Tanned and with a broad grin on his face, Michael Köllner entered the press room at the 1860 training ground on Friday morning. “Hello everyone, let’s attack again!” he called out with full vigor at the season-opening press conference. The man has had a good summer – that was clear after a few seconds.
Although this summer had started with a few speculations as to whether Köllner would stay with the lions at all – after another good season with fourth place in the third football league, but also after missing out on promotion again. But it has long been clear: 1860 and Köllner will not only continue together – 1860 will get the full dose of Michael Köllner.
The coach himself was the driving force in putting together the squad, which required a lot of work but also went according to plan: “It was almost like baking pretzels.” So far, eight external arrivals are offset by eight departures. Sascha Mölders (already in winter), Stephan Salger, Richard Neudecker, Dennis Dressel, Keanu Staude, Tim Linsbichler, György Szekely and Merveille Biankadi have left the club for good. Martin Kobylanski (Braunschweig, attacking midfield), Albion Vrenezi (Türkgücü, right midfield), Jesper Verlaat (Mannheim, central defender), Christopher Lannert (Verl, right defender), Tim Rieder (Türkgücü, defensive midfield), Meris Skenderovic ( Schweinfurt, striker), Julius Schmid (Lübeck, goalkeeper) and Fynn Lakenmacher (Havelse, striker).
Great hopes are placed in the Verlaat – Kobylanski – Lakenmacher axis in particular
Great hopes are placed in the Verlaat – Kobylanski – Lakenmacher axis in particular. Offensive man Joseph Boyamba from Waldhof Mannheim is about to be signed as another addition. “We were looking for hungry players and have now signed those who fit the Löwen’s DNA,” says Köllner, who got a first impression of his squad on Friday in small groups on the training ground and invites to the official start of training this Saturday.
The environment is euphoric, and the 52-year-old has also taken note: “The expectations from outside have been raised with every day, with every transfer we have made.” The hype around the sixties is big again, which is usually the first reason to be suspicious. In fact, however, Köllner doesn’t feel much of the pressure; he’s rather pleased, for example, with the record demand for season ticket sales, which had to be stopped at 11,860. “If there’s fire in the club, if the enthusiasm is palpable, that will inspire us,” says the coach, wanting to take advantage of the high expectations.
Köllner wants to bake bigger pretzels, but expects a close battle with several teams for the top of the table. “If you look at what Osnabrück, Mannheim, Dresden, Ingolstadt, Aue or Saarbrücken did during the summer break, it would be disrespectful not to recognize their ambitions and their qualities,” he said. Some people in the area only see the season as a way station to the second division in 2023 – before that, what else should they do, the sixties coach expressly warned.
“Lower Bavaria is a blue region, so we want to be able to experience it close up,” says Köllner
In preparation, Köllner wants to transform the successes of the transfer summer into a powerful team – and get in touch with the region and the fans. Already this Sunday afternoon (4 p.m.) the first test match is on the program at the regional league team TSV Waldkirchen, the sixties arrive early and will complete a public training session in the morning. “Lower Bavaria is a blue region, so we want to be able to experience it close up,” says Köllner.
There is not much time left until the start of the third division season, the first matchday is scheduled for July 22nd. A week later, on Friday, July 29th, the sixties can expect the first big highlight of the new season. In the final phase of last season, there was a hard fight for fourth place and the associated ticket for the DFB Cup, which paid off: Borussia Dortmund comes to Grünwalder Straße, including a free-to-air broadcast on ZDF. Köllner tries hard to label the importance of the game as a dream of the future – but he cannot hide his anticipation either: “It will be a great stage for the club and of course it is also a mega game for our sponsors!”
Borussia Dortmund is also the last club against which 1860 played a league game. On the last matchday of the third division season there was a 6:3 against the second representation, now it’s against the Champions League participant. Sometimes dreams of the great football world come true in Giesing.
