or if the problems get worse. The Hertha, which owes its name to a Berlin pleasure boat, continues to race toward a waterfall.

Who should follow Gegenbauer was completely open on Tuesday

Even if the reports of President Werner Gegenbauer resigning were denied on Tuesday: As Hertha chairman, you can only talk about him in the past tense. The 14-year reign – in which Hertha was twice relegated and even in the better years only stood still – is considered over. Ostensibly, Gegenbauer’s departure would remove the basis for a massive conflict that has been going on for the past three years, that between Gegenbauer and Windhorst. The question of the largest single investor in the history of the Bundesliga, how his 374 million euros were actually burned, is still in the room; Hertha replies that Windhorst was always and in case of doubt informed in writing about the expenses. However, that does not change the completely messed-up transfer policy.

And beyond that: On Tuesday it was completely open who would follow Gegenbauer. And that’s not the only floating personality. Ingo Schiller, who has been CFO at Hertha for almost eleven years, confirmed that he is leaving the club. He is considered a representative of the old regime, which stands for the downward drift. According to his own statements, Schiller leaves an ordered field. Debts have been reduced, equity increased; Hertha was “well positioned to master the challenges of the future,” said Schiller at the beginning of the year. Indeed?

Hertha BSC: CFO Ingo Schiller (left), Managing Director Michael Preetz (middle) and President Werner Gegenbauer stood for the typical Hertha mediocrity for years.  Preetz has been gone for more than a year, the other two will now follow.

CFO Ingo Schiller (left), Managing Director Michael Preetz (middle) and President Werner Gegenbauer stood for the typical Hertha mediocrity for years. Preetz has been gone for more than a year, the other two will now follow.

(Photo: Michael Hundt / Matthias Koch / Imago)

These challenges could hardly be greater. The squad has steadily deteriorated over the past few years, and sporting director Fredi Bobic, who has been in office for a year, also missed out on various commitments. The next squad change is imminent. For the coming season, Bobic needs a coach who will bring Hertha into a stable side position. And who – like the neighbor Union Berlin, which has been successful for years – develops a viable game idea and then implements it with hungry staff.

This will probably only succeed if the club interprets this relegation as a relegation – and really repositions itself, as Schalke 04 and Werder Bremen did last second division season. Otherwise Hertha will sooner rather than later have to resort to a savior like Felix Magath.

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