Schmidt backed to stay in charge despite Heidenheim crisis

Frank Schmidt has been backed to stay in charge despite Heidenheim’s poor form in the Bundesliga.

FC Heidenheim’s struggles in the Bundesliga continued on Sunday as they suffered a fifth successive league defeat, this time 2-0 at the hands of Mainz.

Despite this, the job of long-serving Heidenheim coach Frank Schmidt is not under threat, as club chairman Holger Sanwald made clear after the match.

“He doesn’t make a significantly different impression on me than he has in all the previous years,” said Sanwald in a post-match interview. 

“Frank is always positive, gives his all and thinks a lot. He knows that this is football, there are setbacks and you have to find answers. And he is leading the way.”

Schmidt has been at the helm since 2007, guiding Heidenheim from the fifth tier to the Bundesliga.

And, as Sanwald insisted, Schmidt continues to “make the most of his job every day” and has “the support of everyone at the club”.

Heidenheim are 16th in the Bundesliga, level on points with 17th-placed Bochum and one point ahead of bottom-placed Holstein Kiel.

Next up for Schmidt’s team is Thursday’s UEFA Europa Conference League knockout stage play-off clash at home to FC Copenhagen. Heidenheim won the first leg in Denmark 2-1 last week.