Hanning talks all things Füchse on new episode of The Spin

The episode, featuring long-time Füchse Berlin Managing Director Bob Hanning, dives into his perspective on building a team and through that the path to glory, as well as his passion for developing young talents. As usual, the discussion is led by co-hosts Bengt Kunkel and Víctor Tomàs.

“In my heart, I’m really a youth coach,” says Hanning. “I only want to work and develop young guys.

“I always said I will [rather] win the EHF Cup with my own guys than to win the Champions League without my guys.

“I always need something, to see and to do something good for the sport. That’s my life. I really love to do it. My job is Füchse Berlin, so I have to work very hard for it,” says Hanning. “This is 100 per cent professional work. That’s one side. We have to give the players good money, give them a good feeling, and so on.

“But for me, for my motivation, it’s only work with my own guys.”

2024/25 also marked a successful season for the Italy men’s national team, which has been led by Hanning as coach since after they played the World Championship for the first time since 1997. At the World Championship, Italy reached the main round and ranked 16^th — ahead of Spain and Austria. Hanning then took the Helm and steered the team to qualify for the Men’s EHF EURO for the first time ever.

The subjects of Italy’s national team also features in the episode.

“I will never hear ‘we are a small country,’” says Hanning, sharing about how changing the mindset is one key aspect he has been addressing in his work with Italy. “We have to change totally the mindset from us. It will take time. But we will go in all games equally. If we play against Spain or we play against Denmark, we go to win the game. Not ‘we are small.’”

It was 20 years ago that Hanning joined Berlin. Now planning his retirement, which is still a few years away, Hanning is focused on leaving the club in good hands — while also achieving as much as possible on the court of course.

Hanning’s successor in the manager role will be a former player for the club, the absolute stalwart of the side, Paul Drux. Drux played his entire career with the club before being forced into early retirement due to an injury that occurred in the 2024/25 season. Now, Drux’s development to be ready to manage the club is a core part of the work behind the scenes at Füchse.

“I don’t need to win something to have a perfect career,” says Hanning. “For me the most important thing is that, after 20 years, I give the club up to Paul and to the owners, and we are financially fine, we are with sport fine, with the youth team fine — this is my job.”

Find the latest episode of The Spin here.

Photos: kolektiff images/Uros Hocevar; Italian Handball Federation/Luigi Canu