Pajduch: "My sporting career was more of an anecdote"

Paul Pajduch joined TSG Hoffenheim from Sturm Graz in mid-October. The 31-year-old is regarded as a close confidant of managing director for sport Andreas Schicker and was the preferred candidate for the role of technical director. In the 'A village is the world' podcast, Pajduch talked about his trusting relationship with Schicker, who promoted him to the role of head scout in Graz.

But what does the everyday life of a technical director actually look like? "The title says relatively little; it varies from club to club. I see myself as the person who supports Andreas Schicker; otherwise, the workload would be far too great. Andi and I have been working together for a long time, I'm his sparring partner. I'm also in charge of scouting and squad planning. We want to find one or two talented youngsters and make the team better," Pajduch explained.

The former goalkeeper also spoke about his playing career and a very special game on the last matchday of the 2011/2012 season, which saw him make his debut in the Austrian Bundesliga: "My career was more of an anecdote than a great career. It was 22 minutes for Kapfenberger SV on the final Bundesliga matchday. I quickly realised that it wasn't going to be a great career."

The fact that the Austrian, who was born in Styria, ended up as a football official is thanks to his direct manner: "After graduating, I simply wrote an email to the managing director of Sturm Graz at the time and asked if he had any jobs for me. He actually called me back and we met at the start of training. Shortly afterwards, I became the assistant for match analysis within the coaching team."

In Hoffenheim, Pajduch wants to continue his successful working relationship with Andreas Schicker and the new coach Christian Ilzer from their time together in Graz: "We're convinced that Christian is the right coach for us. There are different philosophies, none of them are wrong. The approach is what is decisive. We want to have press actively and intensively off the ball. It should be vertical with the ball, but still constructive."

Click here to listen to the episode.