One hundred is a proud number, especially when it comes to birthdays. Cédric Énard may not be 100 on Sunday, but he will be playing his 100th game as head coach of BR Volleys in Frankfurt. “One hundred Bundesliga games is a nice number for me personally. It’s a pleasure and an honor for me to have walked the path to this anniversary with the BR Volleys,” said Enard before the game.
He didn’t have much time last week to think about the celebration. After the cup loss against Friedrichshafen, the pressure before the Champions League game against the Serbian champions Novi Sad was too great. The volleys had to win that if possible in order to increase their chances of progressing. Volleys manager Kaweh Niroomand even spoke of a “key game”. And unlike the last game against Frankfurt, the volleys increased enormously in defense and acceptance and were able to prevail 3-0 in the end.
In this respect, Énard should have taken a deep breath in the last few days and was looking forward to his anniversary game, as was Niroomand, who emphasizes the qualities of the coach. “We are very satisfied with his work, he has brought many titles to Berlin.” Énard is structured, has a clear idea of volleyball and is open to discussions and exchange. “Of course a few things went wrong, for example the cup twice in a row. But all in all, I’ve always said that I don’t just judge a coach by the sporting titles.”
Instead, he tries to get an opinion of the team and get feedback on how Énard is received by the players. “We are very satisfied with what he has achieved here.”
Enard’s contract expires at the end of the season
The game against Frankfurt is the penultimate for the Volleys in the intermediate round of the Bundesliga, after that it’s only at home against Düren. They are still one point away from securing the best starting position for the play-offs. Most recently, they were able to assert themselves confidently against the Frankfurt team, who at the time started under the worst possible conditions. This time Satoshi Tsuiki will again be able to prove his qualities as a libero and will not have to help out on the pass. And Daniel Malescha, who has excelled regularly this season, should also be available. Énard therefore warned: “We will definitely face a different Frankfurt team than we did last time in Berlin.”
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At the same time, he knows that he has to rest his team so that they are fit for next week’s Champions League games in Russia. There they will face the group favorites Zenit St. Petersburg twice, because the volleys had waived their home rights due to a few corona cases at the beginning of the year.
By the end of the season, the Volleys want to win the championship again and go as far as possible in the Champions League after losing the trophy. Then Enard’s contract, who now also coaches the Croatian volleyball team, expires after four years. “We will talk calmly and constructively about how to proceed,” says Niroomand.
