Spielvereinigung Schonnebeck is spending the winter break in second place in the table – six points behind leaders Ratingen 04/19. Dirk Tönnies is pondering his future.

Last season, Spielvereinigung Schonnebeck narrowly missed out on promotion to the Regionalliga West.

The team led by the then congenial duo of Conor Tönnies (Fortuna Düsseldorf II) and Arne Wessels (Borussia Dortmund II) had to give way to SSVg Velbert.

The late failure gnawed away at those responsible at Schetters Bausch for a long time, especially veteran coach Dirk Tönnies. After 17 years of uninterrupted coaching, he seems to be slowly growing tired.

According to Forecasting information, the 51-year-old is considering leaving Schonnebeck. “Yes, I won’t deny that. I’ve been here since 2008 and now I find myself needing more time to commit or sign on the dotted line. Maybe I should take a break, maybe try something new. I don’t know yet. I’ll think about it,” confirms Tönnies. Dirk Tönnies, how do you rate your team’s first half of the season?

We’re in second place in the table over Christmas. We couldn’t have dreamed of that before the season because we had to integrate 15 new players. We’re ahead of Uerdingen, Homberg, and all the others. And that means we can celebrate with a beer or two.

What has been the highlight for you so far?

The home game against Ratingen was definitely a highlight. Kevin Kourouma scored the 4-3 winner at the final whistle, which was very emotional. We beat the best team in the league and showed that we can compete.

And what was the most negative experience?

We played well against the top teams. Unfortunately, we struggled against the supposedly weaker teams. The home defeat against ETB Schwarz-Weiß and the 2-2 draw against FC Büderich, where we conceded the equalizer at the final whistle, also hurt. Will there be any changes to the squad during the winter break? There will be a few changes. However, these are not yet ready to be announced. What is your goal for the rest of the season? Promotion is still possible. We set ourselves the goal of finishing in the top five. And we have achieved that. In that respect, we are very satisfied with the first half of the season and want to continue to win as many games as possible in the second half. And then we’ll see what the final result is.