Coach Jens Härtel of Erzgebirge Aue is hoping for an upswing in the third soccer league. The 56-year-old is banking on a "significantly better second half of the season and a more successful year overall than what we experienced in 2025", as he told the "Freie Presse" newspaper. Aue finished the first half of the season in 16th place, one point ahead of the relegation places.
The coach described his time at Aue so far as a "complicated year": "We haven't performed as we imagined." The coach sees the constant injuries as one reason for this. In addition, the team won more home games last season and drew fewer: "Now we've shared the points much more often and lost less. But in the end, there are hardly any more points."
New assistant coach brings a breath of fresh air
There were also changes in the management circle. Head of sport Matthias Heidrich had to leave, as did assistant coach Jörg Emmerich. Härtel, who was also under fire, has now been joined by a young assistant coach in Lars Fuchs, whose refreshing manner has delighted Härtel.
"It is generally important that an assistant coach has an intact relationship with the team, that he is sometimes also a contact person for the boys and for one or two problems they may have," said Härtel about the 43-year-old, "Lars certainly has a good feeling for this because he knows it himself and because an assistant coach generally has a good relationship with the players."
Together with the former professional, the aim in the new year is to win more games, celebrate more goals and avoid conceding more goals. Härtel hopes that "we will be more stable overall and not be in the area where it gets dangerous".
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