Noise in St. Pölten

Thunder is followed by a violent quake

Tino Wawra and Jan Schlaudraff (right) will vacate their offices in the summer(Bild: SKN St. Pölten)

The resignation of Jan Schlaudraff as Managing Director Sport at SKN St. Pölten announced on Monday did not come as a surprise to many. Because the club tried desperately and ultimately unsuccessfully to conceal the internal trench warfare. Schlaudraff's announcement was perhaps like thunder - but hidden in a thunderstorm, which is now followed by the big quake.

The fact is that the German lost the internal power struggle at the board of directors against managing director of economics Matthias Gebauer. The former dual leadership has only existed on paper for weeks, as Schlaudraff no longer received any useful information regarding the sports budget for the coming season. "Him or me," was the question, which was answered quite clearly.

Probably also because the club management had already placed the sporting planning in other hands anyway and, in the hope of landing an investor, handed themselves over to external consultant Frank Schreier and his agency "More than Sport". Schreier is the agent who currently has ten (!) of his players parked at the Traisen. More will follow. The only question is under which sporting director. Despite having a contract running until 2026, Tino Wawra will also resign at the end of the season because Schlaudraff and VfL Wolfsburg are the two reasons that lured him from Linz to St. Pölten last year.

Wawra remains silent and was banned from giving interviews a month ago after he pointed out a number of grievances at the club to the "Krone" newspaper and had to report back. The 44-year-old can therefore neither deny nor confirm that the coach he brought in, Philipp Semlic, will also have to leave because Schreier is pushing his protégé, former Leoben coach Rene Poms.

SKN currently resembles a snake pit. Threatening its existence - unfortunately not for the first time in its history . . .