After about a third of the season, Rot-Weiß Oberhausen can look back on a very successful streak so far. The sports director is already planning the winter preparations.

On Saturday (October 12, 2 p.m.), Rot-Weiß Oberhausen will face a tough game at SC Fortuna Cologne. Both teams have 21 points after ten matches in the Regionalliga West. A real top game.

“We have earned this top game. This season, we have actually already had three games in this category. We lost to MSV Duisburg and Mönchengladbach II. We won in Lotte. So, we actually need to get another win (laughs). I wouldn’t mind evening out the statistics of top games,” says Dennis Lichtenwimmer.

Including the game at Fortuna Cologne, RWO coach Sebastian Gunkel’s team still has six matches against top-10 teams in the remaining eight fixtures between now and the end of 2024/2025. “That’s a tough program. We’re also excited to see how our young team performs in the coming weeks,” says the sporting director.

Lichtenwimmer is slowly starting to talk about the future. The first contract extensions are to be announced in January 2025. “We want to get some things settled early on. We’ll see if we succeed. Some players also want to wait and see how things develop. That’s perfectly legitimate. Nevertheless, we also have to do our work and enter into talks,” explains Lichtenwimmer.

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

The 34-year-old RWO manager is also in the process of exchanging ideas regarding a winter training camp. The long-term goal of Spain is under discussion here. Turkey would also be an option.

“Of course, we also have to keep an eye on further sporting developments here. But the tendency is that we would like to fly south in January. We’ll see if we can do that with the help of our sponsors, but possibly also the team. That will be decided in the next few weeks,” says Lichtenwimmer. A win at Fortuna Cologne has already made some decisions easier.