Rot-Weiß Oberhausen must be careful not to lose touch with the top of the Regionalliga. This is how President Hajo Sommers sees the start.

Things are not yet going well for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen this season. A good start was followed by a setback, which is due to the many goals conceded, but also to the numerous absences.

Nico Klaß missed the first games due to an ankle injury. Now he is back, other key players have to pass. Captain Jerome Propheter suffered a muscle injury in his hip during training and will be out for the time being. He will miss at least several weeks, maybe even a few months.

Sebastian Mai, who came to Oberhausen from Ahlen, will definitely miss months. The newcomer has torn a tendon in the adductor area.

Tanju Öztürk had to be substituted after 28 minutes in the 1:3 against Schalke II. A diagnosis has not yet been made, but there is a risk that he will miss the match. In addition, Fabian Holthaus and Anton Heinz, who both saw red against Schalke II, will have to be replaced.

We concede far too many goals and have to get out of the habit of playing for the stands. We had hoped for more. We are not where we wanted to be, but justifiably so.

Hajo Sommers

RevierSport spoke about the failures, the start and the near future with RWO president Hajo Sommers.

Hajo Sommers, how would you sum up the start to the new season, in which RWO wanted to attack? We are currently six points behind leaders Preußen Münster.

One thing first: I think that if Preußen don’t get many injuries, they’ll pull it off this year. As for us: we started well and dropped off quickly. On Tuesday, the board and the sporting management will sit down to analyse the situation.

What do you think the problem is?

We concede far too many goals and have to get out of the habit of playing for the stands. We had hoped for more. We are not where we wanted to be, but justifiably so. But: We should stay incredibly calm, because we took 360,000 euros from the first team. That’s why it was clear that things wouldn’t go completely smoothly right away.

But you said that from your point of view the team is better than the squad from last season…

..I meant that too. But I also said that not much can happen. Because the width in the squad is missing, we knew that. Now we already have four absentees, which hurts. Nevertheless, we have to look at ourselves, including the team. It’s our own fault. We’re not playing really badly, and I’m not accusing anyone of not running and giving everything. So now we have to ask ourselves together what is wrong. Because it’s not like nothing is going right. It’s about all of us turning it around now.

Could it be that RWO reacts once again and signs an out-of-contract player?

No, those who are there have to pull the coals out of the fire. Preferably as early as this weekend in Kaan-Marienborn.