Polzin discusses Bundesliga promotion | OneFootball

Hamburg head coach Merlin Polzin on Bundesliga promotion: "We've never gone away"

Merlin Polzin has led Hamburg back to the Bundesliga after a seven-year stay in the second tier. bundesliga.com spoke to the head coach about the team's promotion, as well as his journey from the terraces to the dugout...

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bundesliga.com: Merlin, has what you have achieved this season sunk in yet?

Merlin Polzin: "In order to really understand what we have achieved for all HSV fans and for ourselves as a team, we definitely need a bit more time. We’ll let it sink in over the summer break. Earning promotion was fantastic and celebrating with our supporters was huge!”

bundesliga.com: How was the decisive moment for you when your promotion was confirmed?

Polzin: "Indescribable! I'll never forget the way the crowds just sprinted towards me and the way I celebrated with everyone. It was a great moment which I’ll never forget.”

bundesliga.com: How did the team celebrate?

Polzin: “The lads aren't just good at football, they can also party very well! We managed to do that in the changing room, the mixed zone, and then later in the city. It was then obviously a very good afternoon and evening on the following day, too."

bundesliga.com: Did you realise when you took the job how heavy the burden of leading HSV can weigh?

Polzin: “I don't know if it was a burden for us a coaching team. It was a real privilege to be able to coach the biggest club in our home city. It was also our responsibility to get the most out of ourselves and the team every day in order to be able to secure promotion. We haven't really given much thought to what’s going on outside, rather we have focused on what we can influence, on working with the team. That’s what we did, and we have been rewarded for that in the end.”

bundesliga.com: How important is it for the city of Hamburg, after seven years, to have HSV playing in the Bundesliga again?

Polzin: “You could see the joy on Saturday. It's extremely important for Hamburg as a city, and for HSV, that we’re playing in the Bundesliga. It’s still also important to mention that, although Hamburg haven't been amongst the elite, we’ve never gone away, because if you fill a stadium with 60,000 people every second week, when so many people travel to every away game, then a club hasn't gone away. We've now also managed, from a footballing point of view, to be back where the fans deserve to be."

bundesliga.com: What do HSV mean to you?

Polzin: “It's no secret that I went to a lot of games in the past and that I was often at the Volksparkstadion. It was clear when I signed the contract, though, that I'm here as a coach and not as a fan. I still realise in moments like promotion that I don’t only bleed red, but I bleed black, white and blue. Yet I also recognise that I'm working in the football industry, but I still have that love for my hometown and for this club, without a doubt.”

bundesliga.com: Do you have to pinch yourself sometimes at how incredible your journey has been? You were a fan in the stands and now you’re the head coach with your name in the history books.

Polzin: “I’m sure I’ll come to realise in the coming weeks just what we’ve achieved. HSV is my hometown club, Hamburg is my city, so it was really important to me to take this once-in-a-lifetime chance. I'm very proud of this team and everything we’ve achieved. It makes us all very happy and very proud."

bundesliga.com: Looking across this season, Davie Selke has been one of the team's leaders and has impressed. Why has he been able to deliver?

Polzin: “It's always difficult to know in advance how a player will integrate into a club or a team. Davie has done that extremely well, on the pitch and in the dressing room. He has a special aura which rubs off onto others, and his impact and his contribution to the success can’t really be put into words.”

bundesliga.com: Finally, how do you think your return to the Bundesliga will unfold?

Polzin: "We haven't really thought about next season much yet because we've been so focused on getting promoted. We’ll look at it again in the summer break and make sure we’re as ready as possible.”

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