Fynn Holpert: Flensburg still inconsistent

The surprising home defeat against Lubin is still in their heads, but SG Flensburg-Handewitt are sure to reach the second group phase of the Champions League despite the 2:4 points after three matches. In an exclusive interview with Eurohandball.com, manager Fynn Holpert talks about the “two different Flensburg teams” in Bundesliga and in the CL, the injury situation and about his hope that they would not lose against the Polish champions again.

Eurohandball.com: After the defeat against Lubin, all eyes in Flensburg looked at Drammen where Ciudad Real played and won on Sunday. Was it what you were hoping for?

Holpert: Yes, of course. It’s better for us that Ciudad Real get through this group and win all their matches – except the one against us. As Ciudad Real are leading by four points, we still have the chance in our hands to finish second. We have to win the two matches against Drammen HK and in Lubin and then we reach our objective, which is the second group phase.

Eurohandball.com: What was your first reaction after the defeat against Lubin?

Holpert: We were disappointed; this match was a catastrophe for us. We had lost the ease characteristic of other top clubs such as Ciudad, Barcelona, Kiel or Hamburg. Now we have to take every match very seriously, because we also have to care about the financial aspects of the Champions League. We did not play as a team against Lubin, we had too many individual efforts. You can win a Champions League match only as a team. At the end, when we had the chance to get closer, we were unlucky and the Polish goalkeeper was too good.

Eurohandball.com: And afterwards the team had to listen to harsh and loud words from you and coach Kent-Harry Andersson?

Holpert: Yes. We spoke together and we pointed out a lot of things that went wrong, especially that we played so badly in front of our fans.

We don’t know why we have two faces. In the Bundesliga we are the best team at the moment, and in Champions League we did not play well in these three games. But we will keep our head up as everything is still possible for us. We play three competitions: Bundesliga, German Cup and Champions League and we want to play there as long as possible.

Eurohandball.com: Now you have a break in the Champions League until the 11th of November when you play against Drammen. Is this break good for your team to have time to focus on the CL once again?

Holpert: No, it would have been better to play this weekend as the severe words to the teams then would have been very “fresh”. But now we played Bundesliga on Wednesday and we improved a lot respect to the Lubin match. Füchse Berlin had were the victims of our players and we were leading 11:1 after 15 minutes. We have to keep our rhythm with matches on Wednesday and at the weekend to prepare as much as possible for the Champions League. With this rhythm and team spirit we have all the chances.

Eurohandball.com: Blazenko Lackovic and Frank von Behren retuned after long injuries against Lubin. Are they totally fit by now?

Holpert: No, they have to play more time, but we have to be patient with them. I think it will become better with every match they play. But in case they are not able to play on their normal level, the others have to do more instead of them. This is what I call a team.

Eurohandball.com: Two other players, Sören Stryger and Einar Holmgeirsson, are still injured. When will they come back?

Holpert: Sören will miss a long time after his knee operation. I can’t tell you when he will play again. Wehope that Einar will be back in two or three weeks.

Eurohandball.com: Your most important task at the moment is to build a team for the next season. Last week, coach Kent-Harry Andersson extended his contract until 2010. Do you think that it will be a signal for the players?

Holpert: We will talk with every player whose contract is running out at the end of the season. We hope that we get the first results soon. Our aim is to have a team again that can play on a high Champions League level.

Eurhandball.com: One of the players you like to sign is the German World Champion, Holger Glandorf, from Nordhorn. Will he come to Flensburg?

Holpert: I don’t know yet. We made an offer to him and we talked to Nordhorn that we would like to sign him. Now Holger has to make his decision if he wants to join SG Flensburg-Handewitt or not. As Marcin Lijewski prefers to go to Hamburg and play together with his brother there, we have to look around on the market. But we don’t have to hurry as we have players such as Holmgeirsson and Peterson for this position. But I hope that Holger Glandorf will come to us as he is a good and interesting player.