Everything could be so beautiful at Hamburger SV. With the 2-0 (1-0) win at Arminia Bielefeld on Saturday, the Hanseatic League are on course in the 2nd Bundesliga, they have only conceded one goal in their four previous games. “Already successful” was the start of the season, said captain Sebastian Schonlau on NDR.
But the fuss surrounding the latest million-dollar offer from the powerful entrepreneur Klaus-Michael Kühne and the long-simmering quarrels in the boardroom overlay the sporting success of the promotion co-favorite.
In Bielefeld, the fans expressed their opinion of the Kühne offer with rough words. With banners (“Anchored in the statutes. 75 1 non-negotiable, Kühne piss you off”), the HSV appendix showed that they didn’t think much of the 85-year-old’s offer. The man from Hamburg, who lives in Switzerland, had offered the cash-strapped HSV Fußball AG 120 million euros – in return he demanded even more power and influence.
Kühne is already one of the most important donors, but his mostly grumbling statements always cause unrest. But that has been the case in the club for a long time anyway: Because the relationship between CFO Thomas Wüstefeld, who is involved in the AG, and sports director Jonas Boldt is tense.
After all, the supervisory board released money in its meeting with HSV President Marcell Jansen at the top on Friday evening so that Boldt and coach Tim Walter can strengthen the team. In Bielefeld, however, things went well with the current staff.
“We were very dominant and sovereign,” praised Walter. With nine points, HSV is jostling with several competitors at the top of the table. SC Paderborn achieved their third success on Friday with a 1-0 win in Kaiserslautern, as did 1. FC Heidenheim with a surprisingly clear 3-0 win in Nuremberg. Hamburg’s next opponents, Darmstadt 98, went on to beat Hansa Rostock 4-0 on Saturday evening – also thanks to a curious mistake by Hansa keeper Markus Kolke.
Had it not been for the unnecessary defeat in the first home game against Rostock (0:1), HSV could watch the competition from the top. At least the team is stable. The players quickly coped with the setback against Rostock.