Rot-Weiß Oberhausen can look back on a very successful season so far, with around a third of the season already played. The sporting director is already planning for the winter break.

On Saturday (October 12, 2 p.m.), Rot-Weiß Oberhausen will face SC Fortuna Köln in a top-of-the-table clash. Both teams have 21 points after ten games in the Regionalliga West. It’s a real top-of-the-table clash.

“We’ve worked hard for this top match. We’ve actually had three games of this caliber this season. We lost against MSV Duisburg and Mönchengladbach II. We won in Lotte. So we really need another win (laughs). I wouldn’t mind if the statistics for top matches were evened out,” says Dennis Lichtenwimmer.

Including the match at Fortuna Cologne, RWO coach Sebastian Gunkel’s team still has six matches against top 10 teams in the remaining eight games until the turn of the year 2024/2025. “That’s a tough schedule. We’re also excited to see how our young team will perform in the coming weeks,” says the sporting director.

Lichtenwimmer is slowly beginning talks about the future. The first contract extensions are to be announced in January 2025. “We want to get some things sorted out early. Let’s see if we can do that. Some players want to wait and see how things develop. That’s perfectly legitimate. Nevertheless, we also have to do our job and enter into talks,” explains Lichtenwimmer.

But there is also a lot to do at RWO beyond personnel. Lichtenwimmer reveals that there will also be a budget for infrastructure and other investments that should ultimately benefit the team. For example, the RWO players do not have running vests that evaluate everything. “The players have heart rate monitors, but the vests would be the next step. Then we have to see if we can expand the weight room, for example. We’ll also listen to the team. After all, the players should feel comfortable with us and be able to do their jobs as well as possible,” says Lichtenwimmer.

The 34-year-old RWO manager is also in talks about a winter training camp. Spain is the long-term destination under discussion. Turkey might also be an option.

“Here, too, we have to keep an eye on how things develop on the sporting front, of course. But the tendency is that we would like to fly south in January. We’ll see if we can make it happen with the help of our sponsors and possibly also the team. That will be decided in the next few weeks,” says Lichtenwimmer. A win at Fortuna Cologne would make some decisions easier.