"Everyone must be aware of what's at stake"

Christian Ilzer on…

…resolutions for the New Year: "I spent the days with my family and switched off as best as I could. Now it's time to generate new momentum with great passion and to move forward as a team. In December, we did not manage to free ourselves from the relegation maelstrom. Everyone must be aware of what's at stake. It's not been an easy season and we're a long way from perfect, but it hasn't all been bad either. We have things that we can build upon, but there are also several things that we very clearly need to do better. We'll be away to almost all of our direct rivals in the second half of the season; that must not be underestimated."

…the short winter preparations: "For me as a coach, it is of course important what happens in the first eight weeks. There is a foundation there and we have additionally managed to identify some reference points. On the basis of these findings, we need to take the next steps – both content-wise and as a team too. We don't have much time; training time is valuable. The friendly against FC Augsburg under competitive Bundesliga conditions is an absolute focal point in this period."

…the season objective: "First of all, we want to move away from the bottom. We must be prepared to do everything that is necessary to achieve that. We need to become better in both boxes; efficiency in attack and consistency in defence are two important points."

…the preparations for Wolfsburg: "We can now cement processes and mechanisms and will also use the friendly against FC Augsburg to this end. We're working both holistically and on all key areas: our play off the ball, on the ball, set-pieces, team culture – these four pillars are priorities. Football fitness is always something integrative."

Andreas Schicker on…

…his start to the year: "I moved with my family over Christmas, we've found a house in Leimen. We then spent the New Year in Germany for the first time. It's a good thing that my family is now here and I'm in familiar surroundings. But there has not been a single day when my phone has not rung. That's just the way it is because of the short winter break."

…the first two transfers: "Erencan Yardimci is a player with a very exciting profile, I kept tabs on him for a long time during my time in Graz. He is very fast and makes lots of runs in behind, he's a very dynamic player. Gift Orban made his last appearance in the starting line-up against us in the Europa League. The days up until the game against Wolfsburg will do him good. But he possesses good physicality, has a good feeling for making runs and is very pacey. Gift also carries a certain goal threat. He showed the quality he has during his time at KAA Gent. And if you break down his scoring rate at Lyon into goals per minute, it's also extremely good. We wouldn't have gotten him from Gent a year ago. It was very important that both players joined us early on. They need to quickly become options for us. They give us the speed that we were lacking, especially after the injury sustained by Marius Bülter."

…squad planning: "‘I spoke to a lot of players before Christmas. It is definitely envisaged to reduce the squad in certain positions. It's important to have a healthy squad size. But we are also keeping our eyes open. The market is still quiet."

…the long-term injury absentees: "In the cases of Marius Bülter and Umut Tohumcu, we hope that they will return during the course of January. Ozan Kabak and Ihlas Bebou are on their way back, but that will not happen until late spring at the earliest. Grischa Prömel will probably only return for the new season. The list is very long; that doesn't make our situation any easier."

…TSG's turbulent 2024: "In the three months that I've been here, I've had the feeling that many people are happy that my position has been filled again. But my focus is only on what lies ahead. I'm convinced that we're now on the right path. We're not at the point where we would like to be but the sporting development is right. In terms of the physical parameters, we've made a huge leap forward since the change of coach. But we still need time to get to where we all want to be."