There’s always someone at Hannover 96, now goalkeeper Martin Hansen. The Dane, who has been with the club since early 2020, is said to be training with the U23s because he slipped to fourth place in the internal goalkeeper ranking. “They are trying to push me out,” Hansen complained to the Danish newspaper Tipsbladet, and he is in the process of investigating “whether that’s legal”. Incidentally, with the help of a lawyer who also represented ex-coach Jan Zimmermann in the contract dispute at 96.
Two and a half years at the club were enough for Hansen to form an opinion. There is, he says, in Hanover “the trend that many former employees are being sued” – a small allusion to the legal disputes with Zimmermann or ex-sports director Gerhard Zuber. Hansen believes: “I’m certainly not the last.”
In some other club, such a protest note would lead to moderate resentment, but at Hannover 96 it’s only good as a side note. The history of the traditional club has been rich in disputes in recent years. Unforgotten is the bickering between the then President and current Managing Director Martin Kind and the Ultras, this caustic “Kid-must-go” debate, which first killed the atmosphere in the arena and then contributed to the relegation to the second division.
Or the thing with Zuber, who was first fired unlawfully, then entrusted with the post of sports director again before the final separation took place. What’s a goalkeeper who thinks he’s better than the coach thinks he is?
Hannover has its best hopes in the new coach: Stefan Leitl came from Fürth
Hansen is not the only one who is no longer needed at 96. Since the Bundesliga relegation in 2019, the club has been trying to make a huge change every summer – so far with moderate success. Eleven place last season only led to the result that the existing staff was not enough: So coach Christoph Dabrowski had to go (contract expired) – and with him eleven players. Such a throughput of personnel leads to curious constellations. Striker Hendrik Weydandt is currently the player with the longest 96 history; he was only committed in 2018.
So far this summer, 13 new colleagues have come, including well-known names such as Cologne-based Louis Schaub or Bielefeld-based Fabian Kunze. The most prominent addition, however, is the coach: Stefan Leitl, 44, who was also on the list of other clubs after being relegated to the Bundesliga with Greuther Fürth, has opted for 96. And he brought along a new centre-forward in Havard Nielsen, who, like Schaub and Kunze, has a lot of top-flight experience.
The hope is that Leitl will bring a certain continuity. The coach has proven that he can “develop teams and make them better,” said manager Marcus Mann. Leitl has earned a good reputation in this regard. In Fürth he was involved in the development of professionals such as David Raum (now 1899 Hoffenheim) and Anton Stach (Mainz 05), who have meanwhile been promoted to national team players.
Leitl drew a positive conclusion from his first weeks in Hanover. The test against Dutch club Groningen (3-0) looked promising, Leitl thinks many things would work. “It will still take some time before our game is fully implemented,” emphasizes the Upper Bavarian. Incidentally, he is coach number 13 in Hanover in the past ten years (with a similar number of sports directors). It has been a long time since a coach has been in office for more than two years.
But what if it really works this time? If Leitl is the right coach that the big boss kid has been looking for for so many years? If maybe even the start of the season is successful, on Friday evening in the duel of the traditional clubs at 1. FC Kaiserslautern? Child and man know that apart from Hamburger SV there is no natural candidate for promotion – and 96 could fill a gap here. He even experienced in bad sporting phases of the past season, “what euphoria can arise here and what force this environment can have,” said Mann about the perceived first division location Hanover, which is now stuck in the lower house for the fourth year.
Nonetheless, nobody really speaks openly about the rise. For a club like 96, it must “always be a goal to return to the Bundesliga,” said Mann. After all, it wasn’t long ago that Hannover played in the European Cup – ten years ago they only failed in the quarter-finals of the Europa League at Atlético Madrid. Leitl says he doesn’t want to belittle the ambitions of 96. But I still see other clubs a little ahead of us.” Mann also warns: “A new coach, a new idea and also many new players must first be found.”
Recently, at a test tournament in Osnabrück, the fans who had traveled with him chanted his name: “Marcus Mann, Marcus Mann.” If the supporters know who the sports director is, that’s always a good sign in Hanover.
