SC Paderborn has lost its coach shortly before the start of training for its Regionalliga team. A successor has been found. The goal for the new season has also been clearly formulated.

After Mitch Kniat, SC Paderborn II has also lost Thomas Bertels. Two coaches who worked extremely successfully with the U21 team of the second division club are now in charge of Arminia Bielefeld (Kniat) and FC Schalke 04 U17 (Bertels).

Ayhan Tumani, sports director of the Paderborn junior training centre, had to pull the next talented coach out of the hat. And he did. Dennis Schmitt, until then the SCP’s U19 coach, took over from Bertels. Schmitt had only signed Tumani in the summer of 2022 from Belgian first division club St. Truiden, where Schmitt was Bernd Hollerbach’s co-coach.

Tumani explains: “We have to accept Thomas Bertels’ decision. He was in Paderborn for twelve years and now wanted to take up the Schalke offer. That is legitimate. That’s how business works. For us, the departure came suddenly. But you always have to be prepared for such things. We had several talks with external candidates, but then decided on Dennis Schmitt. He knows the processes, he knows our philosophy. We are also fully convinced of him, similar to Mitch Kniat and Thomas Bertels.”

Tumani, who is entering his seventh season at SC Paderborn, has a knack for player and coach talent. This is another reason why the 51-year-old former professional is optimistic about the 2023/2024 Regionalliga West season.

“We will also try to continue our way in this demanding league with the many U-teams and traditional clubs. That means playing fresh, courageous, attacking football. We always want to be active, we already demand that from our players. The new league will be an important step towards professional football for the boys. Here they can also compete in front of bigger crowds. That is very important from a psychological point of view,” says Tumani in an interview with Forecasting.

The goal is also clearly formulated. “Of course, we want to keep the class and develop our boys step by step,” Tumani emphasises.

Tumani already worked as a scout at Arsenal and sports director in Graz

For the past six years, the Paderborn NLZ team around sporting director Tumani has been doing an excellent job. Tumani, once a professional in Germany, the Netherlands and Turkey, has already worked as an official at Arsenal FC, was sports director at Sturm Graz and held various co-coaching roles, including at Fenerbahce Istanbul under Christoph Daum. He still feels very much at home in Paderborn. The former Wuppertal man is not thinking of leaving. According to RS information, he has already received a number of enquiries in the recent past.

Tumani: “I’ve been doing the same job for almost six years, and at the same time I was also the coach of the U19 team. I am very grateful that I have been able to do this for so long. The good development of the club is the good fortune of all employees. We all benefit from it. I try to shape the next development steps of the club together with all the staff. “