The sporting crisis at MSV Duisburg continues. Sports director Ralf Heskamp has also had to endure a lot of criticism recently. Soon his days could be numbered.

After the goalless draw against SC Preußen Münster and the ninth winless game in the current third division season, Ingo Wald, president of MSV Duisburg, appeared before the press inside the Schauinsland-Reisen Arena. There was less talk about the game and the false start.

Much more interesting these days are two personalities. That of the coach Engin Vural (in addition later more) and above all that of the sport managing director Ralf Heskamp. The 58-year-old, who succeeded Ivica Grlic in April 2022, made many bad decisions during his one-and-a-half-year tenure. They could now cost him his job.

Asked whether Heskamp was up for discussion, Wald initially responded with a sentence he already uttered after the defeat at Viktoria Köln. “We have all made mistakes. Otherwise, we wouldn’t be where we are.” Many things had gone unhappily, he said. The late-assembled squad, the mixed preparation and the injury misfortune are just three of the factors Wald provided to explain the precarious sporting situation.

“You can’t influence that in part. There also the coach and perhaps Ralf Heskamp could not help it. Nevertheless, that must not be the excuse for the situation in which we find ourselves,” said Wald. The 65-year-old made it clear that they were thinking about how they would align themselves in the long term in sporting terms.

Img – MSV Duisburg – Preußen Münster September 30, 2023

Heskamp’s contract runs until June 2024.The battle plan: A decision on the manager’s future should be made by the winter break at the latest. “That was our intention. How the next few days will develop, I can not predict. I don’t like to talk about people now. If there is something to announce, we will do so.”

It is more important to wait for the sporting consolidation and to create stability for the future, Wald said. His statement, however, should have been clear enough.