With Pal Dardai, an old friend is coming back to Hertha BSC. Relegation is now his responsibility, said the Hungarian at his presentation.
Bundesliga club Hertha BSC presented its new but well-known coach on Monday: At a press conference, the club, threatened with relegation, presented club icon Pal Dardai. This is the third time that the former Blue and White player has been coached by the Berliners.
He last worked for almost a year in 2021, before that he looked after Hertha between February 2015 and June 2019 in a total of 172 games. With 373 active appearances, Dardai is still Hertha’s record player.
After his last job with the blue and whites, Dardai did not hold any office until the end.
Hertha BSC dismisses coach Sandro Schwarz – Pal Dardai takes over
Hertha BSC has responded to the ongoing downturn in sport and released coach Sandro Schwarz from his duties. Pal Dardai, an old acquaintance of the Bundesliga club, is now taking over as coach for the last six games.more
Weber: Dardai doesn’t need one training period
Sports director Benjamin Weber first explained the reasons for the separation from ex-coach Sandro Schwarz at Dardai’s introductory press conference. “As you can all imagine, short nights are behind us,” said Weber. “We mainly used Saturday to analyze the situation together with Sandro Schwarz. Ultimately, we no longer had the impression that he could muster the emotionality and passion,” said the 43-year-old clearly.
With Pal Dardai it is now a matter of “doing everything we can to stay up in the league”. “Many have already written us off. That is also an incentive for us,” said Weber.
Dardai knows every blade of grass and all employees in the club would know him well. “Those were the decisive points, that he can start immediately and doesn’t need any training time,” says Weber.
A defeat for the Hertha club leadership
There were many arguments for dismissing Sandro Schwarz as Hertha BSC coach. Nevertheless, Hertha’s leadership does not look good: she had decided to go with the coach – only to fire him in the end. By Till Oppermannmore
Dardai should return to the club in the summer anyway
The club management apparently got in touch with Dardai some time ago. “The management talked to me for a long time. Actually, the plan was that I would return to the academy in the summer,” said Dardai when he was introduced. “Then the call came. It didn’t take long, I said yes. I want to get back there so that the young Hertha players don’t leave the club,” Dardai explained his plan. “It’s my responsibility from now on to keep this team in the league.”
Dardai did not want to comment on concrete construction sites in the team even after repeated requests on Monday. “If we’re honest, there are many mistakes. You have to correct that and then you have to change it,” said the 47-year-old simply. “The team also has to move a bit more and stick together more. If one makes a mistake, the other has to be ready to correct it. I can already see things that don’t work at Hertha,” Dardai continued.
The new coach also made it clear that the relegation place is a realistic goal in the current situation. “We’re talking about eight games, not six games. Relegation is also good at the moment. If you can quickly create half a miracle and have a little bit of luck – but you have to work hard, be disciplined and do a lot of things – then we can meet maybe save on the last day of the game. But first I think from game to game.”
Broadcast: rbb24, 04/17/23, 6 p.m
