The Bundesliga is within reach for Holstein Kiel. The “Storks” party could take place on Sunday in Wiesbaden – but the new managing director Carsten Wehlmann doesn’t want to know anything about it yet. The promotion has already been lost once.
The goal is so close – but at Holstein Kiel everyone is still trying to keep the ball flat. The “Storks” could write a chapter in the sports history books with a victory in Wiesbaden on Sunday (1:30 p.m., in the NDR Livecenter) as the first Bundesliga soccer team from Schleswig-Holstein. If, yes, if Fortuna Düsseldorf prepares the ground in the home game on Friday against 1. FC Nürnberg and doesn’t win.
Everything is fine so far. Or is the big wobble starting again, like three years ago, when the promotion was lost in the last few meters of the relegation?
“Don’t put anything in your mouth that isn’t already there.”
“We’re not thinking about any celebrations yet and don’t need to say anything that hasn’t happened yet,” says the new sports director, Carsten Wehlmann, in the NDR sports club and, like the players and coach Marcel Rapp, says with a smile : “We will discuss everything else when the time comes.”
One can forgive them after their modest performance on Saturday against 1. FC Kaiserslautern. Critics will say: Anyone who suffers a 3-1 defeat in their own stadium against a relegation candidate – cup finalist or not – should actually be better off baking small rolls.
Game in Wiesbaden – Wehlmann has no worries
With currently five points ahead of the relegation place and only three match days left, Holstein’s nervousness or even doubts are limited. Despite the setback, which ended a run of six wins without conceding a goal. “There’s no reason for that,” said Wehlmann. “We know what mistakes we have made.” The performance in the second half also boosts confidence in a successful performance at Wehen Wiesbaden, who have just fired coach Markus Kauczinski in the relegation battle.
“That doesn’t make the preparation any easier,” says Wehlmann, a trained shipping clerk, but he is stubbornly staying the course: “If we bring 100 percent of our performance to the pitch, I have no worries at all.”
Wehlmann was already promoted with Darmstadt
The fact that he can celebrate the greatest triumph in the club’s history just a few weeks after taking office seems to leave him cold. “We don’t worry about what if, we just think about the next game.” The former goalkeeper has long since proven that he can get promoted – even to the Bundesliga. Together with former Braunschweig coach Torsten Lieberknecht, he led Darmstadt 98 back to the first division. The immediate relegation of the “Lilien” followed on Sunday, after the 0-1 defeat against Heidenheim it was confirmed three rounds before the end of the season.
Back to the north with a bang
Without the sporting director Wehlmann, who was released last December after a good five years in Darmstadt after terminating his contract. A bang, as the local newspapers wrote. The Hamburg native, who played as a keeper for St. Pauli, HSV and Hannover 96, among others, will now most likely be able to put together a squad suitable for the Bundesliga in Kiel. He worked there as chief scout and goalkeeping coach from 2010 to 2018, first making the jump from the Regionalliga Nord to the third league with the German champions from 1912 and then to the 2nd Bundesliga in 2017.
Smooth change from Stöver to Wehlmann
“For me it feels like coming home,” he enthused at his introduction in March, but immediately made it clear that neither feelings of home nor nostalgic thoughts were decisive for his move to the fjord. “Holstein is a serious and down-to-earth club,” says Wehlmann, who replaces his former neighbor Uwe Stöver, who left voluntarily, as managing director and vice president. Supervisory board boss Stefan Tholund calls it a smooth change: “There are certainly not many clubs where it works like that.”
Potential in a quiet environment
Good prerequisites for not getting into financial or sporting difficulties during an adventure in the Bundesliga. Every precaution would be taken to ensure that, if the worst came to the worst, the “Storks” would be able to compete in the elite league. “Of course it’s always about optimizing the squad. But the team did an excellent job. We trust in the boys,” says Wehlmann. The club has shown that it wants to develop little by little. “There is potential in this serious and calm environment.”
License despite many construction sites
Holstein invested the sponsors’ money not only in players, but also in the future in the infrastructure and the youth performance center. The German Football League (DFL) probably also recognizes this; the license for the first league has been granted. However, with conditions, as has been the case regularly in League Two since 2017, because the requirements set were not met. A renovation of the stadium valued at 75 million euros is planned, but so far only on paper.
There is a lack of seats: 8,000 are required in the Bundesliga; According to the KSV there are currently only 5,239. The floodlights also do not meet the DFL’s requirements. As does the media infrastructure. Clear rules apply in the Bundesliga, for example for the parking spaces near the stadium and the room for the press conference. The capacity of both would have to be doubled.
Holstein wants to develop players
Problems and construction sites everywhere. But Wehlmann is determined to continue on the Kiel path undeterred and to develop players with potential. Like 19-year-old Tom Rothe, who still has a contract in Dortmund and is only on loan. “That doesn’t rule out the possibility of an experienced type of player coming along in the Bundesliga,” says Wehlmann, like the veterans Lewis Holtby and goalscorer Steven Skrzybski. But also that top performers are looking for new challenges, such as Fabian Reese (Hertha BSC) and Hauke Wahl (FC St. Pauli).
Wehlmann will make and moderate upcoming decisions correctly, the Kiel supervisory board Tholund is sure of that: “He fits Holstein’s DNA perfectly in terms of humanity, professionally and his basic attitude.”
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sports club | 28.04.2024 | 10:50 p.m
