Season
26.02.20
Boldt: “We have to pool our strength after derby setback”
Whilst talking to journalists on Wednesday, HSV Head of Sport Jonas Boldt spoke about the difficult derby defeat, how the team have coped with the situation and pointing the way forward for the weeks ahead.
The derby defeat to St. Pauli on Saturday wasn’t something that could be quickly brushed over. Not just because of the three points dropped but also due to the special nature of the game, a message that HSV Head of Sport Jonas Boldt was keen to impress on the assembled journalists on Wednesday at the Volksparkstadion. Yet whilst the loss hurts, the next game is around the corner and the team can’t fall into a state of self-pity and try to bury its’ head in the sand. There are eleven games to go, with the target set at the beginning of the season still very much at the forefront of everybody’s minds. What now needs to happen and what is necessary for HSV to show its strength once again were topics of conversation for Boldt and the journalists.
The 38-year-old spoke in detail about…
… the derby loss: It really hurt. We can feel it and I certainly know how it hurt the fans as well, that was something that was clear for all of us to see. I’ve been here for a few months now and realise how deep this cuts for all HSV fans. Yet our reaction isn’t to mope and feel sorry for ourselves but continue to work hard and pool our strength after the setback, and carry on the path we’ve been on, which all in all has been working well so far. We’ll only be able to achieve that if everyone is pulling in the same direction. For me there isn’t an ‘us here’ and ‘them there’, but a feeling of us all together. That is something that we as HSV have to learn; when there’s a setback, not to look for someone to blame but to look to the future together and attack the next task as one.
… how the team dealt with the situation: After the game and also over the past few days I’ve been in the dressing room and you could see from every player that it wasn’t a normal loss, it hurt for them too. But when I see how self-critically all of the players have dealt with the situation, then I’m optimistic that they will show the right reaction. Because it all starts again on Saturday as the next three points are up for grabs. We’ve already had one or two setbacks this season and in these phases lots of people were waiting for us to fall apart. But that didn’t happen, we always showed a reaction. It will be the same this time, even though a derby loss hurts more than the other games we’ve lost so far. The fan’s display from Saturday has a good message in that respect: the love for the club is there, we’ve all suffered this week and now we need to get on with the task at hand. In life you have to look ahead.
… the appraisal of the team’s performances: I don’t think that the environment in Hamburg is difficult. A lot of people around here feel connected to the club, the fans travel in droves to away games, so it’s clear a lot of people will be disappointed when you don’t get the results. It’s important what you take from it, and listen to what the people have to say. Two weeks ago apparently we were already promoted and suddenly everything is terrible. I see it differently and more realistically: We have eleven games left, and we should worry about those and nothing else.