The dismissal from second division club VfL Bochum in September greatly angered coach Dieter Hecking. “I assumed that I would still get the next game so that I could steer everything in the right direction. Finally, I found out on the phone that it was over – but not from the person directly responsible for it. He only called three quarters of an hour later,” the 61-year-old told the editorial network Germany. “That was disrespectful. The manner in which I was particularly annoyed – in addition to the dismissal as such,” complained Hecking.
He thought that Bochum would focus more on continuity. “I felt the dismissal was more than unnecessary,” said the former Bundesliga professional. It left him “brutally disappointed because you don’t want what happened, even if you may have already felt that it could happen,” said Hecking.
VfL Bochum at the start of the second half of the season against Darmstadt 98
However, under Hecking’s successor Uwe Rösler, the team stabilized after a botched start to the season and moved away from the relegation zone. Bochum is currently in tenth place. The team has a solid offense. The team scored 23 goals – the average is 24 goals.
But only two teams have a worse hit rate than Bochum, on average only one in eleven shots on goal ended up in the goal. And aluminum was often the savior in times of need. Against no other team did the opponent fail as often against the crossbar or post as against Bochum (9 times). The next opponent is third-place Darmstadt 98 on January 18th (1:30 p.m., in the WELT sports ticker).
Meanwhile, Hecking could certainly imagine continuing to work as a coach. It’s like an addiction for him. Maybe even as a national coach. “I would rule out engagements in Saudi Arabia or Dubai or similar countries for political reasons. Other European countries would be an option because German or English would have to be spoken,” said Hecking.
