It has been a busy couple of weeks for Hertha BSC. There have been lots of Bundesliga fixtures in a short space of time, Fredi Bobic has left the club, Benjamin Weber and Andreas “Zecke” Neuendorf have been brought in and there were the late movements in the transfer window. Following on from this eventful period, we spoke to club president Kay Bernstein to discuss the developments at our club. “I sense that everyone is aware of the situation and everyone understands what’s going on with regards to the league table. The most important thing is that we approach this with the necessary clarity and composure and we can operate in a unified manner,” explained the 42-year-old. Bernstein also spoke about the recent big decisions, the new path the club will take, women’s football and the potential new stadium.

Changes of system, different moves, personnel changes. Lots of different things can happen tactically when Hertha play 90 minutes of Bundesliga football. Reacting to different situations and taking different approaches during games was a topic of conversation in Friday’s presser ahead of Sunday’s clash with Borussia Mönchengladbach (15:30 CET). “Regardless of the set-up, it’s not just the what, but also the how that’s important. Our system will have advantages and disadvantages based on the approach that our opponents take. We have looked to show our strengths on the break with our banks of three recently. Now we’re facing a team with a different way of playing,” explained Schwarz on Friday afternoon. Benjamin Weber was also present and he expressed his support for the head coach: “I can sense a focussed and concentrated team and Sandro and the coaching staff have my full backing. Even though we’ve had negative results of late, showing our support isn’t difficult to do because I can see how hard the players and staff are working,” said the sporting director. Here are the most important bits from Friday’s press conference:

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FSV Mainz will play two friendlies as part of their summer training camp in Grassau. The Zerofivers will take on Turkish giants Beşiktaş on Friday 15th July, followed by premier league side Newcastle United on Monday 18th July.

Sebastian Hoeneß previews the home match against Borussia Dortmund on Saturday at 15:30 CEST.

For three years now, SK Dynamo Ceske Budejovice – as the club is called in the national language – has once again been a permanent fixture in the Czech first division. After relegation in the 2012/13 season, the club had great difficulty returning to the top flight. Although they managed direct promotion, they were relegated again in the 2014/15 season and then spent four years in the second division.

After the World Cup in Qatar and the unusually long winter break that came with it, the Wolves will finally be back in action this coming Saturday, 21 January (kick-off 15:30 CET). Head coach Niko Kovac’s men are at home to SC Freiburg at the Volkswagen Arena as part of Bundesliga Matchday 16 as they look to hone in on a European spot.

“It’s difficult and sad, because as players you want to go to the World Cup, but we have this schedule where we have to play for our club and do our best. We are fighting a lot for player welfare because the schedule is crazy,” said the Blues defender.

Boris Rupert reporting