For one and a half weeks Fabian Hürzeler has been interim coach at FC St. Pauli. It would no longer be a surprise if the “interim” was soon dropped.

Fabian Hürzeler’s biggest Christmas wish is clear: the 29-year-old would like to move up from interim to head coach at second-division football club FC St. Pauli. “The desire is huge,” he said on Tuesday after the training session with the team. How far he has already brought the players in their preparation for the second half of the season will be shown on Wednesday (1 p.m.) in the test match at Bundesliga club 1. FC Union in Berlin. “This is not a friendly match, this is an endurance test,” said Hürzeler.

He has been in charge of Hamburg’s professional team for a week and a half. Shortly before, the club had announced the separation from St. Pauli favourite Timo Schultz after an overall disappointing year. Before the start of the second half of the season at the end of January, FC St. Pauli are 15th in the table and in danger of relegation.

Hürzeler was Schultz’s co-trainer. He also held this position at the DFB with the U18 and U20 teams before moving to FC St. Pauli in 2020. He is currently taking his football coaching licence and is expected to finish in March.

Sporting director Andreas Bornemann has not yet presented Schultz’s successor. However, time is pressing: a decision is expected to be made over the Christmas holidays. Candidates outside of the club include Michael Wimmer, who most recently managed Bundesliga side VfB Stuttgart on an interim basis, and former Bremen and Wolfsburg coach Florian Kohfeldt.

Meanwhile, Hürzeler fancies his best chances, even if he doesn’t admit it. “I am in open exchange with Bornemann. We are very transparent about it. Everything else will be seen,” said the interim boss.

After a short Christmas break, the team will continue its preparations on 27 December. On 2 January, they will travel to Spain for a training camp. At the end of January, the project to stay in the league will begin with the first second-round match at 1 FC Nuremberg.

In training, Hürzeler makes it loudly clear who is in charge. He shows presence, gives loud instructions. And he also has a “transparent relationship” with Bornemann. The exchange is good, the communication open. “He wants to be picked up in the same way. That is also my job, to let him participate in the processes, in the dynamics. He is not present in every meeting,” the young coach explained.

The change from Schultz to him in his new role has been well received by the team. “I’ve said before that I’m not going to change much. I will continue to be the Fabian,” he said. “The Fabian before was also very communicative with the players, was very direct. The players know immediately where they stand with me. I will keep it that way.”

Hürzeler was doing a good job as coach, defensive man Eric Smith had said. “We can see his focus. I don’t see why he shouldn’t be given the chance,” said the Swede. “Everyone knows Fabian, who has a lot of footballing ability. We should trust him one hundred per cent in what he does and what he plans to do.”

Houston-born Hürzeler is spending the holidays with his family in Bavaria. But he could get the biggest present from Hamburg: promotion to head coach.