Berlin (AP) – The Hertha BSC bosses rely on a lot of passion and the experience of record player Pal Dardai for the rescue mission.
Only 19 months after his end as coach of the Berlin Bundesliga club and four mostly miserably failed successors, the Hungarian returns. One day after separating from Bruno Labbadia, Hertha promoted Dardai from youth coach to head coach. “It was definitely not my plan to switch from the U16s to the professional coach position,” said Dardai.
But he doesn’t need to explain to anyone what Hertha BSC means to him. “So there was no question that I would help out in this situation,” said Dardai. But it won’t be a pure non-relegation mission for a few months: Less than two years after the then manager Michael Preetz had seen no future with and in Dardai, he got a contract until the end of June 2022. Apparently, the current bosses trust the 44- Yearlings now, in contrast to those in 2019, the development of the team towards the European Cup.
First of all, it’s all about relegation battle. “Pal lives Hertha BSC and we are absolutely convinced that he will give the team the necessary new impetus with his clear style,” said Hertha boss Carsten Schmidt in the statement on Monday. He described Dardai as a “die-hard Herthaner” who doesn’t need to get used to.
The Hungarian worked from February 2015 to the end of June 2019 as the main coach at Hertha, after playing a total of 373 games for Blau-Weiß, 286 of them in the Bundesliga alone. Nobody played for Hertha more often. About six years ago he had replaced Jos Luhukay as coach, the Berliners had slipped to 17th place in the table.
Dardai saved the club from relegation in that season with 15th place. After finishing seventh and sixth, the development not only stagnated, it got worse – tenth and eleventh. Preetz decided against a continuation with Dardai. It didn’t get any better, on the contrary.
While the demands increased through the entry and the tens of millions of investor Lars Windhorst and Hertha was labeled as a Big City Club, a coach balance of horror and failure followed: Ante Covic, Jürgen Klinsmann, Alexander Nouri and Labbadia in a good year and a half.
The team, which had lost important players in the summer, should now be helped by the concentrated Hertha factor. Dardai, Neuendorf (45) and Arne Friedrich (41), who has been strengthened in his position after the dismissal of sports director Preetz, at least for the time being, come together to over 850 games for the club from Charlottenburg. In contrast to Dardai, Friedrich is only allowed to continue the Preetz tasks until this summer.
This Tuesday, for the first time after the Hertha quake as a result of the 1: 4 home defeat against SV Werder Bremen, the new constellation will be on the training ground. It should be someone “who welds us together and puts us in a position to get something from Eintracht Frankfurt on the weekend,” Hertha boss Schmidt emphasized on Sunday with a view to the coach who was not yet known. Dardai, who, like Neuendorf, should enjoy a high reputation not only with the fans but also with players, should be exactly this club and driver.
Hertha cannot afford any further defeats and setbacks. The team has only won one victory – and that against FC Schalke 04 – in the past eight games. 14th place in the table, only two points above the relegation place. The international ranks that they dreamed of at Hertha are far away.
And the rest of the program in February has it all: After the game with the Frankfurt team, who are currently in good shape, the front-runner and record champions FC Bayern Munich (February 5) will come to Berlin, followed by the strong return VfB Stuttgart (February 13), before RB Leipzig will make a guest appearance at the Olympic Stadium (February 21) and Hertha will then have to play against the current fourth-placed VfL Wolfsburg (February 27).
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210124-99-154293 / 11
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