Difficult hours for Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. The active fan scene has taken a stand. There will be no support until there is a change of coach.
Things are getting uncomfortable in Oberhausen. The future of coach Jörn Nowak will be discussed at a meeting on Monday. For the fans, the outcome is clear, as they made known in an open letter at the weekend.
The clear message: If RWO coach Jörn Nowak does not resign, there will be no more support for the team. There was already no support from the active fan scene against SV Lippstadt (1:1).
The cloverleaf supporters explained their decision in 12,000 signs. They were against the signing of Nowak from the outset, but after a meeting they pledged their support, according to reports. The fans made it clear that they saw Nowak as an “all-in decision” for the club.
The conclusion at the time: “After a very open discussion, we accepted the club’s decision and promised our full support – both in the stands and off the pitch. Up until yesterday’s match day, we have not broken this promise once during the course of the season: Quite the opposite. With a specially planned barbecue evening with the first team including staff, personal exchanges with individual players and visual and acoustic support even in difficult phases (the matches in the Lower Rhine Cup should be mentioned here), we wanted to reinforce the statements we made before the season.”
However, the sporting performances and an incident after the 0:0 draw at Gladbach II probably made the barrel overflow
The fans emphasize: “Last Saturday, on the other hand, we didn’t want to enter into discourse with the team for good reason, in order to make another statement on our part. The fact that Jörn Nowak followed us almost to the exit at the fence and thus clearly did not respect our decision is once again evidence of a weak character. After confused shouts, the sentence “This is the last and you are the last” from Mr. Nowak and brief confusion among all those involved, we briefly went into the confrontation after all. However, we quickly realized that this seemed to be anything but sensible and made our way home.”
Talks and discussions followed, at the end of which the decision was made that there would be no organized support against Lippstadt. And this silent protest will continue. Until Jörn Nowak is no longer a coach in Oberhausen…
The whole letter in full
Dear red and white supporters,
Exciting days and weeks lie behind the active fan scene, the RWO fan council, the team and ultimately the entire Rot-Weiß Oberhausen club. Under other circumstances, this exciting time would only be characterized by the so-called “cloverleaf loan”, but unfortunately this time is now characterized by something completely different. With these words, we try to shed some light on our decisions on yesterday’s matchday: Light that was shed shortly before kick-off by our pre-singer in the Emscher stand. With the few sentences that echoed through the loudspeaker system in the Niederrhein stadium, we didn’t want to fuel any knowledge of domination, but simply to inform as many people as possible before the game. Nevertheless, we would now like to give all Red & Whites the opportunity to form their own opinion on the whole issue. Whether a certain group of people want it or not, there is a lot of misinformation that we would now like to clear up. But let’s start chronologically:
Like 80% of the Rot-Weiß Oberhausen fan base, we were initially astonished by the appointment of Jörn Nowak as the new head coach. Surprise that someone with a lack of coaching experience, an inglorious past at Rot-Weiß Oberhausen (regardless of the transfer fee received at the time and obviously better pay and prospects at the neighboring club), an even more inglorious departure in Essen and a more than difficult human character should take over from Mike Terranova. The astonishment at this change quickly gave way to anger and resentment towards the club officials, who were well aware of the negative nature of the departure at the time. At the time, nobody knew that there could have been a clear improvement in sporting terms compared to the last few years and what quality the squad possessed in terms of names alone.
As a result, a relatively large group came together well before the 2023/24 season to engage in a joint dialog with the club and Jörn Nowak himself. We knew that we would no longer be able to prevent the decision to bring in this person and jointly considered further options for action. Participants in this internal meeting included representatives of the active fan scene, members of the RWO fan council, the Oberhausen fan support team as well as the entire management board, almost all members of the supervisory board and the sporting management.
We deliberately took the lead in the discussion and initially raised provocative questions and topics in the direction of the club. We described the decision by Patrick Bauder and all other associated sponsors to hire Jörn Nowak as coach as an “all-in decision”, both then and now. In this case, this means that the interests of a large number of RWO members were consciously and deliberately opposed in order to promote the supposed and hoped-for success of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen and to put this above all else. Following our “reckoning”, the representatives had their say and explained themselves, the situation and the future direction of the club. After a very open discussion, we accepted the club’s decision and promised our full support – both in the stands and off the pitch. Up until yesterday’s match day, we have not broken this promise once during the course of the season: Quite the opposite. With a specially planned barbecue evening with the first team including the staff, personal exchanges with individual players and visual and acoustic support even in difficult phases (the matches in the Lower Rhine Cup should be mentioned here), we wanted to reinforce the statements we made before the season. However, the premise of our full support was that sporting success, or at least the possibility of maintaining hope for as long as possible, was the top priority.
This results from the fact that we have clearly stated, and with the understanding of the club, that Jörn Nowak will not receive any credit in our ranks. In contrast, it is easier to forgive slips and sporting failures with people like Mike Terranova, who have a true red and white heart for the club. The club leaned far out of the window with the transfer decision, was aware of this fact and was fully convinced of the sporting success and all those involved in the discussion at the time clearly and willingly agreed with this claim and our demands on the sporting situation!
After ups and downs on the pitch, especially in the two “autumn months”, and a lack of positive results, a small group of 1st team players sought dialog with the fan scene and described the lack of acceptance of Jörn Nowak as coach among the team. In addition, there were various situations that revealed Jörn Nowak’s questionable character, which was already known when he first left. This led to another meeting between the team council, the sporting management, the coach and a handful of people from the active fan scene. The information from the team and the sporting failure made it clear to all parties that the next four games before the winter break must be won against teams that are all significantly weaker. The team should show that they stand behind their coach and finally leave their hearts on the pitch. And once again, everyone involved agreed with these statements and demands.
Although the team initially enabled the club to climb up a few places in the table after two wins and the message from the team seemed to be clear, this was followed by an inexplicable and again atrocious draw against Dorfverein Wiedenbrück. Due to two match cancellations and the early onset of the winter break, the next game of the season fortunately did not start until 2024.
With an eye on the table and the two catch-up games behind us, we mobilized for the game against Gladbach, whose call was answered by almost 500 spectators. To reaffirm our support for the team, this game was again introduced with a small choreography and our usual battle cries. During the game and after almost 75 minutes of continuous support, there were occasional shouts from the block criticizing the missed big chance and the general performance of the team. However, this in no way detracted from our performance over the entire 95 minutes. Whether the aforementioned heckling was inappropriate or should have been revealed afterwards is something everyone should judge for themselves. Nevertheless, the criticism as a means of expressing his displeasure is more than justified in view of the once again catastrophic performance against Mönchengladbach’s second team!
After the game, we gathered our things as quickly as possible and left the block in the shortest possible time to avoid a confrontation. In the previous part of the season, we either used motivational phrases after defeats to prepare the team for the next tasks or sought a direct confrontation to ask for reasons for the defeat and to sharpen the tone – the well-known carrot and stick approach. Last Saturday, on the other hand, we had good reason for not wanting to enter into discourse with the team in order to make a further statement on our part. The fact that Jörn Nowak chased us almost to the exit at the fence and thus clearly did not respect our decision is once again evidence of a weak character. After confused shouts, the sentence “This is the last and you are the last” from Mr. Nowak and brief confusion among all those involved, we briefly went into the confrontation after all. However, we quickly realized that this seemed to be anything but sensible and headed home.
In the days that followed, representatives sat together (internally or with club officials) for a total of over 15 hours and discussed the overall situation of the club. Representatives of the team, who again reported untenable conditions between Jörn Nowak and the team, were therefore again included in our decision. Two options were then negotiated internally as a further course of action: To now put into action the protest that had been announced months earlier or, in the spirit of the cloverleaf bond, to forgo the protest form for the time being. The second of the two options followed on the basis of various telephone calls with club officials, who pointed out various scenarios for a bad future for the club and almost made us deviate from the original plan again. You could be forgiven for thinking that our support, our commitment and our love for the club were being abused in order to push through our own interests.
The final decision as to which option we considered acceptable for us and in the interests of the club was seen by everyone at the Stadion Niederrhein yesterday. It should be noted that this decision was supported by both fan clubs of the active fan scene as well as the entire fan council, including their groups, and that there were no “solo efforts* by individuals. After weighing up all the arguments, the decision was also anything but easy for us, but it was necessary and indispensable.
We understand that not all red and white supporters in the stadium were on our side due to the lack of information. Even after these open words addressed to you, not everyone will be able to understand our actions. However, a few things are extremely important to us here: We accept every different opinion on this topic and we never place ourselves above the club! We announced this protest months in advance in such a situation. We have given Mr. Nowak a fair and perfect chance to earn a loan from us again and to drive the sporting success of the club forward.
We invest hours and hours in this club. Not only in the stadium, in preparation for choreographies or by advertising our club within the city area, but recently also through the newly founded “Innovation RWO*” team, which has been responsible for all activities to date as part of the “120 years of RWO” campaign. We can also take credit for revising the club’s statutes, developing ideas and campaigns for the club and many other commitments. The club is always at the forefront of all these activities. Our motivation is and remains RWO – in this case, too, we act to the best of our knowledge and belief for the good of the club! Furthermore, although our commitment and support in the stadium is always for the club, it is not club property that you take out of your pocket when certain personalities expect it. A lively fan culture is allowed to be critical, to express negative opinions on things and does not have to answer to anyone.
We hope that we have now been able to shed some light on the darkness and that you understand our actions.
One thing remains to be said: We now demand the immediate resignation of Jörn Nowak as head coach of Rot-Weiß Oberhausen. If this does not happen, we will continue our protest!
Oberhausen fan scene