Criticism of the coach
14 points ahead is not enough for some GAK fans
GAK (Friday at Liefering) have a 14-point lead in the second division. With eight rounds to go, the leaders are well on their way back to the Bundesliga. Nevertheless, coach Gernot Messner is being criticized by numerous fans and his dismissal is being demanded. A column by Michael Gratzer.
You could be forgiven for thinking that GAK are playing against relegation in the second division. Calls for the coach's head are made with alarming regularity on social media. Gernot Messner's system is criticized at regulars' tables. People question whether he is the right man. Exciting. And completely incomprehensible! It even went so far that I was asked by an arch-Black how it can be that there is such a bad mood among the fans. Even long-time GAK supporters can't understand what they've been saying in phone calls and messages.
Because the reality at GAK is a championship fight! Although with a 14 (!) point lead and only eight rounds left to play, there can no longer be any talk of a fight. "Of course you realize it and get a bit annoyed about it. But the hardcore fans who are there every week are behind us. They celebrate the team," says Messner himself.
"The goal is promotion!"
Of course, it has to be said that sometimes, as in the 1-0 win in Ried, the team didn't get the three points as the better team. Ultimately, that doesn't matter. Nobody will ask about that at the end of the season. Because it's precisely games like this that you have to win if you want to get promoted. "That's our goal! And you can only achieve that with few goals conceded, stability and organization," explains Messner. Not to forget: Eleven years ago, GAK started from scratch in the 1st division Mitte A. Back then, nobody dared to even dream of what will probably become reality in just a few weeks!
Back to Messner: The Carinthian has been on the touchline in 72 games so far, with a points average of 2.03. This season it is even 2.36! For comparison: champions Salzburg have 2.35 this and last season, Sturm 2.07. Of course, they have achieved a higher average. But one must not forget that the GAK is in some cases well behind St. Pölten or Ried in terms of budget in its league.
In the end, only one statistic counts
In the only statistic that counts in the end, however, the "Red Jackets" are miles ahead. In the table! "In winter, we were eight points ahead and everyone hoped we could hold on to that. Now it's 14 points - so it can't be that bad."
Kommentare
Willkommen in unserer Community! Eingehende Beiträge werden geprüft und anschließend veröffentlicht. Bitte achten Sie auf Einhaltung unserer Netiquette und AGB. Für ausführliche Diskussionen steht Ihnen ebenso das krone.at-Forum zur Verfügung. Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.
User-Beiträge geben nicht notwendigerweise die Meinung des Betreibers/der Redaktion bzw. von Krone Multimedia (KMM) wieder. In diesem Sinne distanziert sich die Redaktion/der Betreiber von den Inhalten in diesem Diskussionsforum. KMM behält sich insbesondere vor, gegen geltendes Recht verstoßende, den guten Sitten oder der Netiquette widersprechende bzw. dem Ansehen von KMM zuwiderlaufende Beiträge zu löschen, diesbezüglichen Schadenersatz gegenüber dem betreffenden User geltend zu machen, die Nutzer-Daten zu Zwecken der Rechtsverfolgung zu verwenden und strafrechtlich relevante Beiträge zur Anzeige zu bringen (siehe auch AGB). Hier können Sie das Community-Team via unserer Melde- und Abhilfestelle kontaktieren.