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HSV playmaker Sonny Kittel (centre) at a loss after the bankruptcy in Kiel
Photo: Cathrin Mueller/Getty Images
In April, dreams are always shattered at Hamburger SV.
This time too, in its fourth second division season, it looks as if HSV will once again gamble away its return to the Bundesliga on the home stretch.
After the defeat at Holstein Kiel at the weekend, the gap to the promotion places is seven points.
"The ascent is gone," it said after the Kiel bankruptcy in the NDR, although it is still mathematically possible.
But the reality looks like this: HSV only has 45 points five games before the end – that is the worst value at this point in the not so young second division history of Hamburg.
In 2019, in the first year of the second division, there were seven points more.
But even this starting position was not enough at the time.
HSV was once considered unbeatable.
There's even a bar on the way from the S-Bahn station to the Volksparkstadion that bears that name.
People are proud of the past here.
But the present looks as if the club simply cannot rise.
The Hamburgers are now the insurmountables.
The table doesn't lie is a well-known football adage, but it can be irritating.
That makes it difficult to explain Hamburger SV's position and sixth place.
Actually very good stats
In the current season, HSV has conceded the fewest goals, it has the best passing rate in the league and has the most ball possession.
After all, the attack is the fourth most shots on goal, the goal difference is +21 goals, only Schalke is even stronger here (+25).
HSV had 13 shots on goal against Holstein Kiel in the first half on Sunday.
"Against the wall, Kiel is played," it said in the TV broadcast.
A lot of things are looking good at HSV, but not the most important thing: points are missing.
Kiel only had one shot on goal in the first half - and it ended up in the net.
HSV lost 0:1.
But it's not just bad luck.
The Hamburg team gets big problems when they meet deep opponents like Kiel.
The Hamburgers rarely manage to turn their superiority into points.
However, these are not new findings, but could have been recorded here in previous years.
You can't get around the topic of nervous failure, especially not at HSV with its agitated environment, where back chairs, high expectations and financial worries are the order of the day.
In short: restlessness.
And, always at the end of the season, there is a big slump.
Like a cycle of failure.
Just
don't
fire the coach
A Hamburg reflex in the past was to change the coach in this situation and then tackle the next restart next year.
Before Tim Walter, Christian Titz, Hannes Wolf, Dieter Hecking and Daniel Thioune were supposed to tackle the mission of resurgence.
Last year even veteran Horst Hrubesch had to step in for three games to bring the season to an end.
Six coaches were used in four years, all of whom ended up with a similar point average.
HSV tried a lot to make it back to the Bundesliga.
He has not yet attempted to get continuity on the coaching bench.
Now would be a good time to try something new: keep the trainer.
In any case, there are no unsolvable problems in HSV games.
But is the executive floor ready for this – even now that things are getting turbulent again?
Sports director Jonas Boldt has been working for the club for three years.
He's made some amazing course corrections in that time, including changing coaches.
But he also changed the squad with team planner Michael Mutzel year after year.
Hopefuls were already the famous pillar players from the previous year, who included veterans like Bayern keeper Sven Ulreich, or supposed top talents from England (Xavier Amaechi, Tommy Doyle).
They're all long gone.
This season, HSV is attacking with the youngest team in the league, and Boldt is campaigning for night vision.
Setbacks would have to be accepted.
On the other hand, HSV is said to still have the third highest personnel budget in the second division and this season it also became clear what the team is capable of.
She is still in the cup semifinals and will face SC Freiburg there next week.
With Werder Bremen and Schalke 04 there are two former heavyweights in the league who want to return to the Bundesliga quickly before sales collapse due to low TV income.
But against these two teams, HSV scored seven out of a possible twelve points.
A club without consistency
HSV had its strongest phase at the beginning of the year when it beat three top opponents in a row with St. Pauli, Darmstadt and Heidenheim.
It was the only time in the season that Hamburg could win three games in a row.
"If you never start a series, you don't have to deal with it," said striker Robert Glatzel after the defeat in Kiel.
What was meant was the rise.
On the coaching bench, in the squad and in the results - HSV is a club without consistency.
But the consequence of this does not have to mean that only a new coach and squad will help.
HSV has tried that too often.
It should turn out to be a dead end.
