SV Waldhof Mannheim is an ambitious club and wants to knock on the door of the 2nd Bundesliga. But even in the 2023/2024 season, things are not yet going according to plan.
Actually, SV Waldhof Mannheim already wanted to attack towards the 2nd Bundesliga last season. In the end, the team finished seventh, ten points behind third place in the relegation play-offs. Coach Christian Neidhart, currently under contract with Kickers Offenbach, was relieved of his duties.
Rüdiger Rehm came in as Neidhart’s successor. With the coach came 13 new players, 16 players left SV Waldhof. And yet the former Ingolstadt and Wiesbaden player Rehm was supposed to attack with Mannheim. But things are not yet going according to plan. The result after seven games: Eight points, making 14th place. Six points behind the promotion places.
Manfred Beetz, Mannheim’s boss, remains (still) calm. The businessman told the Rhein-Neckar-Zeitung: “I am basically satisfied with the way our team is playing and its sporting development. The morale is right and we have already seen some positive signs that make me optimistic for the rest of the season.”
Coach Rehm is firmly in the saddle, according to the 73-year-old businessman. Beetz: “We are very impressed with his meticulous, motivated and goal-oriented approach and work with the team so far. You can tell that something good can develop here. He also has the Waldhof gene in him. That’s always good and connects us.”
Beetz knows that the season has only just begun and the field is close together. But he also knows that the yield so far is somewhat meagre.
Beetz: “Just over one point per game is of course not what we are looking for in terms of results. With the overall effort we are putting in here, we should still improve in terms of results and points. The league is still very close at this point, so the current table position is not really meaningful. However, we need to reward ourselves more for our performance.”
On matchday 8, Saturday (30 September, 2pm), SV Waldhof Mannheim will host SC Freiburg at home in the Carl-Benz Stadium. A win should be a must for the Waldhof side against the 3rd division’s current second-bottom team.
