There are still eight games until the Bundesliga season is over. An answer to the question of whether it will be the last one on the first floor for SV Darmstadt 98 could come much earlier. After the international break, the “Lilien” have several games coming up that have the character of a final.
The fact that the Darmstadt team still believe in their chance despite being six points behind the relegation place (Mainz) and twelve points in 15th place (Bochum) is also due to the opponents they face: Bochum, Mainz, Freiburg, Cologne, Heidenheim, Wolfsburg, Hoffenheim – there are many direct competitors. Everyone should be beatable if the team manages to use the potential it has and has already shown for the full 90 minutes.
Who will be the sports director?
The end of the season will be tough – especially if the “Lilien” in Bochum immediately manage to end what has now become a huge streak of 20 games without a win. But things also get interesting off the pitch. It has still not been announced who will succeed Carsten Wehlmann as sports director.
As long as this is not clarified, further personnel decisions will take some time to come. “The position is definitely important, but we won’t allow ourselves to be pushed into making quick decisions,” said President Rüdiger Fritsch recently in the club’s own interview. It is far from the case that the club is currently unable to act.
“The scouting department is still there, the “engine room” is functioning. “This was also shown by the past winter transfer period with three new additions,” says Fritsch: “We need a specialist who will use his expertise and good network to guide our squad composition and, as a result, raise the squad to an even better level.”
Skarke is hard to hold
In Darmstadt, Tom Eilers, responsible for the licensed player area, and team manager Michael Stegmayer are currently taking care of the transfer business. Fritsch announced that the club wanted to “report enforcement as soon as possible”. There is plenty of scope for creativity in summer. 17 contracts (including those on loan) are expiring. That’s more than half of the current squad.
These include the loan players Bartol Franjic, Gerrit Holtmann, Tim Skarke, Matej Maglica, Luca Pfeiffer, Julian Justvan and Sebastian Polter, who will return to their clubs in the summer. The most interesting of these personalities for the “Lilien” is Skarke, who has been the most convincing so far with seven goals and two assists.
The club should only have a real chance of staying if it stays first class. Who could stay beyond that also depends on whether players recommend themselves in the remaining games. This is especially true for Holtmann, Polter and Justvan, who came in winter.
The situation is clearer for the players whose contracts are expiring. They include Thomas Isherwood, Emir Karic, Fabian Schnellhardt, Aaron Seydel, Klaus Gjasula, Jannik Müller, Braydon Manu and Matthias Honsak. There are also the substitute goalkeepers.
Hardly any players from this group have been recommended for a contract extension. Karic made the most appearances, appearing 19 times for the “Lilien”. He could be a candidate. The rest will also depend on whether we manage to stay in the class or not.
It is far from certain that the players who still have a valid contract beyond this season but have aroused interest from other clubs will remain. Marvin Mehlem, who is currently missing for the second time due to a broken fibula, recently announced in an interview with the transfermarkt.de portal that he would like to stay in the Bundesliga. Mehlem still has a contract until the summer of 2025, but is said to have an exit clause.
The unresolved questions of the future should have no influence on the here and now. The “Lilien” are currently using the international break to meticulously prepare for the game on Easter Sunday in Bochum with the players remaining at the Böllenfalltor with up to three sessions a day.
Alex Westhoff, Darmstadt Published/Updated: Alex Westhoff, Darmstadt Published/Updated: Recommendations: 3 Alex Westhoff Published/Updated:
At the weekend the club arranged an internal team test match with an A and a B team. Team Orange prevailed, the “lilies” announced on X. The two goals were scored by Matthias Honsak and Aaron Seydel. Two players who are more likely to be candidates for a change – but like everyone else, they still have some time to recommend themselves. There are still eight games left.
