 Just three games in, he requested to be able to leave the club for his former club and fellow Bundesliga side Hannover 96 on 7 September 2006, to fill the vacancy left by their sacking of Peter Neururer.Ironically, the final straw for Neururer was a 0–3 home defeat to Hecking's Alemannia Aachen.Alemannia Aachen were in 14th place when Hecking left the club.