Rot Weiss Ahlen is still in a negative run. The sporting director and interim coach Orhan Özkara talks about the situation and the coach search.

Rot Weiss Ahlen continues to eagerly await a sense of achievement. Winless for the fifth time in a row, no own goal scored for the fifth time in a row. RWA had to draw this sobering balance after the 0:2 against leaders Fortuna Cologne on Friday night.

“When you are at the bottom and have no success, it makes a lot of things more difficult,” said Orhan Özkara, sporting director and currently interim coach of the bottom team in the Regionalliga West. “Then to meet the league leader is a thankless task. But it’s not as if the Cologne team has played us up against the wall.”

With just one win on the season and six points, Ahlen is at the bottom of the table. The current scoreless streak and only six goals from eleven games show what Özkara considers to be the main reasons for the misery: “We urgently need to become goal-happy,” he demands.

It’s true that his team is creating enough chances. “But the problem is efficiency. We need too many chances to score goals.” And a lack of luck is also a problem for Ahlen, he says, with regard to aluminum goals or wrong decisions.

Against Fortuna Cologne, Özkara was on the sidelines for the fourth time. Actually, the search for a coach should have been completed long ago – but Rot Weiss has not yet agreed on a new coach. “We are working flat out to find a solution, but it’s a decision that has to be well thought out. It has to be a good fit for both sides,” said Özkara, explaining the delay.

In the meantime, a small group of candidates has emerged. According to Özkara, it is possible that a full deal will be announced before the home game against Alemannia Aachen next Saturday (October 21, 2 p.m.).

For RWA, the duel with the traditional club is the next tough task after the game at league leader Cologne. And it doesn’t get any easier: After Aachen, the teams face Bocholt and Düren – both tied on points with Fortuna Cologne at the top -, then Wuppertaler SV and the in-form U23 teams of Gladbach and Schalke await.

If Ahlen doesn’t pull off a surprise or two in this unpleasant program, the team from the Werse could find itself stranded at the bottom of the table early in the season. The gap to a relegation spot is already four points.

What makes Özkara confident? “We clearly address our mistakes, but it’s also the case that the boys are doing many things right, especially in the game against the ball. We have to hit the goal again, then success will come back.” The 44-year-old also points to the 0-0 draw against Rot-Weiß Oberhausen in September. “We showed that we can score against top teams. “