On April 23, 2022, Christian Heinle sat on the bench for the first time as the official head coach of SV Guntamatic Ried. In late autumn 2021, the 37-year-old from Grieskirchner was in action four times as interim coach (two wins, one draw, one defeat). Robert Ibertsberger was introduced as the new coach, but had to resign after only eleven games on April 18, 2022. Heinle has been in charge of the sport ever since.
Since then, Heinle’s record has been modest. In last season’s qualifying group, the Rieder team under him scored four points in five games, which was enough to keep them up. In the current season, SV Ried is second to last in the table with just five points from eight games. Above all, three defeats in a row against Klagenfurt, WSG Tirol and Hartberg must have been a real warning shot for Rieder in the relegation battle.
Fans are getting restless
“We’re not in panic mode at all. Christian Heinle is 100 percent firmly in the saddle,” said SVR sports director Thomas Reicheltshammer before the Upper Austrian derby (1-1) against LASK in the OÖN interview. That hasn’t changed, but the fan scene is becoming increasingly restless. After the 3-0 loss to Salzburg, the team was greeted with applause by the spectators in the West Standing Stand. A defeat against the series champion is not a broken leg and was to be expected. However, appearances are deceptive at first glance, the coach and team no longer enjoy too much bonus from the spectators. Criticism of Risseltshammer is also getting louder. “Something has to happen, five points from eight games are just not enough, it can’t go on like this,” was the tenor of many fans after the Salzburg game.
Offensive a total failure
Past performance in scoring gives cause for concern. Four goals in eight games, no team is less dangerous in attack. Christoph Monschein – committed as a goalscorer – is still missing the final luck, most recently he put a penalty against Salzburg well wide of the goal. Seifedin Chabbi only makes short appearances and Stefan Nutz has been waiting for a scorer point for many games.
The German Agyemang Diawusie, who was more or less brought in as a replacement for Ante Bajic and signed a contract until 2024, does not play a role at all yet. In the first few weeks, the club argued with “training deficit”. So far it has been enough for three appearances with the Young Vikings in the regional league, Diawusie has not yet played in the fighting team. Tomorrow, Sunday, Ried plays Austria Wien away. “It won’t be an easy task for us. But it doesn’t matter how it comes about, the most important thing is that we start scoring. We have to force the game luck and sometimes take dirty points with us,” said Heinle in a club press release quoted. The away statistics of Rieder do not allow for high hopes.
Blatant away weakness
In the past 20 games abroad, Rieder have only won twice. The modest away record since being promoted back to the Bundesliga in 2020: four wins, eleven draws, 21 defeats.
After the game at Austria, the league goes on a two-week international break. Then there could be a real basement duel against the current table bottom Altach on October 1st in Ried. In the event of a defeat, it would probably be uncomfortable after the game – quite unlike after the Salzburg game – and many things would be questioned by the fans. The adjustment period for the coaching team is over. Long-term absences such as those of Matthias Gragger, Nikola Stosic or Julian Turi, who is now fit again, are bitter and Heinle has always rightly brought them into play.
No discipline
With Oliver Kragl and Luca Kronberger, two more kickers were signed towards the end of the transfer period. The squad is in place, Heinle has to work with it now and get the best out of it.
The fact that the team has constantly weakened itself in recent games – SV Ried have already received five red cards in eight games this season – must be addressed internally in a tough manner. So you currently have more exclusions than goals on the credit account.
You can’t survive in the Bundesliga with so little discipline. Offensive player Leo Mikic has already made it to two traffic light cards – a sad achievement. Heinle, who is considered a meticulous worker and often analyzes games with his coaching colleagues until late at night, has announced that he does not want to deviate from his game idea. Ried had 50 percent possession of the ball against Salzburg, the passing rate is remarkable, and they create good chances, but they are wasted one after the other. That speaks for the coach, but successes would help him more than statistical values.
Backing from Daxl
The 37-year-old has a large part of the team behind him. Head of sport, Eurailshammer, will stick with his preferred candidate for as long as possible. In an interview with 90minuten.at, Daxl had Heinle’s back this week. “We think we have a very good head coach. I’m in good spirits,” said Daxl.
There have been enough coach changes at SV Ried in recent years. It’s not for nothing that football circles are already talking about the “Rieder Coach Cemetery”. Seen in this way, it would be for the club, the fans and last but not least Heinle to wish that the team soon finds its way so that we can continue on our way. But the team still has to deliver in the fall, because without points it will eventually be tight for every coach.
Source: Nachrichten
