Job guarantees for coach and sporting director of Halle FC

Job guarantees for coach Sreto Ristic and sporting director Thomas Sobotzik, harsh criticism of the team. The board of the relegation-threatened Hallescher FC has commented on the first half of the season, which has fallen short of expectations, with clear words and called for improvement.

"But since many things and mistakes have run through the season so far, you can no longer speak of bad luck," the four-member board responded to a list of questions from the "Mitteldeutsche Zeitung". If you look at "the effects our substitutes have had so far, that's far too little."

Coach Ristic is expected to significantly improve on his record of 18 points in 19 games in the new year. "Of course, the course of the season so far has left its mark on him too," commented the board. "We definitely stand by him and trust him to draw the right conclusions and secure our survival in the league."

The same applies to sporting director Sobotzik, whose appointments have had their ups and downs. "It is now up to the sporting director and coach to do everything they can to ensure that the right measures are taken to achieve a significantly better second half of the season," said the board. They will continue to work with both, as they are certain "that they will turn things around".

The board admitted that a change to the squad would be necessary in January in order to achieve the goal of staying in the league. "It's clear to us that this will require new personnel." The cruciate ligament rupture of central defender Sebastian Zieleniecki has made it clear that the club is looking around the market for defensive players. With 41 goals conceded, HFC have the most vulnerable defense in the league.

However, it is unlikely to stay that way. Although they are doing well offensively with 29 goals, the goals are spread over too few shoulders. Dominic Baumann (eleven) and Tunay Deniz (seven) together scored almost two thirds of Halle's goals. Sobotzik is also likely to try to get some reserves off the payroll early.