The decision to part company with the current coaching set up following the catastrophic exit from the Austrian FA Cup didn't come as a great surprise to people within the club: ultimately the responsibility for such a woeful downturn in fortunes will always be laid at the coaching team' door. During Thursday's training session the first team squad were introduced to the newly appointed Zoran Barisic, who makes the step up from coaching the reserve side. Helping him with first team affairs will be assistant Carsten Jancker, who will simultaneously remain in his role as the clubs youth development coach. Thomas Hickersberger, Raimund Hedl and Alexander Steinbichler (up to this points the reserves Athletic trainer) complete the coaching set up. President Rudolf Edlinger spoke of the "difficult decision", whilst Helmut Schulte revealed the factors behind that decision: "We are all feeling the pressure after the Cup exit. As Director of Football it's my task to analyze the on field performances and the situation in which the team presently finds itself, and can only conclude that having won only one of the previous ten games is completely unacceptable. We have always stood behind the Trainer Team and have had many discussions and made plenty of internal decisions to find the right formula but nothing has helped the situation. Therefore we have arrived at this decision to bring in a fresh coaching set up, which was personally for me a very difficult decision to reach."Peter Schöttel had taken charge of Wednesday's training session and was also present before the large gathering of diverse media reporters: "It's been nearly two years since we accepted this task and we knew back then that it wasn't going to be easy. But I'm still pleased that we decided to take the challenge on. The decision isn't particularly surprising. The team's performance in the first half against Pasching will always remain a mystery to me. It was totally unacceptable, and to have presided over it hurts. It was my last contribution to Rapid." Our outgoing Head Coach had one last piece of poignant advice: "We had the greatest successes when all of us, everyone in and around the club, were united."It was then incoming Zoran Barisic's turn: "First of all I want to thank everyone for the trust placed in me and make it clear that I have the greatest respect for Peter Schöttel. We know that the current situation is anything but acceptable and we'll do everything in our power to get the team back on the right track." Carsten Jancker added: "I've been watching "Zoki" and in the last couple of years he has developed massively. I'll do everything I can to support him."There was a sense in the air that improvement would be demanded as of that Thursday, with a derby date in Favoriten looming large on Sunday. When asked about the Cup exit, our new trainer replied: "The coaching staff will closely examine who in the future will be allowed to pull on the Rapid jersey." The emphasis of the sentence rested firmly on the word "allowed."(gw)
19.04.2013