Schmidt: In the background, but still there

Martin Schmidt’s priorities have changed and as a result he is now working for the club as a sporting consultant in a more behind-the-scenes role. However, that doesn’t mean that Martin Schmidt will be saying goodbye to Mainz 05. He felt it was important during a media round at the training camp in Brixental to stress that he’s still a part of 1. FSV Mainz 05. “I’m still an employee and have my office at Bruchweg. I will still be there regularly, definitely at all the home games.” His priorities have shifted in recent times due to private reasons. His father falling ill has meant that he’s been regularly travelling between Mainz and Wallis in his home country Switzerland. “It became clear that it was difficult to balance this with my role as sporting director. It’s important for me that I can have this freedom to be there for my father and family during this process. That’s why we said that we’d make this change now before the season starts,” said Schmidt, who once again thanked Christian Heidel for his understanding. After several conversations and lots of careful thought, the board and Schmidt together came up with a typical Mainz solution – the promotion of people from within the club. Niko Bungert has taken on the role of sporting director and Meikel Schönweitz is the new technical director.

“Mainz 05 works a little differently”

“It’s a great solution for all parties,” commented Schmidt, who believes the club have had some good experiences with promoting from within over the last 20 years. The 57-year-old himself became head coach of the first team after being in charge of the U23s and returned to the club as sporting director together with Christian Heidel at the end of December 2020 to restore some stability to M05. “Mainz 05 works a little differently to other clubs.” It’s now time for the next generation to take charge: “The fact that we’re able to deal with this change in this way speaks volumes of the club.”

Schmidt feels the process is interesting for both him and the club, but not an issue in any way. “The two guys will fill this gap brilliantly.” Schönweitz, in his previous role as director of football development in the academy, was already involved in squad planning and knows a lot of things inside out, such as the DFB and DFL structures. Schmidt is confident that Bungert will have no problems taking over the day-to-day business as sporting director. “I don’t even need to provide him with support,” he added. “Niko knows the Bundesliga, the dressing room, the players, the squad and the coaches. He completed a trainee programme at the club over the course of a year, so he knows everything inside out. He also did a sports management course with the DFB and that was extremely thorough. He ultimately has everything he needs.” Bo Henriksen is also said to be happy that his former assistant coach will be working closely with the team again.

“They’re both experienced in their respective fields”

There is a difference between the day-to-day business and “long-term topics”, as Schmidt puts it. There are lots of projects that Bungert and Schönweitz will have to learn about, such as “infrastructural planning of the new main office.” Schmidt added: “I will support them with these things, we’re already working together on it. Some things I’ll finish myself, but I’ll make sure they’re involved too. Things will be more intense at the start, but I think by the autumn or the winter it’ll probably be the case that they’re doing more things on their own and I don’t have to be involved all the time. They’re both experienced in their respective fields.” When it comes to transfers, Schmidt will still be at Bruchweg to have his say. “We’ve got an expert at the club in Christain Heidel. Just being involved in four or five loan deals teaches you so much.”