Stuttgart will ban players from driving their private cars onto the club's premises in future, according to Sport Bild. Luxury cars including a red Ferrari, a black Rolls-Royce Cullinan and a purple McLaren must make way for company cars from Mercedes and Porsche, with no exceptions.
The report says players received written instructions in October and face substantial fines if they fail to comply. Mercedes and Porsche each hold slightly more than ten per cent of the shares and are said to want greater representation. Sporting management, including managing director Alexander Wehrle, board member for sport Fabian Wohlgemuth and sporting director Christian Gentner, also want the players to focus on success on the pitch.
That success has been hard to come by in the Bundesliga. Stuttgart have just six points from six matches, fewer than they have in the Champions League. Their 1-1 draw against Atletico Madrid took them to seven points in that competition. Even with a numerical advantage, they again lacked a cutting edge in front of goal. Deniz Undav and his team-mates were left rueing three points that slipped away.
Sebastian Hoeneß tightens the reins too: What is the VfB Stuttgart coach doing differently now?
On the training pitch, coach Sebastian Hoeneß has also tightened the reins. According to Sport Bild, sessions now run longer and are considerably more intense. Daily drills include diagonal runs across the entire pitch without the ball and numerous one-on-one challenges, with the VfB coach unhappy with the current rate.
Hoeneß has changed how he speaks to the team, too. The report says he now points out individual mistakes in front of the entire squad, rather than in one-to-one conversations as before. He has issued another clear warning: no regular starting place is safe any more.
Monday's regular supervisory board meeting reportedly included an initial interim assessment. There is general agreement that the two weeks after the international break were a step in the right direction. The VfB bosses are confident that success will return in the day-to-day business of the league too. Lately, Hoeneß's side have failed to make the most of the many chances they have created, including in last weekend's bitter 1-0 defeat against HSV.