Fortuna Cologne coach Alexander Ende sees his team in the Regionalliga West at a crucial point and criticizes the behavior of some fans.
After losing to the Bonner SC Coach Alexander Ende spoke of “a crucial moment in this season”. Next said the coach of Fortune Cologne: “We have had a great season so far and have shown unbelievable morale. We always banged everything out. We got 39 of the last 45 possible points. That’s not a board, that’s just crazy for Fortuna Cologne. But this very moment, where the first defeat comes after 20 games, is crucial. Either we lower our heads now or we bang everything out again in the upcoming game against VfB Homberg to turn the thing around. Then come the highlight games.”
Highlight games and hope in the fight for promotion
Ende spoke of the highlight games, after the upcoming game against VfB Homberg (Saturday, March 5th, 2 p.m.) there is first the away trip to Münster (Friday, March 11th, 7 p.m.) and then probably the game in which It could be about the last chance in the fight for promotion against Rot-Weiss Essen (Wednesday, March 16, 7:30 p.m.).
All information about the Regionalliga West can be found here
Ende still hasn’t given up hope, but he also appealed to his team: “Anything is still possible. The team showed what an incredible heart they have. I assume that we can handle the current situation well. I know the dressing room, no one will point to the other and assign blame. Now it will show what kind of squad we are. I am convinced that we will come out of this together.”
Personnel problems and fan criticism
Before the strenuous coming weeks, however, the people of Cologne are currently plagued by serious personnel problems. Maik Kegel, Pascal Itter and Ismail Harnafi are still a long way from 100 percent, and that’s where Ende hopes to take the next step. Captain Jannik Löhden and defender Jan-Luca Rumpf are not really able to play after a long injury. André Dej and Francis Ubabuike are waiting for the end of the corona quarantine. Dan-Patrick Poggenberg and Sören Dieckmann are out for an indefinite period.
A condition that the Fortuna coach complains about: “All in all, it’s just a bit too much at the moment. It’s not an excuse, but we just didn’t have the freshness in the last few games.”
Finally, Ende addressed his words to the Fortuna fans, with whom the 42-year-old was not satisfied against Bonn: “In good times and bad, I once promised my wife that. I hope that all fans will appreciate what we do here. When I see that there aren’t as many people in the stands after the final whistle as there were wins, I have an emotional problem with that. It only works in togetherness. I wish the fans would give up energy against Homberg when they feel that not everything is working out.”
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