Raul requests time to consider future

After the match in Hoffenheim general manager Horst Heldt gave his assessment of the game and the Europa League second leg in Bilbao. He also spoke about the futures of Raul and Mathias Schober. Horst Heldt, you were due to have another meeting with Raul's agent Gines Carvajal to discuss the player's future in March. Did the meeting take place? Yes, it did. There's nothing new to report, however, in that no decision has been taken. Raul has simply asked for more time to think things over and we'll obviously give him that. For him it's not about the length of contract or money, it's a basic decision about his future. He wants to mull it over with his family. What's the timetable for the remaining talks? A decision may be made before the end of the season but it could easily be the case that it's taken later. Raul will, of course, be given all the time he needs because I know from my own experience that decisions like these aren't easy. You can vacillate back and forth. There are positive and negative moments. How do you see the draw at Hoffenheim? Overall we didn't deserve to win because we only performed for 45 minutes. It's a pity because the result from Hannover gave us a really good chance to open up a gap in the race for third place. In the first half we lacked the resoluteness you need in this type of game. We also gave the ball away too often and passed up two Hoffenheim invitations to score. That was partly down to a lack of freshness after the defeat against Bilbao. The players probably felt the disappointment more mentally than physically. Were you surprised that Lars Unnerstall was preferred to Mathias Schober in goal? No, I wasn't, because it was understandable. Lars was our number one until his injury and now he's available again. In the situation that led to the penalty he could perhaps have gone in slightly differently but it still wasn't a foul. He gave a good performance. What does it mean for Mathias Schober? Schobi is an important part of the squad and a leader. But it's clear now that his contract won't be extended and we've already told him that. We're now in talks about his future with regard to Schalke and a joint decision will be reached soon. Next up is the trip to Athletic Bilbao on Thursday. Huub Stevens doesn't believe in miracles but would do if Schalke went through. And you? It's certainly not an easy position to be in; in fact it's a bad one. But we have a responsibility to the fans who'll be supporting us in Bilbao, to ourselves and also to German football and we're determined to meet our responsibility. As for everything else, we'll see how it goes.