Michael Köllner aims high at 1860 and uses a psychological trick: he lets his players define intermediate goals.
Stage one went according to plan.
38 third division games, one or the other bonus game in the DFB Cup - and the totopokal, which begins tomorrow for TSV 1860 with a 350 km trip to the Lower Franconian regional league club Birkenfeld.
If everything goes according to plan, the Lions will have around 45 competitive games in their legs by May 2022.
Professionals who train every day can take it - physically.
Such a marathon season is more difficult for the minds.
In the Upper Austria camp, Michael Köllner drew a comparison with a mountain expedition. The 1860 coach said: It is possible to conquer an eight-thousander, but only if you divide the planned ascent into manageable stages. Departure from base camp, first ascent, second ascent - something like this.
If you stay in the picture, the lions finished their first stage on Friday.
Köllner had his team define intermediate goals before the season.
Small group work.
A couple of professionals each work out a manageable bundle of games, a vote is taken in the dressing room, the goal is drawn on a poster;
every player signs - and at the end of the journey a balance is drawn.
“We had set ourselves the goal that we would advance in the cup in the first phase,” said Köllner after the successful penalty thriller against second division Darmstadt (6: 5 nE).
He seemed satisfied with what he had achieved - and gave him a generous breather: three days off.
Small group work with a flipchart - at the end each player signs
What exactly is on such a stage poster is of course a secret. Conceivable: Home win against Würzburg at the start (1: 0 - check), not losing away in Wiesbaden (0: 0 - check). And of course: Darmstadt, a "feasible opponent for us" (Köllner), throw out of the cup. Third task, third hook, which inevitably leads to the question: What goals will be defined next? Or first of all: Which games does it actually include, the second stage?
It is likely that the following goals will land on the flipchart: A sovereign victory in the ninth-rate Totopokal opponent Birkenfeld. On Saturday, of course: Türkgücü, the cheeky rival, put in place. And finally: Coming unbeaten from the following English week, which first brings the away test in Kaiserslautern (August 21) and three days later the home game against the secret favorite Viktoria Köln. If the professionals agree on an offensive objective, seven points from these three league games should be aimed for. Five points would be the more defensive objective, which would also guarantee that the new undefeated series would hold (important for Köllner).
Marco Hiller looked satisfied and focused when he commented on the achievement of the first stage goal on Saturday night. “A good start to the season was our goal,” revealed the cup hero: “It worked. That was a first small success. And now it's time to go on. ”About the Birkenfeld station (tomorrow, 6.30 p.m., Löwen-TV) he said:“ You shouldn't underestimate. They'll knock everything in. We have to do our homework. ”This literally also applies to Saturday and the trial of strength with Türkgücü. Hiller: "Derby is always great, back home - hopefully we'll get the next three."
For Köllner it is clear that the lions can only get through a long season with such mental tricks. “We're trying to climb a mountain,” he said in Windischgarsten: “We have high goals - and we want to achieve them in the end. In my first season we were allowed to smell the rise. In the second year we were close again. At some point I want to move up by 1860. "