The most bitter day in the club’s history left its mark, with a deep crack visible in the glass of the away team’s locker room door. Coach Hecking, in particular, caused a stir after the relegation drama.
Following their first-ever Bundesliga relegation, anger and frustration prevailed at VfL Wolfsburg. «When you get relegated, it hurts,» said coach Dieter Hecking on Sat.1. «The disappointment is immense for me too, because we’ve had a very intense time in the last nine to ten weeks. We tried everything, and the players also invested everything to stay in the league.»
«Ultimately, it all hinges on a single situation whether you stay up or go down. Then the game took a turn we didn’t want,» Hecking explained, referring to Joakim Maehle’s early second yellow card in the 14th minute. While the second yellow card was «undisputed,» the 61-year-old criticized referee Felix Zwayer for a lack of «tact» on the first booking.
VfL Wolfsburg Relegated: Hecking Claims to Have Seen Assault
Heckingsaid he had a «completely different assessment» of that incident. «Maehle was attacked three times, then three men came at him, and if that’s not assault from Bilbija, then we can just quit. We can also complain about that, but it’s pointless.» He added that the game was «decided» and they had to congratulate Paderborn on their promotion after a 1-2 loss (1-1, 1-1) following extra time.
The coach remained non-committal about what the first fall into the second division after 29 years means for his own future. «First, there’s the disappointment that we didn’t make it. We’ll have to let it sink in for the next day or two and then certainly talk,» said Hecking. Supervisory board member Diego Benaglio stated that they first need to «deal with the disappointment and then get back up again.» He also mentioned that «tears» were shed in the locker room.