Football Season Guide

Hannover had a very difficult season in 2014/15. They changed manager half way through the season for the second time running and were involved in a relegation fight for the second year running as well. Many of former manager Tayfun Korkut’s signings have left the club this summer as something over a squad overhaul has taken place. Their long winless streak which extended from the start of the second half of the last season until after new manager Michael Frontzeck took over and that deeply unsettled the club as relegation looked like a distinct possibility. There are therefore many question marks surrounding the team going into this season. The most important being whether Frontzeck will still be in charge at the end of the season and second whether the new look squad will be able to cope with the demands of the league better than last year’s squad. Frontzeck himself has more of a reputation of a troubleshooter rather than a long term option so many of the signings have been made by the sporting director rather than the coach. However some of the signings made look like really improving the experience and quality of the team. Two players have been added from relegated Freiburg, both with plenty of Bundesliga experience. They will both expect to be first team players in this squad while a couple of younger faces have also been added in the form of Dame Uffe Bech and exciting winger Allan Saint Maximin. Charlison Benschop and Philipp Tschauner have also been added from second division sides and will be hoping to make the step up to the top league. But much is expected from Mevlut Erdinc who has a solid scoring record in his time in Ligue 1. He has replaced the outgoing Joselu as their ‘number nine’ and will be expected to be their main threat in front of goal. With the exit of former captain Lars Stindl this summer much of the responsibility for carrying the side also falls onto Ron-Robert Zieler and new captain Christian Schulz who have been excellent over the last few seasons. They represent two of the more experienced members of the side now and whether they continue to play well will have a big impact on their season. A number of other squad players have also left while the club failed to secure the signing of Jimmy Briand who decided not to sign another contract. Hannover also ran out of patience with Leonardo Bittencourt who was simply too erratic both in performance and temperament. The club will be determined to keep hold of their manager unless the situation becomes untenable which has happened in their last two seasons. But the only way they will improve is by getting some consistency in their leadership as they once again embark on a season with the aim of stabilizing. Frontzeck would probably be quite happy with a mid table finish away from the relegation fight and that will be the aim overall this season.