A second successive relegation from the German tier five was narrowly avoided as Ruprecht Prusseit led 1. FC Lok Stendal to a solid run of form at the end of the 2025/26 campaign.
After four years as a Football Manager, Prusseit was finally able to begin studying for his second coaching badge and his ability was gradually increasing. With that in mind, he submitted speculative applications for vacant roles at higher-tier East German sides Erzgebirge Aue, Dynamo Dresden and FSV Zwickau. But, unsurprisingly, none of them even considered his applications, so he eventually agreed a new one-year deal to stay at Stendal.
With his short-term future sorted, Prusseit set about strengthening in key areas. First priority was left-back, where he’d had to rely on the dreadful Kevin Keller all of last season, which he filled with Riccardo Coda and Faraj Saad. Further defensive reinforcements arrived in centre-back Yannick Itoua and versatile full-back Markellos Koumourias. He also added attacking depth with striker Gisbert Zokpa before his DoF snapped up goalkeeper Robert Kampa, attacking midfielder Nikola Duric, holding midfielder Salih Aktürk and promising centre-backs Djuma Nshimiramana and Nicolas Burghard.
And with those players recruited, Prusseit decided on a tweak in formation that played to their strength in central positions and utilised star player Adrian Horner in his natural position while retaining defensive strength.
Seeking Stendal Improvement
Prusseit’s additions certainly struck the right note with the media as his side had gone from relegation favourites 12 months ago to being predicted a 15th-place finish at 33/1 to win German Division North East – South. Magdeburg II remain favourites but their odds have significantly dropped to 1/10 followed by Plausen (9/2), Nordhausen (5/1) and Wismut Gera (11/2).
The new tactic began well as Zakaria Asante and debutant Zokpa gave them a 2-0 lead inside half an hour at home to Bautzen. But last year’s draw kings got another as the opponents dominated by 26 shots to 10 and found two second half responses. They conceded twice again in their first away day at Inter Leipzig but new boy Zokpa ensured they took all three points as he scored a new club-record four goals to inspire a 4-2 victory.
The defence finally showed up at home to Dresdner as Kampa kept his first clean sheet and a Sumaila Carvalho penalty sealed a 1-0 victory. Then a Zokpa brace earned a 2-2 draw at Sandhausen, which showed how much the team has improved considering they lost 4-0 there six months ago. Abd Zokpa’s excellent start continued with two more goals after holding midfielder Marvin Bokemeyer’s opener to lead a 3-1 victory at home to Grimma. That took Stendal to 11 points from five games, which it took them 14 games to achieve last season!
The strong start continued as Zokpa scored after five minutes at early leaders Wismut Gera and they held on for a point, which equalled a club-record as they went 13 games unbeaten going back to last season. They broke that record as a late Zokpa brace earned a 2-2 draw at home to Nordhausen then extended it with a 0-0 at Oberlausitz.
Zokpa continued his excellent start with a hat-trick to defeat last season’s relegation rivals Martinroda 3-0. He added a brace and two assists in a thrilling 5-2 win at newly-promoted Bitterfeld, in which Duric scored his first goal for the club, and another hat-trick to down Erfurt-Nord 3-1. That took him to 20 goals in just 11 games, breaking the club record for most goals in a season, surpassing Carvalho’s 18 in 2022/23.
A 0-0 draw at Plauen took Standal an incredible 19 games unbeaten heading into a big test at home to Magdeburg II, to whom Prusseit had lost in every previous meeting. That continued with a 3-1 defeat to end their impressive form before another loss at Eilenburg despite Zokpa scoring two more.
Prusseit’s team didn’t let that blip get them down and recovered with two draws before Zokpa hat-trick inspired a 3-1 defeat of Hohenstein then his brace led a 2-1 win at Zorbau. Consecutive 2-2 draws and a Carvalho penalty nicking a 1-0 win at Dresdner took them into a winter break sitting in an impressive 6th place, nine points behind leaders Wismut Gera.
They’d already equalled last season’s points tally of 37, so any relegation concerns were well and truly forgotten. Stendal were second top scorers in the division with 42 goals, of which they’d been totally reliant on Zokpa scoring a ridiculous league-leading 32! Asante leads the assist chart with 14 with Duric third with 11, while Zokpa and Asante top the average ratings on 7.81 and 7.64 respectively.
Could Prusseit maintain Stendal’s fine start to the season? Join us on Monday to find out!
Football Manager Addict 
Leave a comment