SSV Ulm is sinking into chaos after being relegated from the 2nd league. In terms of sport, the third division team is in deep crisis. At the weekend there was a heavy 0-5 defeat against Hansa Rostock, it was the fifth defeat in a row. And now an unusual letter from team circles is causing a stir. It’s a cry for help from the two captains.
Johannes Reichert and Christian Ortag addressed their letter, which was published by the “Südwest Presse”, to the supervisory board and supporters of the association. “The relationship between the team, coach and especially the sports director is completely broken,” it says. Even within the team, “the situation has now become unbearable”. And further: “The atmosphere is poisoned, trust is destroyed.”
Reichert and Ortag complain about a lack of support for the players. They would be left “completely defenseless”. “She (the players, editor) are made scapegoats internally and publicly. Many of us are at the end of our strength – mentally, emotionally and humanly. The situation is also almost unbearable for us personally,” the letter continues.
Captains demand “complete new beginning”
No names are mentioned in the letter. The two captains called for a “complete new beginning in order to maintain the small chance of staying in the league.” The club is currently in 18th place in the relegation zone. “We are begging you: intervene, stand with us and help us pull the cart out of the mud again before it’s all too late.”
The club reacted on Monday and parted ways with sports director Markus Thiele and coach Moritz Glasbrenner, whose roles had been explicitly addressed in the captains’ fire letter. After numerous discussions over the past few days and weeks, those responsible at the club have come to the decision to end the collaboration, the club said.
Thiele, who had been in office since summer 2021, and Ulm had agreed on an “amicable and fair separation,” according to a club statement published late on Monday evening. Coach Glasbrenner only took office in mid-September. He was the successor to Robert Lechleiter, who was fired after a mixed start to the season.
There was a separate statement about the fire letter. “Yesterday, Sunday, we received a letter from parts of the team. Numerous discussions on this and other topics are currently being held with the team, the responsible committees and the people involved in order to objectively process the situation and develop viable solutions,” it says.
Board member Thomas Oelmayer and the supervisory board chairmen Dominik Schwärzel (eV) and Uli Eitle (GmbH & CO. KGaA) are listed as sender. “At the same time, it is our understanding that issues internal to the club must also be dealt with within the club. This is the only way a club can remain able to act and act in the interests of its members, fans and partners,” this statement continued.
Ulm managed to move from the regional league to the 2nd Bundesliga in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons. Last season, a 5-1 defeat at Hamburger SV on the penultimate matchday sealed direct relegation, and HSV was promoted to the Bundesliga at the same time. Now Ulm is in danger of being passed on.
