Coach optimistic

Blau-Weiße announcement: “We’ll always stay in the league”

Blau-Weiß coach Gerald Scheiblehner assured everyone that they would stay in the league.(Bild: GEPA)

Thanks to the 1:0 sensation at Rapid, the Blau-Weißen from Linz surprisingly catapulted themselves back into the top 6 last round. Nevertheless, the three goals for the season of the steel city club remain unchanged: The first is to stay in the league! The second is to avoid relegation! And the third is to stay in the league!

"Because we are ambitious in sporting terms, there are bonus targets, but for the sustainable further development of the club, the top priority is to stay in the Bundesliga," emphasized managing director Christoph Peschek at the "Blue and White Christmas" on Tuesday.

Chairman of the board Hans Kalliauer blows the same horn, regardless of sensations such as the recent one in Vienna or the series derby victories, and also looks very humbly and cautiously downwards rather than upwards in terms of the table, not least due to the halving of points after 22 rounds, which somehow makes BW Linz a possible relegation candidate.

The Viennese around Seidl (l.) lost again against Blau-Weiß.(Bild: GEPA)

"Calming pill"
Coach Gerald Scheiblehner was given a "chill pill" with two active ingredients ahead of his final appearance of 2024 against Austria Klagenfurt on Sunday:

• THE SPORTING ANTI-STRESS SUBSTANCE: "I can assure everyone that we will always stay in the league," declared the successful coach at the Christmas party. The reason for this extraordinary and perhaps even dangerous statement sounded like a declaration of love to the players: "Even though results count in soccer, sponsors, partners, fans and we coaches must not let ourselves be too guided by them. We in the coaching team are incredibly proud of this team, regardless of whether we win at the weekend or not. Because we have special players - what they have achieved since promotion is really very good."

• THE NON-SPORTING ANTI-STRESS SUBSTANCE: "Blue & White has undergone an incredible development in recent years," continued Scheiblehner in his speech and: "We're sitting here in the stadium business club, looking out over the Danube Bridge - I think we have one of the most beautiful stadiums in Austria. We sell out every home game, have an incredibly positive atmosphere and have families in the stadium, we have children here, but no violence. I think that's the most important thing!"

A snapshot of the BW Linz celebration.(Bild: GEPA)

"Always stay in the league"
Even if the last 90 minutes against Klagenfurt are of course the most important thing on Sunday. Against a team that recently lost 0:2 against Rapid, 0:7 at Sturm and 0:3 against Tirol, but against whom Scheiblehner warns. Also because BW Linz have never won against the Carinthians in League 1. Which, however, is no contradiction to the "calming pill" with the eleven words: "I can assure everyone that we will always stay in the league!"