Relegation battle instead of Champions League: Martin Schwalb is one of the most successful German handball coaches. He explains why he took over bottom-placed HC Erlangen, how handball has changed over the past 20 years and why Germany is once again one of the top nations.
It was a big surprise when relegation-threatened HC Erlangen replaced coach Johannes Sellin with Martin Schwalb early in the season. The 61-year-old is one of the best-known German trainers; his name regularly pops up when the national coaching position needs to be filled. The native of Stuttgart was a national player, became champion and cup winner, won the IHF Cup and Olympic silver. As a coach, he was even more successful: Schwalb led HSV Hamburg through its golden times, winning the championship (2011), the cup (2006 and 2010), the Supercup (2006, 2009, 2010), the European Cup Winners’ Cup (2007) and the Champions League. League (2013) – now he is supposed to save the Middle Franconians from relegation.
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