FC St. Pauli

Kauczinski went into the game at Kiel in upbeat mood after a good week in training, but it was a different story after the final whistle. "The good feeling we had before the match had gone by the time we ran out," he said. "It took us a good half an hour to get into the game because we kept letting them unsettle us and gave the ball away too quickly. There were lots of situations where we had time and space to turn but were too frantic and surrendered possession straightaway. We need to have a different view of ourselves in those situations and find more composure. We lost the ball too often and too quickly under pressure, which disrupted our play too often." His team went on to lose the game 2-1 despite starting the second half a man to the good. "We gained the upper hand but then allowed Kiel to turn it round because we made simple mistakes and gifted them two quick goals. It took us a while to come back but we had several huge chances towards the end where you had the feeling one of them had to go in."

The Boys in Brown returned from Kiel empty-handed and with a casualty on board in Waldemar Sobota. The attacking wide man turned over on his ankle towards the end of the game. "Waldi carried on to the end but it didn't look good, said Kauczinski. "He'll have an MRI scan but he's going to be out with a ligament injury. It doesn't matter whether it's badly stretched or torn in terms of how long he'll be sidelined. We're assuming he'll be unavailable for the next four to five weeks."

Another topic of discussion was the selection of Jeremy Dudziak and the banner displayed by the fans before the game about the midfielder's move to HSV. "We spoke to Jerry just before the game and the players encouraged him, but I don't think it left him cold. I think it did get to him." Kauczinski said Dudziak had been selected for footballing reasons: "I went with the more attacking option and picked him because he deserved it after performing well in training. With his assurance on the ball and his dribbling ability, Jerry's job was to carry the game forward. He was no better and no worse than any of the other players."

Before the Boys in Brown came out for training on Sunday morning, Kauczinski held a lengthy discussion with the players and the entire backroom team. "We talked about things with the aim of finding a way forward and coming to terms with what happened yesterday," he said. "We didn't look good at Kiel. Together with the preceding games, we're in a situation where we want and have to come out of it together. We'll only find a way out of there together. There's still something to play for this season. Every place we can climb in the table I want to climb. We want to find a way to play better football and get back to winning ways in the final six games. As a team and as FC St. Pauli, we want to give a different and better account of ourselves."

Photo: Witters