FC St. Pauli is not yet ready for the new season. Coach Andreas Bornemann speaks in the MOPO about transfers, ambitions, and external opinions. They were not really happy with what happened in the end. After the 2:2 against Holstein Kiel, when a 2:0 lead was given away, the professionals of FC St. Pauli were visibly upset and frustrated. Maybe also because they sensed that they could have spared themselves a lot of annoying hassle if they had taken the three points home. Since this did not happen, things took their course, which can become tiring outside of the pitch. The keyword is Expectation Management. This began already with the interview that Marcel Rapp had to give after the game at Sky. The coach is known to be still quite fresh in office and position, but should still explain whether his team has a head problem and has forgotten how to win after many goalless games in the previous Bundesliga season. A steep thesis, with which also Andreas Bornemann has nothing to do.

The 2nd League presents special requirements „On the one hand, the so-called experts do not trust us, on the other hand, one point in Kiel is not enough“, says the sports chief of the Kiez club to the MOPO and wishes a generally less controversial approach: „For two years, we have been accused of not scoring enough goals. Now we score three in two games, and it's suddenly about defensive stability and deficits in aerial ability.“ This is too cheap for him, as St. Pauli is certainly not the only club that is still searching for a healthy balance between intense work against the ball and creativity with the ball. That a first-division relegation team is not automatically a promotion favorite in the second division is something that many larger clubs in this country know songs about, if not entire albums. To achieve a relatively smooth landing in the 2nd League, some things are indispensable, so Bornemann. „If you have been relegated from the Bundesliga, you must accept the 2nd League differently and as a chance“, explained the 54-year-old. „This league simply requires this, we always tell it again.“ Perception deficits in this regard are not only found among fans or media representatives, but also many professionals have a hard time accepting the new (old) circumstances as necessary. „We set our sights on players who go 100% the way“, underlines Bornemann. Achievements from the past or a supposed individual quality advantage are not relevant. A hint that particularly the two still departure-willing players Eric Smith and Joel Chima Fujita will feel addressed. Both see themselves as more capable and currently still have problems adapting to the 2nd League circumstances.

Smith? Fujita? Maximal einer wird noch gehen Maybe they will still rely on a transfer until September, but: On the one hand, there are currently no concrete inquiries for either of the two. On the other hand, a transfer becomes less likely with each further passing day, because St. Pauli does not have to sell and will not accept a gaping hole in the squad - with hardly any time left for a possible replacement. And if at all, then one will only allow one from the duo to leave, in order not to get into a state of emergency on the last stretch. All those who, for some reason, still hope that St. Pauli will „take four new ones on Deadline Day“, are already being dismissed by Bornemann: „Maybe we won't sign anyone at all.“ Because, on the one hand, the current squad does not have any vacancies, if one adds the currently injured Abdoulie Ceesay, Mathias Pereira Lage and Gísli Thórdarson to it. And on the other hand, two draws in the first two games are „not optimal, but also no reason to fall into actionism“. It's about setting realistic ambitions, concludes Bornemann. And these see the team in this season on sight so that they will settle in the upper third of this league.