Torsten Lieberknecht’s personality shows that Darmstadt still remains a special place in professional football. The coach who is responsible for a first division team that was supposed to be one, but never became one. Who leads a promoted team that has a pitiful 14 points after 29 match days, has conceded a whopping 72 goals and is looking at a winless streak of 22 games in a row (Bundesliga record).
Special status
But his suitability for this “lily” job is neither questioned by the club management nor the fans. Not even after Mainz’s oath of revelation (0:4) the previous week, which virtually sealed their early relegation. And it was part of the series that the “Lilies” always showed their worst performances of the season in the most important games. In the second half of the season against Augsburg (0:6) and in Mainz, for example, they conceded a disastrous ten goals.
When, eight days after the fiasco in Rheinhessen, the team line-up was read out at the Böllenfalltor and the coach was also welcomed, the three times shouted “Lie-ber-knecht” thundered through the arena again by far the loudest.
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As a person, type and promotion coach, Lieberknecht has a special status in Darmstadt. “I really appreciate it,” said Lieberknecht, “that the club expresses its trust in me personally and sees what we do.”
So far we have seen a season in which the coaching profession has not decided on the final result: direct relegation, which could be determined as early as next Saturday in Cologne. Lieberknecht did not have a team suitable for the first division because the trust that a surprisingly promoted second division team could also succeed in the Bundesliga was not justified.
“Huge difference to the second league”
And because this team, which was individually so much weaker than all other competitors, was also regularly deprived of its best players due to injuries. “The quality in the Bundesliga is enormous, a huge difference to the second division,” confirmed SVD veteran Tobias Kempe.
Of course, Lieberknecht also made misjudgments. For example, sticking to the offensive game that was dominated in the second division for too long. Or the constant, never-ending personnel castling in the defense chain, which was never able to act as steadily and in a coordinated manner as would have been existentially important for a newcomer of the Darmstadt collar size.
For President Rüdiger Fritsch, the contract, which was extended until mid-2027 shortly before the start of the season, means that Lieberknecht will also go (back) to the second division. Now a lot has gone wrong this season, disappointment followed disappointment culminating in the current “horror balance” (Lieberknecht). Whether the club management and the 50-year-old coach himself want to continue on the common path will be discussed.
In general, some of the course has already been set for the future: the contract with the jersey sponsor Haix has been extended until mid-2026 and the vacancy in the sports director position has been filled. Paul Fernie, who was poached by Wehen Wiesbaden, will be introduced this Tuesday.
During his Braunschweig era, Lieberknecht had already stayed after a first division relegation and then worked there for a few more years. The Palatinate native received support in the form of balm for the troubled “Lilien” series from his Freiburg colleague Christian Streich, whose era was also not affected by a temporary relegation. “Maintaining stability gives strength,” said Streich. “Then I am firmly convinced that things will continue well here because things are good.”
