Mark Zimmermann, coach of the 1. Under-21 football team. FC Köln is full of energy: “The time without football was long enough, at least for the winter.” His team has been back on the training ground since last Thursday and is preparing the rest of the Regionalliga season.
Gabe Segal returns to the United States
The team gambled on a longer holiday just before Christmas due to the 1-0 home defeat against Kaan-Marienborn. If victorious, Zimmermann would not gather his players around him again until Monday. However, Cologne are approaching the rest of the season on the weight of ten games without a win in a row. The duel at Rot-Weiss Oberhausen continues on February 4th. The inhabitants of Cologne are clearly outsiders from the Lower Rhine. “But it’s not a bonus game,” emphasizes Zimmermann, “we missed this opportunity. All 14 outstanding games are elementary for us.
In the first training session of the new year, the coach immediately had to digest some bad news: Yusuf Örnek suffered a syndesmosis injury in the first session and risks being out for weeks.
Talk about Coach Zimmermann’s future
Gabe Segal, meanwhile, was no longer on the FC staff. The 21-year-old striker only moved to Geißbockheim from the United States in the summer. However, the jump was obviously too big for Segal. The striker then returned to MLS team New York FC.
In Beni Redzic, the U21s are currently testing a winger who played for FC Dallas until the end and has been out of contract since January 1st. The 1.78 tall winger has Bosnian citizenship as well as US citizenship and has already played for the national youth teams of both nations. Redzic made six brief appearances in MLS, the top league in the United States. Redzic is expected to play the first test match on 14 January at Oberliga side Sportfreunde Baumberg. After that, a decision on an obligation should be made.
Meanwhile, there have been no talks about Zimmermann’s future. The coach’s contract expires on June 30. However, both clubs are expected to have clarity beyond the summer from the start of the league to avoid turmoil in the relegation battle.
