All Football

Tipped to go down before the start of the season, with four games remaining Cottbus are looking good to stay up following their 2-1 win against Hansa Rostock. Alongside coach Bojan Prasnikar, sporting director Steffen Heidrich has been a key off-field player at the club this season.


The 40-year-old is a man for whom actions speak louder than words, more than willing to operate in the background and let others bask the limelight.

32 Bundesliga appearances

The former midfielder, who notched up 32 Bundesliga appearances for VfB Leipzig and Energie Cottbus, has played a substantial role in the turnaround at FCE.

In an interview with bundesliga.de he discusses the club's financial situation, the battle against relegation, and the plans for next season.

bundesliga.de: Herr Heidrich, congratulations on your last-gasp victory over Hansa Rostock. What was your experience of those closing minutes?

Steffen Heidrich: Pure euphoria! There was no stopping us when we made it 2-1. I ran straight over to the corner flag to celebrate with the players. Everyone was going crazy. It had looked like being a different story at half-time, with Energie in the relegation zone. Then the team came out and turned this crucial game around in the second-half, despite being a man down. It was unbelievable - a one-off!

bundesliga.de: The three points against Rostock mean Energie have already taken two more than they did in the whole of the first half of the season. What do you put the improvement in form down to?

Heidrich: Beating Bayern München 2-0 was the turning point. That was when everyone realised - aha, we can do it! We not only won the game, but did so playing good football. That really turned things around. Since then, we've won five games out of seven - an incredible run!

bundesliga.de: Cottbus are five points clear of the relegation zone with four games still to play. Are you as good as safe?

Heidrich: It's a deceptive gap. As I said: at half-time in the Hansa game, we were still in the bottom three. That shows how tight it is in the Bundesliga. Beating Rostock was an important step in the right direction., but we're by no means safe yet. All the team have to be clear about that.

bundesliga.de: You have a tough schedule coming up: away to Bremen, Karlsruhe and Hannover, and a home meeting with Hamburg. How many points do you need from these games to stay up?

Heidrich: One win should give us a good chance of surviving. But the end of the day, it's all just speculation. The past few weeks have shown how quickly things can change at the bottom end of the table. We just have to try and take whatever we can out of every game. And at the moment, we're not an easy team to beat. The last-minute win gave the team a lot of self-belief - that's not something you can buy.

bundesliga.de: Before the season got underway, you were favourites to go down, having sold your star duo Sergiu Radu and Vlad Munteanu to Wolfsburg. Neither player has been able to establish himself at the “Wolves”, while their transfer fees have got Cottbus out of debt, and the club is looking set to stay up. A satisfactory piece of business?

Heidrich: No. We had no choice in the matter. A lot of people didn't understand that at the time. Sergiu Radu and Vlad Munteanu had been excellent for us all season. Obviously, other sides are going to come in with offers for the players, where they'll be on double or treble the money. Energie can't compete with that. The best we could do was ensure we got a decent fee for the pair. And we did.

bundesliga.de: Assuming Cottbus stay up - will you have to let your best players go this summer as well?

Heidrich: No, because all the players are tied to Energie beyond the end of the season. Regardless of whether we're playing in the Bundesliga or the 2. Bundesliga. So we won't have to start from scratch again, we'll be building on the squad we have here.

bundesliga.de: Vlad Muntenau and Sergiu Radu were both still under contract at Energie. But they were sold anyway…

Heidrich: Energie Cottbus don't need to sell anyone for financial reasons. Those days are gone. Every player has his price, of course - now, though, it's a very high one.

bundesliga.de: Could Muntenau and Radu be returning?

Heidrich: It's not an impossibility, but the chances of that happening are very slight.

bundesliga.de: As sporting director, it's your job to put together the squad for the coming season. Is the task made any harder by still not knowing which league Cottbus will be playing in next year?

Heidrich: That's the main difficulty. But it's part of the job at Energie. I've got used to planning in parallel. Our philosophy remains that of only bringing players to the club on free transfers. Bojan Prasnikar and myself have been on the road a lot recently, looking at some interesting players. We're well prepared, and we'll be signing up the odd unknown, who will hopefully go on to great things with us.

bundesliga.de: Cottbus take on Werder Bremen on Saturday. Looking at the table, a draw would be a useful result. Will the team set out its stall for a 0-0 up there?

Heidrich: No chance. Bojan Prasnikar's game philosophy doesn't allow for that. We always play to win, and to score goals. And in the past, we've invariably put on a good show in Bremen anyway.

Interview: Andreas Braun / translation Angus Davison

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