Tageblatt: It’s been five days since the coaching change. What were the different reactions to this decision?
Luc Hilger: It’s not our philosophy to change the coach. As far as the immediate environment is concerned, it seems as if some expected it more and others expected it less. I don’t know what is being written on social media. You can’t please everyone anyway. Our coaching staff gave a good impression the entire time and I would like to thank you for that. At the same time, this task was a showcase for a young coaching staff. You have achieved a lot with us. But now we felt we had to do something.
Was there a game that was crucial in the decision?
It wasn’t just the defeat against Rodange on Sunday: things haven’t been going well since winter. Of course we are missing our striker Matheus Souza. Last year he scored 23 goals and was never injured. Unfortunately, this time he was unlucky during the winter preparations. After the cup game in Differdange he got an infection. You’re lucky that he can still play football at all. But the fact that he is missing cannot explain everything. Our performance hasn’t been good since winter. The performance against Racing was stable, but against Käerjeng it was a disaster. It was definitely the worst I’ve seen from us. And in a situation like that, it’s like everywhere else in the football business: you can’t swap five or six players in the middle of a season. That’s why we chose a duo: our sports director (Arno Bonvini) knows what’s important and Manuel Correia was free.
Are you disappointed with players?
No, you can’t single out one individual and say that. We will draw our conclusions and part with some of them at the end of the season.
Correia is a coaching expert who knows the club. The same goes for Bonvini. What can you expect from a return to the coaching chair?
They do it together and have sorted it out between themselves. “Man” is a motivator that I would describe as a friend. This also applies to Arno. With this combination we could achieve something.
A new coaching team will be introduced in the summer. How long can you afford to take part in the Conference League?
We’ll see the first two candidates for interviews next week. We received some interesting CVs. I hope that we will have found a trainer by mid-May at the latest. The first phase of summer transfers is already underway. But we also know what to do and what we need.
How many resumes are on the table?
About ten. There are more coming. The announcement was only a few days ago. I wanted to digest the whole thing for two or three days. As a club, you don’t get good grades if you part with a young coach. So that’s not good for us either. Nevertheless, it must continue. The most important thing is and remains the club – not the coach, player or president.
What does this person need to bring with them?
A little experience. The coach has to speak the language of the players and understand the philosophy of the club, which is not necessarily the same as elsewhere. Understanding players is necessary because we don’t have 20 professionals at our disposal. Some work half days, others 40 hours. You have to be able to lead a group like this and keep it happy. This requires a certain talent – and it’s not that easy to find someone like that.
Back to topicality. There are still 15 points to be awarded and nothing has been decided yet within the top group. What is the official goal of UNA Strassen in this situation?
It’s still the same as before the start of the season: a place on the podium. We never talked about winning the championship. If fourth place is enough to qualify for the European Cup, we will have achieved our goal in a different way. The chances of Differdange doing the double again are great. In the worst case scenario, we end up in fifth place. Then that’s just the way it is, then we have to acknowledge that we missed our goals this time.
The opponents are Canach, Differdange, Jeunesse, Dudelange and Mondorf – therefore three direct competitors. Is this good news or bad news?
It is good. These are six-point games. Of course it’s a tough program and there may even be a European Cup qualifying final against Mondorf on the last match day. We have to get the maximum out of it. Everything is possible, but we can also lose all three games.
