FLorian Kehrmann laughs: “Whoever wins the first semi-final, Flensburg or the Löwen, will keep their fingers crossed for us in the second because we are supposedly the easier opponent in the final.” The TBV Lemgo coach feels comfortable in the role of the outsider . In the group of heavyweights Magdeburg, Flensburg and Rhein-Neckar Löwen, this is also the traditional club from the Lippe district – Kehrmann and managing director Jörg Zereike have to make do with a budget half as big as the other participants in the DHB Cup finals this weekend in Cologne .
But in the discipline “small money, big effect” the people from Lemgo have held a top position for years. With Coach Kehrmann you have earned the reputation of a first-class training club. This became particularly visible in June 2021, when Lemgo first beat Kiel, then Melsungen and won the cup for the fourth time in the club’s history – at that time still in Hamburg.
“Top address for training”
Now the “Final Four” has moved to Cologne, where not 12,000 fans as in the north, but 20,000 spectators are expected when Flensburg plays against the Löwen on Saturday (4:10 p.m. on Sky), then Magdeburg against Lemgo (7 p.m. on Sky ). The move is associated with melancholy – and more prize money: the winner gets 200,000 euros.
Lemgo is there for the third time in a row, and as you might have guessed after two strong seasons with more wins than losses, the trip to the Rhine is a surprise this time – the TBV gave up four regular players last summer. The fact that Jonathan Carlsbogård went to Barcelona and Bjarki Már Elísson to Veszprém shows which clubs are now using Lemgo.
It was then: Kehrmann became world champion with Germany in 2007.
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Image: picture-alliance / press photo ULMER
It will continue like this: In the summer, right winger Lukas Zerbe will move to THW Kiel, defense chief Gereon Guardiola to Erlangen. “We’re used to giving away influential people,” says Kehrmann. The TBV would even have accepted the fight to stay in the class this season – but is definitely in the lower midfield.
In close consultation with Zereike, Kehrmann accepted the downsizing without complaint and brought in young people like the Dane Emil Lærke, a huge talent that many wanted. Kehrmann says: “It is a nice appreciation that we are regarded as the top address when it comes to training.”
“I am very happy”
He himself knows other times. For 15 years he played as a right winger for the blue and whites, won the championship and cup, experienced the near bankruptcy at the beginning of his coaching period in 2014 and tirelessly worked on the reconstruction. In his ninth year as head coach, Kehrmann has long been an established figure in his guild, one who opens his mouth:
So he dislikes the fact that handball so often talks about the strain and the tight schedule: “It should be a pleasure when you play in Europe.” TBV “lived” its campaign in the European League 2021/22, which only started in Round of 16 against Wisla Plock ended. Kehrmann says: “It was a huge thing for us to be back in the European Cup after so many years.”
Kehrmann does not hide the fact that there are still unacceptable concentrations for top clubs like SG Flensburg: Five games in 13 days seem crazy to him too – Flensburg plays its European League quarter-finals against Granollers before and after Cologne, on Sunday in keel. Complaints are appropriate. In other cases not – if, for example, professionals in January give up the national team.
A handball life in Lemgo? As captain of the 2007 world champions, Florian Kehrmann can imagine something different. He says: “I am very happy with my job here and I get a lot of encouragement. But someone who has played so many international matches (223) will be able to think that there is still more to come.” The position of national coach would not only be a “dream” for him. He’s very open about it, has said that before elsewhere. Kehrmann doesn’t want to pretend that the highest coaching position in this country doesn’t appeal to him – at some point.
