It’s going well at Rot-Weiss Essen: Ahead of the AGM, Supervisory Board boss André Helf talks about RWE’s development – in sporting terms and behind the scenes.
He currently wakes up with a grin on his face, says André Helf. He’s in a great mood at Rot-Weiss Essen, including the chairman of the supervisory board, who is visiting our editorial team.
The 56-year-old talks to reporters Ralf Wilhelm and Justus Heinisch in the “Vonne Hafenstraße” video talk about the team’s run – RWE are third in the table after 15 games.
And he talks about the annual general meeting, which takes place this Sunday and is not entirely unimportant for him, because the actions of the supervisory board and management board have not yet been approved. The AGM in June was canceled, which was memorable.
But let’s get down to sport first. It’s autumn, the days are getting gray and RWE is at the top. “It’s a nice moment that you should enjoy,” says Helf and adds: “Of course we’re all approaching this with humility. We are proud of the development, the results and the league position, but we have to assume that it won’t stay that way, even if we all hope so. “
The fact that 10,000 people went to Dortmund surprised me the most after the number.
André Helf
The 2:0 win against Mannheim last matchday was the fifth three in a row. The team is obviously in the flow – although things looked bleak not long ago. 0:4 in Unterhaching, 0:5 at home against Verl, plus the release of captain Felix Bastians. Turning points, for the better. RWE then won in Dortmund. The 2:1 was the start of a sustained winning streak. The whole environment is more positive, says Helf. “The fact that 10,000 people traveled to Dortmund surprised me the most after that number.”
Coach Christoph Dabrowski was recently celebrated with chants – after being subjected to loud criticism in the pre-season. “I was really pleased because I realized what it was like last season,” says Helf. Dabrowski is a coach who is extremely committed and hard-working. “But he had a difficult time because of the players he wasn’t responsible for.”
The club management “swore that we would stick by him – it wasn’t easy”, continued the supervisory board chairman. The headwind was massive. “But we still said that we were convinced by him. So far, we are happy with this decision and I hope that some people will now see that it was the right one. “
So things are going well on the pitch at the moment, but there is also a lot going on behind the scenes. A big topic at Rot-Weiss: communication. Helf emphasizes that the club has learned from the memorable AGM in June. “The annual general meeting was unfortunately a disaster in terms of how it was organized and carried out. It was a really bad day for all of us,” he says. Nobody covered themselves in glory. Helf promises: “I believe that we will see a different meeting next Sunday.”
For him, his Supervisory Board colleagues and CEO Marcus Uhlig, there is a lot at stake. Their exoneration is an item on the agenda. “It’s really important that we stand together as a club and act as one. That is also what our contractual partners, the city and sponsors expect,” says Helf, emphasizing why it is important to him that the members express their confidence in the officials.