“It’s a lot of fun”

Perfect start for Manfred Schmid!

The Viennese has been in office as head coach of TSV Hartberg for just six days. After the win against WSG Tirol, there was also a clear success in the home game against SCR Altach (match report >>>).

After the final whistle there was praise from the coach on the “Sky” microphone: “Our goal was to win these two games. The fact that we managed to do it so impressively and without conceding a goal is really good. I can only congratulate the team, it’s a lot of fun.

Schmid clearly has fun at work: “It makes work easier when everyone comes to training with a beaming face. The first week has been excellent, we all get along really well.”

Furkan Demir, who had once again provided a lot of momentum after his substitution, saw it similarly: “It’s always nice to get three points, the fact that we’ve done it twice at home is of course even nicer. We just want to keep going now.”

There was extra praise for the new trainer: “Awesome, really awesome. Great coach, he will help us.”

“Today’s win is absolutely deserved”

(Text continues below)

The first half was subdued by both teams, with many duels in midfield and few chances to score.

The decisive factor for the further course of the party was the expulsion of Vesel Demaku shortly after the restart. Hartberg then took advantage of the majority and defended Altach with goals from Donis Avdijaj (49th) and Patrik Mijic (68th).

Goalscorer Avdijaj summed up the party as follows: “It’s definitely great, we’ve won twice in the last few days. That’s good for the whole team and pushes us for the next games. The win today is absolutely deserved, we were the better team the whole game.

The offensive player was relieved that he finally got the first goal of the season: “It was definitely about time and I think it was good for our game.”

Altach with referee criticism

At SCR Altach, the mood is correspondingly sad after the second defeat in a row and the fifth game without a win. “Disappointment, difficult to say anything now,” said head coach Joachim Standfest shortly after the final whistle.

As in the last few games, Altach found it very difficult to create scoring opportunities. The defense was once again good, but there was hardly any relief going forward. Nevertheless, the main reason for the defeat against Hartberg was Demaku’s red card.

Both Standfest and captain Lukas Jäger were not sparing in criticizing referee Alain Sadikovski after the final whistle.

“I don’t see any hitting or an outstretched hand. The yellow-red card is absolutely incomprehensible. “The feeling for football is simply missing in all the scenes of the last few weeks,” said Standfest.

Jäger summarized as follows: “Our performance was difficult to improve today, but the referee also played a big part in it. In the first half, every action against us was punished with a yellow card and the exclusion was decided by the party.”

Talks announced

After the final whistle, sports director Roland Kirchler left it open whether there would be another coaching discussion due to the renewed downward spiral: “A coach is always questioned, that’s the case with every club. If you only get one point after three games, we will of course talk internally and analyze.”

“But maybe I need another incendiary speech, then maybe we’ll win two games in a row again,” said Kirchler.

In the next two games Altach has to play against Rapid and Salzburg.

The 15 most expensive Bundesliga additions of the 2024 transfer summer