Deutschland über alles - The Return

[Harleqin]

With our good fortunes the spirits were high amongst the players and nobody doubted that promotion was within our grasp anymore. Duisburg would still be a tough opponent, but there was high confidence that we could beat them. More than any this was really a match of two very different halves. We scored five in the first including a fabulous hattrick from Ben Woods, but in the second they scored three goals keeping our win down to 5-3. A good result, but not satisfactory considering we were five goals up.

The way things turned out we were now only four points from being certain of going up. Once we have those I’m going to recall Gombert and test him in goal. With a win against Ahlen it would be all but in the bag as I doubt our pursuers would be able to win the rest of their games. We did our duty with a 5-3 win courtesy to goals from Kirichenko and Woods amongst others. After the game we looked up the vital result between 1860 and Gladbach. Gladbach had won meaning that we were now 14 points ahead of 1860… which also means that… WE ARE PROMOTED!

After the wild celebrations it was time to finish the few remaining games. Unfortunately we were not allowed to recall Gombert, but some other fringeplayers would be given a chance to shine. Both Beinschneider and Wurm did well as we beat Erfurt thanks to a sole goal from Beigang. It went slightly less well though when Braunschweig out-played us at Leimbachstadium and went home with a win. Even more disappointing was the defeat against relegated Schweinfurt. Perhaps I’m experimenting a bit too much. That said we were unlucky though as we were in firm control of the match. We just couldn’t hit a barndoor from 5 yards.

For our last game of the season at home to Uerdingen we would be fielding out best XI though to round it all off with a win and give our fans a good memory to maintain them through the summer. The players were also eager to finish in style and within a minute Ben Woods had already scored the first. Döring, Beigang, Kirichenko and Zé Roberto also scored as we romped up a 5-0 win and ended the season. Graulund also received the applause he deserved before leaving us. While he was only with us for a short time he has been instrumental for us and we wish him the best of luck.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German Second Division - Sunday 9th May 2004

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================================================================================================

2003/4 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C SF SIEGEN 34 14 1 2 49 24 9 4 4 38 27 74

2nd P M'gladbach 34 12 2 3 45 23 9 3 5 31 26 68

3rd P Hannover 96 34 14 1 2 44 21 7 4 6 33 33 68

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

4th 1860 München 34 12 2 3 35 16 6 4 7 24 30 60

5th Braunschweig 34 13 3 1 39 17 4 4 9 22 30 58

6th Trier 34 12 3 2 31 15 5 4 8 15 25 58

7th St. Pauli 34 12 1 4 35 22 5 4 8 24 33 56

8th Münster 34 10 2 5 27 14 6 4 7 20 25 54

9th Aue 34 10 5 2 38 24 4 4 9 18 27 51

10th Mainz 34 9 4 4 22 14 4 3 10 17 26 46

11th Duisburg 34 8 2 7 36 35 4 5 8 35 43 43

12th Ahlen 34 6 5 6 29 30 5 2 10 26 33 40

13th Union Berlin 34 4 8 5 18 20 6 1 10 23 33 39

14th Karlsruhe 34 7 4 6 33 27 1 4 12 17 44 32

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15th R Erfurt 34 6 4 7 23 22 1 4 12 14 32 29

16th R Greuther Fürth 34 4 6 7 19 25 3 2 12 18 36 29

17th R Uerdingen 34 2 8 7 21 26 3 4 10 16 31 27

18th R Schweinfurt 34 4 3 10 28 33 1 4 12 17 38 22

</pre>

[Harleqin]

SEASON ROUND-UP

Europe

European Champions:

Champions League: AC Milan (Italy)

UEFA Cup: Athletic Bilbao (Spain)

Germany

Champions: Dortmund

German Cup: Hertha Berlin

England

Champions: Newcastle

FA Cup: Chelsea

League Cup: Arsenal

Denmark

Champions: Brøndby

Danish Cup: OB

Italy

Champions: Roma

Copa Italia: Bologna

Spain

Champions: Valladolid

Copa del Rey: Barcelona

France:

Champions: Lens

French Cup: Metz

League Cup: Montpellier

Holland

Champions: Ajax

Dutch Cup: PSV Eindhoven

2. BUNDESLIGA SEASON ROUND-UP

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2003/4 Average Rating

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Av R

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Su Maozhen Braunschweig 30 8.20

2nd Ivo Ulich M'gladbach 32 8.13

3rd Peter Graulund SF Siegen 20 (1) 8.05

4th Daniel Florea Hannover 96 30 7.97

5th Arzu SF Siegen 31 7.77

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2003/4 Goals

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Gls

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Jacob Thomas Duisburg (A) 21 (7) 20

2nd Ilia Grujev Duisburg 29 (2) 18

3rd Matías Esteban Cenci St. Pauli 27 (3) 18

4th Angelo Vier 1860 München 28 17

5th Chen Yang St. Pauli 33 16

11th Ben Woods SF Siegen 32 14 </pre>

SF SIEGEN STATS

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 5th June 2004

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================================================================================================

2003/4 Senior Club Stats

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No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16 Akoto, Erik 10 (3) 0 0 0 3 3 0 0 7.08

2 Albrechtsen, Martin 34 0 0 0 2 3 0 0 7.03

1 Almer, Franz 37 0 55 0 0 1 0 1 7.24

6 Arzu 35 7 0 0 14 4 0 5 7.77

11 Atalan, Servet 3 (4) 4 0 0 3 0 0 0 7.14

15 Bäcker, Sascha 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.50

27 Beigang, Nico 17 (2) 11 0 0 5 0 0 3 8.11

17 Benschneider, Roland 3 (5) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7.00

- Berg, Dennis - - - - - - - - ----

5 Borgersen, BÃ¥rd 33 2 0 0 4 7 0 1 7.33

24 Dione, Ousseynou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

3 Döring, Nils 34 7 0 6 (6) 7 1 0 0 6.94

- Eckhardt, Sven 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

7 Gastón Curbelo 35 9 0 1 (0) 16 1 0 0 7.54

12 Gombert, Marcel 29 0 42 0 0 1 0 0 6.83

9 Graulund, Peter 23 (1) 16 0 0 2 0 0 7 8.13

- Islamoglu, Cem 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

19 Jailliti, Mounir 6 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.57

26 Kirichenko, Dmitry 21 (2) 6 0 0 6 2 0 3 7.30

- Klein, Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

25 Koch, Andreas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

20 Kotula, Jozef 15 2 0 0 4 1 0 0 7.13

- Lemke, Sven - - - - - - - - ----

- Loos, Lars - - - - - - - - ----

4 Lucic, Teddy 27 (1) 0 0 0 1 3 0 1 7.36

22 Schöler, Tobias 7 (1) 10 0 0 3 0 0 3 8.63

14 Straub, Matthias 4 1 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.75

8 Truckenbrod, Jens 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.67

23 Wohlfarth, Christian 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

18 Woods, Ben 35 16 0 0 6 0 0 2 7.34

13 Wurm, Tobias 6 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.71

28 Zé Roberto 14 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 7.36

21 Zott, Tobias 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

10 van Buskirk, John 8 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 7.63

</pre>

[Guest]

Entertaining. Keep it up.

[I\'m Not Ruud]

Best of luck in the Bundesliga! Keep up the good work!

[Harleqin]

Cheers guys. It won't be easy though...

--------

We were given an almost huge sum for the TV-rights for the coming season and they would be sorely needed if we were to stay up. On the good side Schöler is showing massive improvements and he might turn out to be a rather good player with a little more time.

A major offer came in for Jailitti. We signed him on a free transfer just three years ago and he has been with us for our entire rise in fortune, but now Paris SG is willing to pay us €2m for him. Considering he hardly played last year it’s an offer we can’t refuse. He happily agreed terms and was delighted to be returning to France. He was a vital player at first but eventually slipped out of the squad.

I also decided that instead of regular pre-season friendlies a new tradition would be started. The Siegen Cup. I was delighted when both Ajax Amsterdam, Leeds United and Fiorentina agreed to come and play in the tournament. It should be a good test of our mettle against some good opposition. The draw saw it fit to pair us with Leeds in one semi-final while La Viola and Ajax would meet in the other.

We managed to beat Leeds 1-0 thanks to a goal from Nico Beigang and then faced Ajax who had won their match. This would be a great test. Ajax have a world class team with players like van der Vaart, Sonck and Ibrahimovic. Once again we won, this time by two goals to one, but I must admit that I’m disappointed that less than 4000 fans showed up. Obviously Ajax is not really rated in these parts.

Two new players did arrive to make up for the exodus of deadwood. Mariano Cappa joined us for €325K from Argentinian club Racing and the Hungarian striker Imre Szabic joined in a deal worth €4,5m from Stuttgart. A lot of that money is dependent on international appearances though, but Stuttgart agreed as it would also allow them to save quite a bit on wages.

FIRST TEAM SQUAD

Player number, name, age, nationality, position (games for Siegen, goals for Siegen, average rating for Siegen, caps/goals).

12. Franz Almer, 33 years, Austrian, Goalkeeper (68; 107 con; 6,82; 0/0)

Franz wore the number one jersey last season, but he is getting on in years now and is frankly not good enough for the Bundesliga. His age also means that a new and younger goalkeeper is very high on the list of future transfers. He is a decent keeper, but nothing special.

1. Marcel Gombert, 19 years, German, Goalkeeper (5; 8 con; 6,6; 0/0)

Young and inexperienced, but a major talent and now he is getting his chance to shine as first choice keeper. He spent last season on loan at Dresdner and it should be a good experience for him. He also did well against Leeds and Ajax so he will be given a good chance. Ideally I would like someone a little older and more experienced. If it does work out though, then we have our keeper for the next decade.

25. Andreas Koch, 33 years, German, Goalkeeper (93; 39 con (in 28 games); 7,07; 0/0)

Andreas has not been a regular since the days in the regional league and he is only third choice now. His skills are nowhere near good enough for this level and as soon as I have the new keeper I want, he will be on his way out.

2. Martin Albrechtsen, 26 years, Danish, Defender (55; 1; 7,11; 3/0)

A versatile and very reliable defender Martin is without a doubt a key element in our defence. Quick and strong he is a wall that opposing wingers hurt themselves against. He should prove good enough for this division.

15. Sascha Bäcker, 25 years, German, Defender (50; 0; 6,82; 0/0)

Sascha is a decent backup, but I really hope I won’t have to use him as he is simply not good enough. He struggled in the second division and it can only get worse. A replacement for him would be good to find.

4. Teddy Lucic, 33 years, Swedish, Defender (28;0 ; 7,36; 38/0)

Teddy is a great defender. He has all the important skills and is a solid rock in our defence. The only problem is that he is getting on in years and the time for a younger replacement is almost upon us as I expect that this will be his last season. A great professional and one whom the team can always rely on.

13. Tobias Wurm, 22, German, Defender (10; 0; 6,70; 0/0)

Tobias is an odd case. He is clearly talented and has done well when called upon, but never in such a degree as to break through to the first team. He has been with us for three years and unless things change for the better in the coming season, I will have to offload him.

3. Nils Döring, 24 years, German, Defender (57; 8; 7,03; 0/0)

A good and reliable defender though he had a few problems last season. I’m curious as to how he will manage the step up to the Bundesliga, but I hope he will prove up to it. He is not a great player, but he always fight for the entire match and combined with his skill at taking penalties he is an important player.

14. Matthias Straub, 24 years, German, Defender (48; 1; 6,73; 0/0)

Another reserveplayer and to be fair another piece of deadwood. He is my only cover at left defence though, so for now he is staying at Siegen. It is yet another position where a new player is needed.

16. Eric Akoto, 26 years, Togolese, Defender (46; 1; 7,09; 8/1)

Eric didn’t play much last year due to the partnership between Lucic and Borgersen, but I fully expect this to be his year. He is just as good as the Norwegian, but he is young enough to be one for the future. This season he will be partnering Lucic.

5. BÃ¥rd Borgersen, 32 years, Norwegian, Defender (33; 2; 7,33; 8/3)

Signed on in an emergency last year when we lost Lassissi he proved to be more than adequate as he enjoyed a great season. His age is starting to affect him though and this year he will have to accept a place on the bench. He is still more than capable though.

[Harleqin]

6.Arzu, 25 years, Spanish, Midfielder (64; 8; 7,63; 0/0)

Captain of the team and our most consistent player by far. He is also the most wanted and the one I’m most keen to hang on to. He is managing the vital role of holding the midfield together excellently and I don’t doubt that one day he will move on to one of the really big teams. Until then he will remain our captain though.

20. Jozef Kotula, 27 years, Slovakian, Midfielder (134; 11; 7,04; 0/0)

He doesn’t play much anymore, but whenever he is called upon he is always one of our best and that makes him indispensable as a bench player. He is not completely happy about his situation and that is understandable, but there is not much I can or will do about it.

17. Roland Benschneider, 23 years, German, Midfielder (8; 0; 7,00; 0/0)

A product of our youth academy and a potential star in the future. He got a few chances last season, but didn’t really make the most of it and that makes me wonder if it is already too late for him. He will be given one more year to prove himself.

23. Christian Wohlfarth, 18 years, German, Midfielder (3; 0 ; 7,00; 0/0)

A major talent who got some games last year and did well in them. This season I’m hoping to get him out on loan as I think it will benefit him. He is a player who could become an international in time.

22. Mariano Cappa, 20 years, Argentinian, Midfielder (New signing)

Mariano is a major prospect for the future and while he is new to German football and very young I expect him to start in. He might be young, but he has the talent to make it at this level. At least I hope so.

7. Gastön Curbelo, 28 years, Uruguayan/French, Midfielder (69; 16; 7,31; 0/0)

Gastón has been vital for us the last two years and it is rather amazing as he is frankly not a very good player. I expect him to be replaced by Cappa this year, but he has every chance to win his place back.

28. Zé Roberto, 26 years, Brazilian, Midfielder (14; 4; 7,36; 0/0)

A major coup when we got him cheap last year. He has flair and is very creative starting attack after attack for our team. One of the most important players in the squad.

18. Ben Woods, 23 years, English, Forward (35; 16; 7,34; 0/0)

Ben was a major revelation last season. He was bought as a backup, got a chance and seized it. While he fell out of some games, he was a major danger in most and managed to score an impressive 16 goals. Not bad for a player coming straight from the Conference in England. He will start again this season.

11. Servet Atalan, 27 years, Turkish/German, Forward (29; 12; 6,83; 0/0)

Originally my first choice to play in the hole he lost his place to Woods due to poor discipline and due to the impact made by Woods. The two are close to each other and he should get his fair amount of action this year.

19. Tobias Schöler, 22 years, German, Striker (34; 28; 8,09; 0/0)

28 goals in 34 games is an amazing strikerate no matter how you look at it. The best thing is that he is continually improving and I don’t doubt that he might become the new Klinsmann once he gets more experience and manage to hone his skills. He might go out on loan this season, but he is featuring heavily in my plans for the future.

9. Nico Beigang, 21 years, German, Striker (19; 11; 8,11; 0/0)

He cost quite a lot, but the U21 star has proven his worth and gone from strength to strength. Some day in the future he and Schöler will be a force to strike fear in the hearts of even FC Bayern. I expect at least ten goals from him in the Bundesliga this year.

10: Dmitri Kirichenko, 27 years, Russian, Striker (23; 6; 7,30; 0/0)

He has a decent first season with us and did well, but he will really have to improve on his goal ratio as it is just not satisfactory for a player of his skills. He should be adapted to German football now though and I have high hopes for him.

21. Imre Azabics, 25 years, Hungarian, Striker (New signing. Ten caps, one goal)

Imre will keep Kirichenko on his toes as he is a deadly striker who did well for Stuttgart. He is mainly bought as a reserve, but I anticipate him to play at least 15 games. Time will tell.

[Harleqin]

Once again other clubs had set their eye on Arzu and the bidding now reached a staggering €11m. That is a lot of money, but we don’t really need it and I’m reluctant to sell my greatest asset. I will have to think long and hard though if somebody steps up with a €15m offer.

The new season would start away to the reigning champions Dortmund. It doesn’t get much more difficult than that and it was fully expected that we would be routed completely. It was just as bad as I had feared as we were two down within the first eight minutes. In the end we lost it 1-5 and it’s not so much the defeat that upsets me as it is the ways the players were intimidated by the surroundings and didn’t dare to play. This way we won’t survive.

FC Köln were our next opponents as they came to Siegen. This is one of the teams we really have to beat and I hoped that we could do it. I decided against changing the line-up as I hoped the result last week was just a fluke. The first half saw only a few chances produced, but it was still enough for both teams to score. Köln scored twice more in the second half and that was enough to condemn us to a 2-3 defeat. The only bright points were that we played better this time and that we had a record crowd, but I’m starting to get a bit concerned now.

After those stinging defeats it was a pleasure that it was time for the German Cup and a trip to Regional side Oberhausen. Against such weak opposition it was no problem for us to dominate completely and in the end it was more or less just a good workout as we booked our passage to the next round with a 6-0 win. Kirichenko in particular was impressive with a brace and Beigang also opened his account for the season.

With such a win I hoped the players had gotten enough confidence to tackle Wolfsburg. We were weakened though as I only had two strikers available. Schöler had gone out on loan and Beigang were playing for Germany in the Olympics. It started well enough for us, but Gombert made a fatal mistake when he dropped a ball and before he could recover it we had fallen behind. With no further goals we collected out third league defeat in a row with the final score of 0-1.

We did get another home game to try and make up for it and I expected a record crowd as none other than FC Bayern were the visitors. Amazingly enough the Bavarian team came out with a defensive approach. Perhaps they really have respect for us and we’ve just been unlucky? It didn’t stop Santa Cruz from giving the lead though and when Pizarro added a second it was all over. 1-2.

Things were definitely not good but at least Aachen does not have the same qualities as our previous opponents so there was a slim chance that we might get away with something from our encounter with them. Gombert had to pull three great saves in the first two minutes, but all his heroics were cancelled out when they got and converted a penalty in the third minute. Woods pulled us level again, but Aachen immediately regained their lead and at half time we were lucky to be just one goal down. Kirichenko pulled us level again in the second half only for them to score to 3-2 and finish us of. Incredible. This is without a doubt the worst I’ve ever experienced.

We finally got our first points when Nürnberg visited us. The first half ended without goals, but for once we showed good spirits when we fell behind. Arzu pulled us level and then in the dying seconds of the match an optimistic show hit the unfortunate Appiah and deflected into the net giving us a 2-1 triumph and a little hope for the future.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Sunday 3rd October 2004

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================================================================================================

2004/5 Table

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Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

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1st Wolfsburg 6 3 0 0 8 3 2 0 1 3 3 15

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2nd FC Bayern 6 2 0 1 4 4 2 1 0 8 6 13

3rd Schalke 04 6 1 1 0 6 3 2 1 1 7 4 11

4th VfB Stuttgart 6 2 1 0 6 2 1 1 1 5 5 11

5th Leverkusen 6 2 1 0 7 3 1 1 1 3 4 11

6th Dortmund 6 2 0 2 8 4 1 1 0 2 0 10

7th SC Freiburg 6 3 0 0 9 2 0 1 2 4 6 10

8th Bochum 6 1 2 0 8 5 1 2 0 3 2 10

9th Kaiserslautern 6 2 0 0 7 3 1 1 2 11 12 10

10th 1.FC Köln 6 1 1 1 5 5 2 0 1 6 5 10

11th HSV 6 1 0 2 5 4 1 1 1 3 4 7

12th Nürnberg 6 1 3 0 6 4 0 0 2 1 3 6

13th Hertha BSC 6 1 2 0 4 2 0 1 2 3 9 6

14th M'gladbach 6 1 0 2 4 6 0 2 1 5 7 5

15th Werder Bremen 6 0 2 1 5 7 1 0 2 3 5 5

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16th Aachen 6 1 1 1 3 5 0 1 2 3 7 5

17th SF SIEGEN 6 1 0 3 5 7 0 0 2 3 8 3

18th Hannover 96 6 0 0 2 1 5 0 0 4 1 11 0

</pre>

[Harleqin]

Hopefully we could now build on that win as we took the short trip to Freiburg who have an odd team. They can beat the best, but also lose strangely sometimes. Hopefully this would be one of those times. It looked good in the first half. There were no goals, but we forced their keeper into several good saves and with luck we could get a decisive goal in the second. They changed tactics at half time and this actually suited us better than them and in the 84th minute Arzu pounced on the rebound after a good attempt from Cappa to make the score 1-0 to us and doubling our number of points.

After the two wins on a trot we were quietly optimistic as we prepared to face Wolfsburg in the German Cup. We lost to them a few weeks ago, but we are slowly starting to come into our own and get used to the pace in the Bundesliga. Both Kirichenko and Beigang went close in the opening as we tried to blitz them and take an early lead. However, when their keeper didn’t deny us the post was in the way and the first half ended with no goals. It looked to be headed for extra time when they scored in the 75th minute and we proved unable to turn things around, suffering a 0-1 defeat that eliminated us from the cup. It is probably for the best. Now we can concentrate on the league.

The following game in Hamburg against HSV would be a lot harder though. The Northeners have disappointed their fans time and time again throughout the last few seasons and if I had anything to do with it, this year would be no different. HSV hit the post in the first minute and just a few minutes later Beigang had a goal ruled out. Surely an omen of bad things to come. Surprisingly we held out for the first half and things were also pretty close in the second. Halfway through the second half I risked a double substitution and put Benschneider and Atalan on the pitch. Of course HSV scored two minutes later condemning us to a 0-1 defeat in a match where we really deserved a point.

An offer then came in for Christian Wohlfarth. He is not a regular in the team and it will take time before he is. Therefore I decided to accept the €4,8m offer from Gladbach. They also offered €9m for Arzu, but they were told to keep their hands away unless they could come up with €15m.

I was a little bit concerned ahead of the visit of Leverkusen. They have a very strong team, but o far they’ve struggled a bit. Without a doubt they saw us a walk-over and this could be our big chance, though they too would fight to get their season back on track. We got off to a brilliant start when Kirichenko was brought down and Döring converted the penalty, but it turned out to be in vain as we still conceded three times before the break. With no further goals we lost yet again, this time 1-3. The search for new players really have to be intensified.

Hertha Berlin have fallen a long way from glory since last year where they finished second as they are now in the relegation zone. This meant that our trip to Berlin would be a classic sex-pointer struggle. The opening exchanges were pretty cautious as neither side wanted to fall behind and both teams had a goal ruled out. Eventually we did take the lead, but we were under heavy fire and it lasted for just about a quarter of an hour. Kirichenko restored our lead, but again it only lasted for a few minutes before they were level again. Eventually we conceded again and with a 2-3 loss we slipped back into the drop zone.

[Harleqin]

Yet another six-pointer was waiting for us as Gladbach came to Siegen. They are directly above us in the table and a win would allow us to leapfrog them and get out of the dangerzone. It started well when Zé Roberto hit the bar in the seventh minute, but despite being in firm control we still fell behind in the last minute of the first half. A header from Atalan put us back in the game, Kirichenko hit the post and then, finally, Szabics got the match-winning goal in the 87th minute when he took a chance with a shot. The ball bounced just in front of their keeper, fooling him, and gave us the vital 2-1 goal.

The season is really turning out to be even more of a struggle than anticipated and an encounter with Kaiserslautern is one of those who is hard to classify. The are a mid-table team, one that are favourites, but where we do have a small chance. It started well enough when Szabics scored on the first attack of the game, but once again we were unable to hang on to a lead as they evened it out. Miroslav Klose put the homeside ahead and the eventual goal from Gastón was purely cosmetic as we fell 2-3.

We finally got a new player on the books after the game as we completed the €4,5m transfer of Jorginho from Udinese. The former Brazil U-21 should give us a bit more experience and reliability on the left side of defence.

Another of the vital six-pointers came up as we had to face Hannover who had been promoted just like us. Incredibly they are actually doing worse than we are so it should be pretty tense. The first half was all ours and we also got the deserved lead when Akoto headed it home after a corner. Hannover were not quitting though and seven minutes before time they pulled level. We got a penalty in injury time and the entire crowd held their breath as Gastón stepped up and… missed. 1-1.

Morale had taken a serious beating last week with that missed penalty and there was little hope amongst the fans that we could secure a good result at Bremen. Amazingly we actually won it 3-2. Twice did they equalize after we had gained the lead, but when Atalan scored in the 83rd minute there was no coming back for them. This gives us three very vital points and could be an indication that we might actually have a shot of staying up.

We would be hard pressed to keep up our small run against Stuttgart as they are currently in 5th place and have a very strong team according to my scouts. Then again… they say that about all our opponents. With no goals at half time we still had a very good chance to take something from this game and both sides came close. There wasn’t anything to cheer for the fans though as it ended all square, 0-0, but we could be most pleased with the acquisition of another vital point.

It’s amazing how things can go from one extreme to another in just a week, however if we could also beat Schalke 04 away then I would run naked through Siegen. We did rather well, but then conceded twice in as many minutes leaving us with a mountain to climb. We did pull one back through Arzu, but still it finished 1-3 keeping us firm in trouble.

[Harleqin]

The list of very strong teams continued with Bochum. Still, regardless of their reported strength we still took a point of them in a 1-1 draw that allows us to keep some hope during the approaching winter break. With a little tweaking we should be able to stay up and gain another season amongst the elite.

We did get an early Christmas present for our fans on the 19th of December as we completed the signing of French international defender Philippe Christanval for just €1,4m from Marseilles. He should really be a boon and the paperwork went through in time to allow him to debut on the same day against Freiburg. We then gave the fans another present with a 3-1 win. Unfortunately it was not enough to allow us to spend winter on the right side of the relegation zone, but I have high hopes come spring.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Wednesday 19th January 2005

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================================================================================================

2004/5 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Dortmund 18 7 0 3 28 11 5 3 0 16 7 39

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd FC Bayern 18 9 0 1 23 6 3 3 2 17 17 39

3rd Wolfsburg 18 7 1 0 17 6 4 2 4 10 13 36

4th VfB Stuttgart 18 5 2 1 15 8 4 2 4 11 13 31

5th Schalke 04 18 6 1 1 20 6 3 2 5 13 18 30

6th Leverkusen 18 6 2 1 21 11 2 2 5 11 17 28

7th Kaiserslautern 18 7 0 1 24 11 1 2 7 17 34 26

8th SC Freiburg 18 6 1 1 21 8 0 5 5 14 20 24

9th Bochum 18 4 3 1 15 10 1 4 5 5 16 22

10th Nürnberg 18 4 5 1 18 8 1 1 6 8 16 21

11th Werder Bremen 18 4 2 2 17 12 2 1 7 11 18 21

12th 1.FC Köln 18 2 5 2 13 12 3 1 5 13 18 21

13th Hertha BSC 18 4 5 1 16 11 1 1 6 6 20 21

14th Aachen 18 5 1 4 13 17 1 2 5 8 19 21

15th HSV 18 4 2 4 18 15 1 2 5 8 15 19

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th SF SIEGEN 18 3 3 4 13 14 2 0 6 12 20 18

17th M'gladbach 18 3 3 4 15 18 1 2 5 13 18 17

18th Hannover 96 18 2 2 4 13 18 1 3 6 9 21 14

</pre>

[Harleqin]

We opened the last part of the season away to third-placed Wolfsburg managed by the great Wolfgang Wolf. It would be hard, but we’ve worked hard during the break and am full of optimism. With the score drawn at one a piece at half time we maintained our morale though it waned in the second half when we came under tremendous pressure. In the end we lost it 2-3 due to an own goal from Lucic, but I suppose that is what happens every now and then.

Surprisingly we won 2-1 when we were visited by Dortmund who am one of the best teams in Europe. While they had the most possession we were strong at the back and goals from Beigang and Zé Roberto gave us three points that nobody expected us to take. In the long run that could be extremely important.

Don’t change a winning team they say, so I started with the exact same players against FC Köln. It did give us an early lead and a goal that was ruled out, but then all the players decided to take a break and let Köln take over. They used this to more or less score as they pleased and in the end we were very lucky to only crash 2-4.

There is not much to say about our game against Nürnberg. 0-5 and both Beigang and Jorginho injured!

For our match against Aachen I decided for a switch in formation to a more defensive one as we have been leaking way to many goals and at this rate we’re going down for sure. It obviously surprised them as we dominated the first half hour but slowly they adapted and started to take control. We hit the wood four times but that is not something that gives you goals and in the end we lost again, this time 1-3.

Another defeat, even if it was expected, came as we lost 2-3 in the game at FC Bayern. They are truly a strong team and we never stood a chance. How we managed to score two goals is beyond me, but it doesn’t matter as it wasn’t enough.

With another 2-3 defeat, this time against Hamburger SV I’m really starting to lose faith and confidence in my team. We completely dominated the game, but once again Gombert played like shit and cost us the win. I’ve already agreed terms with Danish keeper Rune Pedersen for next season, but Gombert is out and Almer back in now, even though the young German has just been called up to the U-21 side.

Something odd happened then as we scored no less than four goals at Gladbach to pick up a 4-2 win and three delightful points. Not only that, but the goals came from four different players and we even had a 4-0 lead before we allowed Borussia to score. Amazing is not a strong enough word for what happened. I do doubt that it is more than a one-off lucky occurrence though.

[Harleqin]

We lost again to Hertha Berlin. 1-7 after being a goal up. No Comments!

Needless to say we also lost at Leverkusen. This time only by 4-0, but there is no doubt now. We will be relegated at the end of the season.

Next in the line of teams waiting to humiliate us were Schalke 04. In some strange way we actually managed to win that one 3-2 despite the score tied ten minutes before time. We even had a 2-0 lead before Woods became matchwinner with a late goal. While we are only three points adrift, I still don’t believe in staying up as there are only five games remaining.

However I had forgotten we still had an away match at Hannover, the only team who is doing worse than us. Three points here and it would get really exciting. Zé Roberto scored on the half hour mark to give us the lead and thanks to some good saves from Gombert, for once, we held on to it into the break. Disciplined play in the second half enabled us to keep a clean sheet and when Beigang made it 2-0 three minutes before full time we could go home with a massive boost before the final games. We are now just two points from safety as our goal difference is horrendous. The result also meant that Hannover is already relegated.

Of course we then proceeded to dominate for 70 minutes against Kaiserslautern and still lost the match by 1-3. Obviously we are having major difficulties concentrating for 90 minutes and it is really costing us a lot.

Another 0-2 defeat at Stuttgart more or less sealed our fate as we now really have to win at least one of our two last games and even then we are dependent upon results elsewhere. It does not look good. Kirichenko scored early on in the match against Werder Bremen, but a dubious penalty gave them a 1-1 draw. It will now be decided on the last day of the season. Just like Gladbach we have 31 points and Bochum have 32. Bochum would also be our last opponent away and if we could win while Gladbach drew we would stay up. All other results would see us go down. Both teams were aware of the seriousness of the match and when Beigang gave us the lead we were slowly starting to hope. When Woods then made it 2-0 to us you could almost hear a pin drop amongst the homefans. Halftime scores also proved that Gladbach were trailing at Kaiserslautern. Bochum hit the post in the second half as they were going for the two goals they needed, but they never got any closer as we held on to our 2-0 lead. With that we had done our duty and could only wait for the other results to come in. They were cruel. Gladbach had turned it around and won 2-1, but somebody then pointed out that Aachen had lost and were a point behind us meaning that… we survived in 15th place. HAH! We would also play in the Bundesliga next year!

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Saturday 21st May 2005

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2004/5 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C FC Bayern 34 16 0 1 44 14 8 7 2 34 24 79

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Dortmund 34 11 3 3 41 16 11 4 2 38 18 73

3rd Wolfsburg 33 12 3 1 35 17 6 5 6 16 20 62

4th Leverkusen 34 13 3 1 42 11 5 3 9 27 36 60

5th Schalke 04 34 11 2 4 39 17 7 2 8 22 25 58

6th VfB Stuttgart 34 11 3 3 32 16 4 6 7 14 20 54

7th SC Freiburg 34 11 2 4 35 15 2 7 8 23 34 48

8th Hertha BSC 34 9 7 1 28 11 3 5 9 20 34 48

9th Kaiserslautern 34 9 2 6 41 34 5 2 10 32 49 46

10th 1.FC Köln 33 7 7 3 33 26 5 2 9 23 32 45

11th Nürnberg 34 9 6 2 35 14 2 3 12 18 33 42

12th Werder Bremen 34 7 4 6 32 28 4 3 10 19 30 40

13th HSV 34 7 5 5 32 21 3 3 11 17 36 38

14th M'gladbach 34 7 4 6 33 32 2 3 12 19 43 34

15th SF Siegen 34 5 4 8 24 34 5 0 12 26 43 34

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th R Aachen 34 7 2 8 17 26 2 4 11 19 41 33

17th R Bochum 34 5 6 6 22 27 2 5 10 10 28 32

18th R Hannover 96 34 4 4 9 25 30 1 3 13 12 44 22

</pre>

[I\'m Not Ruud]

Congrats on staying up..things should be better next year. Before long, all in Europe will hail SF Siegen!

Now that's a takeover not too many would object to..

Keep it up, and good luck!!

P.S. - One more thing..TS .

[Harleqin]

END OF SEASON ROUND-UP

SF SIEGEN

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 21st May 2005

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2004/5 Senior Club Stats

================================================================================================

No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16 Akoto, Erik 23 2 0 0 1 2 0 0 7.00

2 Albrechtsen, Martin 34 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.71

12 Almer, Franz 3 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

6 Arzu 36 6 0 0 5 2 0 1 7.11

11 Atalan, Servet 13 (7) 4 0 0 1 2 0 0 7.00

15 Bäcker, Sascha 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.00

9 Beigang, Nico 21 (2) 6 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.74

17 Benschneider, Roland 0 (3) 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.33

- Berg, Dennis - - - - - - - - ----

5 Borgersen, BÃ¥rd 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.00

22 Cappa, Mariano 20 1 0 0 2 1 0 0 6.70

27 Christanval, Philippe 17 1 0 0 1 3 0 0 6.94

24 Dione, Ousseynou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

3 Döring, Nils 17 1 0 1 (1) 1 0 0 1 6.41

7 Gastón Curbelo 22 (2) 6 0 1 (0) 4 0 0 0 7.04

1 Gombert, Marcel 33 0 65 0 0 1 0 3 6.88

23 Jorginho 19 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 7.11

10 Kirichenko, Dmitry 24 (1) 8 0 0 5 0 0 2 7.24

- Klein, Martin 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

25 Koch, Andreas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

20 Kotula, Jozef 0 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6.00

4 Lucic, Teddy 33 0 0 0 0 5 0 0 6.94

19 Schöler, Tobias 13 (3) 10 0 0 2 0 0 4 7.50

26 Scholz, Holger - - - - - - - - ----

14 Straub, Matthias 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

21 Szabics, Imre 26 (1) 6 0 0 4 0 0 2 7.30

8 Truckenbrod, Jens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

18 Woods, Ben 18 5 0 0 6 1 0 3 6.89

13 Wurm, Tobias 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

28 Zé Roberto 36 7 0 0 5 3 0 2 7.33

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2004/5 Goals

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Gls

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Miroslav Klose Kaiserslautern 33 26

2nd Claudio Pizarro FC Bayern 26 (3) 26

3rd Marcelo Josè Salas Dortmund 31 22

4th França Leverkusen 30 21

5th Dimitar Berbatov Nürnberg 30 (3) 19

6th Roque Santa Cruz FC Bayern 34 19

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">================================================================================================

2004/5 Average Rating

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Av R

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Miroslav Klose Kaiserslautern 33 8.52

2nd Claudio Pizarro FC Bayern 26 (3) 8.28

3rd Figo FC Bayern 21 (1) 8.18

4th Roque Santa Cruz FC Bayern 34 8.18

5th França Leverkusen 30 8.07

</pre>

[Harleqin]

Cheers not Ruud.

I must admit that this season has been one of the most tense ever for me and I really thought we were going down. Things were incredibly tight at the bottom and with only five away wins in the season I was delighted and almost jumped around when we actually beat Bochum and managed to stay up on such a narrow margin. Hopefully things will be better next season, but I still have a long way to go. I need better players in several positions, but I don't want to blow all my money and we still have a poor reputation in Europe.

[Harleqin]

Europe

Champions League: Chelsea

UEFA Cup: Schalke 04

Germany

Champions: FC Bayern

German Cup: Hertha Berlin

England

Champions: Manchester United

FA Cup: Derby County

League Cup: Leeds United

Denmark

Champions: B93 Copenhagen

Danish Cup: Randers Freja

Italy

Champions: AC Milan

Copa Italia: Parma

Spain

Champions: Barcelona

Copa del Rey: Villareal

France:

Champions: Bordeaux

French Cup: Caen

League Cup: Le Mans

Holland

Champions: Ajax Amsterdam

Dutch Cup: Groningen

[Harleqin]

June 21st, 2005

The Siegen Cup for this summer was finally arranged and we were proud to announce that this year Valencia, Tottenham Hotspur and the losing UEFA Cup finalists from FC Copenhagen would attend. The draw pitted us against the Danes while it would be an English-Spanish clash in the other.

June 22nd, 2005

In our search for players a young Italian by the name of Fabio Pittilino has joined us on a short trial. He hasn’t impressed in the first training sessions though, so I doubt he’ll be offered a contract.

June 30th, 2005

After spending two weeks in negotiations with Racing Genk without being able to agree terms with them for the services of Fabio Tonelli, we have stopped playing nice and simply offered the player a contract as his contract has just lost protection. This means that instead of the €7m we actually offered for him they will have to settle for a €1,3m compensation if the player wants to join us.

July 1st, 2005

With the opening of the transfer market a flurry of activity started all over Europe. We at Siegen were also involved, but it was hard to find much pleasure in it. The sale of Franz Almer collapsed as Stuttgarter Kickers couldn’t afford the agreed fee, but at least we landed the Danish keeper Rune Pedersen for €1m from AGF. The young Armin Spies also joined us as a trainee, but what I really wanted didn’t happen. No right wingback joined the club and we are really lacking there as Albrechtsen has requested a transfer due to home sickness. Negotiations are in progress, but it’s not looking good.

July 3rd, 2005

Another new player arrived today as the Costa Rican international Alonso Solís joined us for €1,9m. While he is a bit selfish he has plenty of experience and will add to our attacking options. The squad is starting to take shape, but we really need that defender. However we were getting close to a breakthrough with Diyarbakirspor for the services of Polish defender Arkadiusz Giowacki.

July 5th, 2005

The relief at the club was immense this day as Tonelli signed on the dotted line and agreed to come to Siegen and play. He is extremely highly rated by the entire scouting staff and is being touted as a potential future international. The club accountants were also happy as we got him for five million euros less than what we actually offered.

July 7th, 2005

Somehow the press has gotten wind of the reason that Albrechtsen wants to leave the club and though I defended the player and tried to deny his home sickness as the reason, it has become apparent that he has spoken to several Danish clubs. Both the fans and the board are extremely concerned about this as it is bad publicity and he has a loyal following. There is not much I can though, but support the player and allow him to leave if the chance presents itself.

July 8th, 2005

Agreement was finally reached with Bakirspor for Giowacki only for the player to refuse joining us. I’ll have to send a mail to Padova and hear if my good friend who is managing down there can help us out. He is rumoured to have good connections in the, shall we say, darker environments.

July 9th, 2005

The first round draw of the German Cup was made and we were pretty lucky to get an away fixture to Wehen who play in the lower leagues. As the board expects us to do well in the cup this draw is the perfect way to start our quest.

July 15th, 2006

With the Siegen Cup starting the next day it was time to do the annual review of the players and see who would be the best. Interestingly enough we appeared to be in agreement with Kicker Magazine who had a season review this week.

[Harleqin]

SF Siegen review

Kicker Magazine, July 2006

Things have been hectic for SportFreunde Siegen during the summer as manager Karl Franz von Mannstein have struggled to improve on the squad who has surprised everybody for the last few years. Coming in with no experience he took them from the Regional division to the second and after two years there to the Bundesliga. They were expected to go down again and for 33 rounds it looked like they would, but a 2-0 win over Bochum on the last day of the season saw them frogleap their opponents and Aachen to stay up.

Several new players have come in and overall they look much stronger this year. In goal it will be a battle between Marcel Gombert who has established himself as the German U-21 keeper and the Dane, Rune Pedersen. The Danish player has more experience and Gombert will have to be more consistent than last year to keep his place.

Defence is where Siegen’s greatest weakness lies. Their right defender, Martin Albrechtsen, is unsettled and has requested a transfer. After playing superbly in the second division he was a major disappointment last year and it is well known that Siegen are looking for a replacement. On the opposite side the Brazilian Jorginho have ousted Nils Döring and established himself as first choice. They are backed up by the central pairing of the talented Philippe Christanval and, usually, veteran Teddy Lucic. The Togolese Erik Akoto is also a contender here as is Norwegian Bård Borgersen though it is an area where they might look for a replacement to their aging players.

Things are much better in midfield where Arzu is holding things together. The Spaniard has recently signed a new contract and despite high interest in him he is happy to be at Siegen where he got his major breakthrough. Always consistent and with a hundred games for Siegen it is no wonder that he wears the captains armband. He is usually flanked by the Brazilian Zé Roberto who is showing a flair and creativity that is unusual in a club at that level. The other spot in von Mannstein’s three-man midfield is less obvious. Gastón Curbelo has played a lot for Siegen, but he is under heavy pressure by the Brazilian U-21 star Mariano Cappa, and the new signing Alonso Solís who has plenty of experience from the Costa Rican international team. Waiting in the wings are the young German Roland Benschneider who has been touted as a major prospect, but failed to break through.

Their strongest area is the attacking department where the club has both the German U-21 star Nico Beigang, Russian international Dmitry Kirichenko, Hungarian international Imre Szcabics, Fabio Tonelli and the always dangerous Tobias Schöler.

It is expected that Siegen have learnt so much and gotten so much stronger that relegation should not be too big an issue for them this year, though it is unlikely to expect doing better than midtable at best.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Friday 15th July 2005

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

12 Almer, Franz GK AUT 23.9.70 34 - - ¤2.3K 8.6.07 ¤1M

1 Gombert, Marcel GK GER 2.10.84 20 - - ¤3K 26.6.09 ¤1.6M

25 Koch, Andreas GK GER 13.7.71 34 - - ¤3.1K 9.6.06 ¤750K

- Pedersen, Rune GK DEN 9.10.79 25 - - ¤13.75K 11.6.11 ¤1.8M

16 Akoto, Erik D/DM C TGO 20.7.78 26 8 1 ¤725 4.6.06 ¤3.2M

2 Albrechtsen, Martin SW/D/DM RC DEN 31.3.78 27 3 - ¤1.8K 26.6.08 ¤3.7M

15 Bäcker, Sascha D/DM R GER 1.8.79 25 - - ¤3K 2.6.07 ¤1.8M

5 Borgersen, Bård D C NOR 20.5.72 33 16 3 ¤550 11.6.07 ¤450K

27 Christanval, Philippe SW/D C FRA 31.8.76 28 4 - ¤22.5K 16.6.10 ¤5.75M

24 Dione, Ousseynou D C SEN 25.3.73 32 - - ¤4.6K 2.6.07 ¤350K

3 Döring, Nils D/DM L GER 23.4.80 25 - - ¤850 22.6.07 ¤2M

23 Jorginho D/DM L BRA 20.2.80 25 - - ¤15K 16.6.10 ¤3.8M

4 Lucic, Teddy D RC SWE 15.4.71 34 38 - ¤9.75K 25.6.07 ¤650K

14 Straub, Matthias D L GER 24.11.80 24 - - ¤2.9K 2.6.07 ¤1.4M

6 Arzu DM RC ESP 17.3.79 26 - - ¤19K 6.6.11 ¤15M

17 Benschneider, Roland DM LC GER 22.8.80 24 - - ¤4.5K 21.6.08 ¤3.3M

22 Cappa, Mariano AM LC ARG 30.1.84 21 - - ¤7.75K 28.6.09 ¤2.7M

7 Gastón Curbelo AM LC URU 8.4.76 29 - - ¤2.3K 8.6.07 ¤3.5M

20 Kotula, Jozef DM RC SVK 20.9.76 28 - - ¤4.9K 2.6.07 ¤1.6M

- Solís, Alonso AM RC CRC 14.10.78 26 28 12 ¤15K 28.6.10 ¤6.75M

- Spies, Armin AM C GER 14.10.88 16 - - ¤700 21.6.09 ¤425K

8 Truckenbrod, Jens AM C GER 18.1.80 25 - - ¤4.3K 2.6.07 ¤1.4M

28 Zé Roberto AM C BRA 13.5.78 27 - - ¤2.7K 28.6.09 ¤6.75M

11 Atalan, Servet AM/F LC TUR 1.1.77 28 - - ¤3.5K 14.6.08 ¤4.2M

18 Woods, Ben AM/F RC ENG 9.5.81 24 - - ¤4.4K 8.6.08 ¤4M

9 Beigang, Nico S C GER 24.8.82 22 - - ¤8.25K 2.6.08 ¤6M

10 Kirichenko, Dmitry S C RUS 17.1.77 28 3 1 ¤5K 8.6.09 ¤6.25M

19 Schöler, Tobias F LC GER 3.10.81 23 - - ¤2.1K 2.6.06 ¤1.8M

21 Szabics, Imre S C HUN 22.3.79 26 16 2 ¤13K 28.6.09 ¤7.5M

- Tonelli, Fabio F C ITA 20.11.82 22 - - ¤12K 28.6.11 ¤3.3M

</pre>

[Gino]

This is the stuff! I'm a little behind so well done on your promotion, and even more so on staying in the First Division! Brilliant Harleqin

[Harleqin]

Cheers Gino.That is great praise from a writer of your esteem. It is much appreciated. Hope you will enjoy the next many seasons

-----

July 16th, 2005

The first semi-final in the Siegen Cup ended with a 2-0 win for Tottenham thanks to goals from Matt Holland and José Mari.

The other match ended with a 3-2 win to FC Copenhagen over Siegen, but of more worry to the home fans was the fact that Arzu was carried off with a groin strain that will keep him out for about a month.

Incredibly enough Siegen manager von Mannstein was given the dreaded vote of confidence after the game.

July 17th, 2005

The match for third place saw Siegen field a string of reserves as they sought to not wear out their players. The German side took an early 2-0 lead after goals from Atalan and Beigang. With no further goals they took third place and maybe even extended the time available to their manager.

The final itself was won by Tottenham thanks to a brace from Helder Postiga and they were thus able to retain the trophy until next year.

July 19th, 2005

A good deal was completed this day as fringe-player Matthias Straub was sold to Karlsruhe for €1,2m. This is a pretty good price for a player who has no chance of making it in the team.

August 12th, 2005

Quite typical really. Just two days before we kick off our season Solís breaks a rib in training and will be missing for two months. This is rather annoying as I was thinking of using him in the centre.

August 14th, 2005

Finally the new season started and our first game was away to newly promoted Bielefeld. Quite a nice game to start with since the board appears to have lost confidence in me. Hopefully we could now do what so many did to us last season and show them that they’re in over their head. Two golden minutes in the first gave us a two-goal lead and while they managed to pull one back it was settled when Beigang ourran his marker and slotted it home outside the reach of the keeper.

Bielefeld 1-3 Siegen

After the match there were also some good news when Albrechtsen withdrew his transfer request as he was now happy in Siegen. Rumours have it that it is due to a young girl he has met.

August 21st, 2005

We had gotten off to an excellent start, but there are no rest left for the wicked and with Bayern Münich, the reigning champions, in our next match it looked certain that our unbeaten run this season would stop after two games. The start was incredible. After just two minutes Beigang crossed the ball in looking for Tonelli only for Kovacs to hit it all wrong when he tried to clear it and send it past Kahn. Just a few minutes later Kahn blocked a shot from the Italian and Beigang followed up on it to make it 2-0. Incredible after just five minutes. When Tonelli then made it three fifteen minutes later the entire stadium erupted and even Santa Cruz and Zecke pulled two back we held on to an amazing win. Sadly we would now be without Christanval for two weeks due to a minor injury.

Siegen 3-2 FC Bayern

August 27th, 2005

The game against Wehen in the cup should be fun. My scouts report their team as pathetic so this should be quite an easy game compared to what we’re used to. I doubted the quality of that report though when they took the lead, but the lads quickly pulled themselves together and a hattrick from Beigang was instrumental in our comeback.

Wehen 1-6 Siegen

August 28th, 2005

The second round draw in Berlin resulted in quite a decent draw for us as we got the pleasure of travelling to Hannover to face our old competitors from the last two seasons.

September 10th, 2005

After our great win over Bayern the fans were quietly optimistic that we might also do it against Dortmund, though that would be another hard task where I would gladly settle for a single point. Our job was made much harder though when the normally calm Zé Roberto lost his temper and pushed Ivo Ullch to the ground, being dismissed for the act. Being eleven against ten Dortmund got overconfident and sloppy defending allowed Arzu to rifle it home from the edge of the area. Being one goal up we pulled back and went into defensive mode. Shocked and running around like a headless chicken we were never really challenged and pulled yet another three points. Amazing.

Siegen 1-0 Dortmund

[Harleqin]

September 13th, 2005

The German FA, DfB, sent us a short fax notifying us that Robertos ban would not be cancelled as they felt it was a just and fair dismissal.

September 17th, 2005

With our incredible start to the season it was vital to keep the momentum rolling to increase the confidence of the players… and keep me in the job. Albrechtsen tested Wessels early on with a good effort, but the deadlock wasn’t broken until the 21st minute when Beigang fired it home after a good pass from Woods. Woods himself scored later on after Tonelli had doubled our lead. Up by three goals the 16 year-old Armin Spies were thrown into the fray and did well enough. Though Slautern rallied late on it was too little, too late.

Kaiserslautern 2-3 Siegen

September 29th, 2005

Things have really started rolling now and we already have twice the amount of points I realistically hoped we would. Our good fortunes continued as we rolled all over our visitors with Beigang on fire yet again. He has really improved over the summer. With one goal today he is looking like a contender for the prize as topscorer. On the bad side we lost Cappa for three weeks.

Siegen 3-1 Mönchengladbach

October 1st, 2005

A new problem was starting to show up now, mainly overconfidence. The clash away to Nürnberg would be extremely hard as they boosted their squad considerably and it should prove a good test. It would also be the competitive debut for Solís who replaced Cappa. The match proved extremely entertaining with six goals, two more ruled out and two penalties, the last of which was converted by Solís to earn us a point. While I don’t like that we conceded three goals, I’m happy with the effort and the point.

Nürnberg 1-1 Siegen

October 5th, 2005

We stayed on the road and arranged for a small break in training as we rented facilities in Hamburg to get the optimal preparation before meeting HSV. It really seem to backfire as nothing worked for us in the first half and if it hadn’t been for Gombert things could have gone very wrong. A few changes at half time helped immensely and goals from Woods and Solïs in the second half saw us steal a point.

Hamburger SV 2-2 Siegen

Somewhat unintentional the result actually cost the HSV manager his job, but hey! Better him than me.

October 12th, 2005

A third match on the road in a row, but luckily this as the German Cup. While honour was at stake we weren’t risking any points. Still, it was a match I really wanted to win as I’m looking for silwerware.

We got off to a horrible start with two goals against inside the first quarter, but gradually our better players asserted themselves and a goal from Christanval gave us hope that it could be done. In the second half it was our turn to dominate and we managed to turn our possession into three lovely goals booking our place in the third round.

Hannover 2-4 Siegen

[Harleqin]

October 16th, 2005

So far we’ve done better than any could have reasonably asked of us, but it is still a long and difficult road that we have to travel. Luckily the good results have caused people to come to the stadium and support us, something that can only make us stronger. We fell behind early on, but a good play between Arzu and Solís set Beigang up for the equaliser. For most of the match we were under heavy fire partly shown by the fact that they hit the woodwork three times before finally closing the match with a goal eight minutes before time.

Siegen 1-2 Leverkusen

October 22nd, 2005

Our young keeper, Marcel Gombert, was in focus in a large newspaper article which praised his development. When asked my view I agreed and told them I expected him to become a major player and maybe even a full international some day.

October 23rd, 2005

It was time to bounce back after last week as we prepared for our televised match with Duisburg. Cappa was back in full training and after some reflection I decided to start him instead of Zé Roberto. We played the game in our black and yellow away kits and they seemed to bring us bad luck as we conceded twice in the first five minutes. However once again Beigang scored to give us a chance and as Cappa converted a great move just before the break we smelled blood. In the second half we actually took the lead when Tonelli was set up by Solís though the joy was shortlived when we had to carry Beigang off a few minutes later. Scans revealed he had injured his ankle and would be sidelined for a month. Good thing we have capable replacements.

Duisburg 2-3 Siegen

October 30th, 2005

We had a good fixture with which to close the month against Cottbus. I was forced to make some changes again though as Solís was away on international duty for Costa Rica, but this opened up for the return of Zé Roberto. Up from Szabics would try to replace Beigang.The entire match was one long siege against the East Germans and goals from Tonelli, Szabics and Arzu was enough to give us a comfortable win and see us end October in a stunning second place.

Siegen 3-1 Cottbus

November 6th, 2005

The first half today was pure hell to come through as we had to play against the wind as well as a fanatic home crowd. To our fortune Gombert had one of those days where nothing could get past him and then we took a very underserved lead. Hertha pulled level at the stroke of half time, but in the second half we had the advantage of the wind and made the most of it as Szabics used it and his own pace to good effect by netting a brace and getting closer to a place in the line-up. He is really seizing his chance.

Hertha Berlin 1-3 Siegen

We also learned that Solís is keeping up his good form as he not only scored but also got the MoM in Costa Rica’s 3-1 qualifying match against Jamaica.

November 9th, 2005

Out of nowhere Duisburg goes and offers Albrechtsen a contract. The player is not protected and have been expression a desire to go home, so they’ll have to put good money on the table. However, the fact that he is home sick, a regular here and at a club fighting for honours should be enough to make him stay, but we’ll just have to wait and see what he decides.

November 10th, 2005

He is obviously popular as FC Köln is now also trying to lure him away. Less popular is Bernd Schuster who got the sack at Kaiserslautern.

November 13th, 2005

Just a single change for this game as Pedersen is away on duty with Denmark so Koch will take his place on the bench. It took 23 minutes before Stuttgart launched their first shot at Gombert and at that time we had already had eight good chances. We had to settle for a single goal in the first half despite all these chances when Zé Roberto found Tonelli who made a mazy dribble before powering it home to give us the lead. Our visitors had a bright period in the second half, but whenever they got close either the woodwork or Gombert was in the way giving us all the points when we scored twice in the last five minutes of the match. With this start I think a top-5 place is definitely possible.

Siegen 3-0 Stuttgart

The news after the match was much more mixed. Jorginho tripped in the shower and would be out for three weeks but the German Cup draw gave us regional side Stuttgarter Kickers, the lowest remaining club. Nice.

November 14th, 2005

I was shocked today to learn that Albrechtsen had signed for Köln giving me precisely one month to find a replacement for him. He will be missed in defence with his recent form in mind. On the brighter side Beigang is back in training and Solís is returning to the club after helping Costa Rica qualify for the World Cup.

[Harleqin]

November 20th, 2005

There’s nothing like a display of poor refereeing to make the crowd lose its temper. After taking an early lead a long ball was played toward Tonelli who leaped over the rushing goalkeeper. Tumbing behind Koch the ref blew his whistle and everybody, even us on the Siegen bench, expected him to receive a warning for diving, but instead the Bremen keeper was sent off and we got a penalty which Solís converted. Replacing him was an only 17-year old keeper. This bodes well for our chances. It Is even better for us that they chose to sub Peter Graulund to make room for him. To their credit they defended well and it wasn’t until the 78th minute that Tonelli gave us the lead closely followed by a goal from Szabics.

Werder Bremen 1-3 Siegen

November 27th, 2005

With Beigang back it was a tough decision to axe the impressive Szabics, though the young German is a favourite of the fans, so in the end he went in anyway. The rain was coming down in droves more or less transforming the game into a water polo match. Sadly we lost Döring early on and now I had to play Borgersen out of position due to a lack of left sided defenders. Well, it didn’t matter much as we’re relying on scoring goals more than preventing them and midway through the half Albrecthsen found Tonelli who took it to the by-line before powering it into the area where Cappa popped up to power us in front.

We almost doubled our lead right after the break when Solís went close. Instead we held on to the pressure and were rewarded with two quick goals instead. We allowed them a single consolation goal, but our win was never in doubt.

Siegen 3-1 Freiburg

It appeared after the match that Dörings injury wasn’t that bad. A bruised thigh forcing him to rest for a dew days was all so no long term worries in that area.

November 30th, 2005

The injuries didn’t bother me much before our cup tie due to the ease with which I expected us to progress. We were so confident of victory that we rested Cappa and had Armin Spies in the line-up instead for his full debut. We had some early problems due to overconfidence and actually fell being before Atalan made it all square. The match looked like heading to extra time when Tonelli was brought down and a penalty awarded. To my amazement Spies stepped up to take it and confidently nestled it home launching us into the next round.

Stuttgarter Kickers 1-2 Siegen

December 1st, 2005

The quarter final draw saw us being the last team to come out of the pot and face a difficult trip to Berlin where Hertha would await us. Somewhat brighter was the fact that we were finally making a breakthrough in our search for a new defender as we agreed to pay Murcia €6m for the Argentinian/Spanish defender Francisco Maciel. While he is 30 he is still a very good player and has even been capped once by Argentina. The price is a bit steep, but if he can help us into Europe, then it will be worth it.

December 4th, 2005

With a fully fit squad once again we set out to continue our winning streak against 4th placed Wolfsburg. While they have a good team we have home advantage and with our high morale it should be enough. A really right game saw us edge out the win by just a single goal mainly thanks to the goal we got either side of the break when their motivation wasn’t optimal.

Siegen 3-2 Wolfsburg

****

Merry Christmas fellow CMS'ers

[Harleqin]

December 5th, 2005

A day of mixed news. While I was delighted to be able to confirm the transfer of Maciel I was less than pleased with the injury Tonelli picked up in training. It was so bad that he wasn’t expected back for another month. While we only have four more games before the break it is not good news to have to miss him.

December 11th, 2005

Well, it was obvious to return Szabics to the team now Tonelli was out and a single change was also made in midfield where Cappa was rested and Zé Roberto took over. Finally it would be a full debut for Maciel. Despite the setback of having a penalty appeal turned down we made our mark on the game with two goals in the first half. HSV did pull one back before the break making it very open before the last 45 minutes. Takahara soon made it all square and the goal was the break HSV needed to believe in victory. A long offensive from them had us on our toes. Splendid keeping by Gombert kept us in the match and just as a draw was expected Beigang scored after a superb cross from Jorginho. The squad is really playing well at the moment as we continue our club record run of consecutive win.

Siegen 3-2 Hamburger SV

December 14th, 2005

With our current form a visit by Schalke shouldn’t really bother me, but they have one player in their team who gives me nightmares in advance. The Egyptian striker Mido. I’m a big fan of him and really wished he played for us. I can only hope we can contain him. After ten minutes Mido had his first chance, but his aim was off and we could relax for a bit. Gradually we won the struggle for midfield and started getting our own attacks off. Unlike Mido, Beigang did have his aim set right as he proved in the 43rd minute when he scored with a powerful header lashing on to Arzu’s throw-in.

Schalke had most of the possession in the second half, but failed to capitalise on their chances. Instead we exploited the shaky play by Rost, their keeper to add two more to our tally. They did pull one back through their Danish midfielder Christian Poulsen, but he was soon turned into a villain when he was sent off for a mistimed tackle on Arzu.

December 15th, 2005

We said our goodbyes and farewells to Jozef Kotula and Franz Almer as they left to join St. Pauli for €1,5m and €875K respectively. Albrechtsen was supposed to leave as well, but it turned out that FC Köln couldn’t afford to pay the price after all. Lousy business tactics by them if you ask me. I’m just happy that St. Pauli could pay and were willing to take on some of our unwanted players.

December 17th, 2005

Our last league game of the year was an away fixture to none other that the annoying FC Köln. While they have a strong team, there are strong indications of financial problems and hopefully we could add to their woes. Running on to the water-logged pitch where the same eleven players as last week, their faces set in determination. Though I did have a few concerns, as always, the lads did me proud again. Beigang netted a brace in the first half and Szabics also added one to his tally for the season. The Hungarian added a second after the break showing that he really is worth all the cash we paid for him, something he never really showed during the last season. It also means that we’re league leaders during the break with an amazing 8 point lead down to Leverkusen.

FC Köln 1-5 Siegen

December 21st, 2005

Our last game of the year was our cup clash with Hertha Berlin. Led in front by Peter Madsen who just won the Danish Player of the Year award they will be a force to be reckoned with. Our odds of victory was greatly increased when they had to pull off their key defender, Nenë, with an injury after just 13 minutes, but even though they suffered a setback here they continued to be dangerous. As it was neither side managed to score during the ninety minutes. The Berliners could thank Timo Hildebrand for that as he pulled save after save.

With no goals in the extra time either it was time for penalties. I truly hoped Gombert was up for it as I nominated Beigang, Szabics, Maciel, Solís and Woods as our kickers. The first two shots were converted to goals, but then both Szabics and Ernst failed to score. The remainder scored on their shots, but fate had come to claim us when the impressive Hildebrand saved Zé Robertos shot and Hertha then scored to take the win.

Hertha Berlin 5-4 Siegen after penalties

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Wednesday 21st December 2005

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2005/6 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st SF Siegen 18 9 0 1 26 12 6 2 0 25 13 47

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Leverkusen 18 9 0 0 25 10 4 0 5 12 16 39

3rd Dortmund 18 8 0 0 18 7 4 1 5 17 18 37

4th Wolfsburg 18 8 2 0 23 10 3 0 5 12 14 35

5th Nürnberg 18 4 3 1 16 11 6 1 3 19 9 34

6th FC Bayern 17 6 0 1 17 6 4 0 6 15 16 30

7th VfB Stuttgart 18 7 3 0 14 2 1 3 4 6 13 30

8th Werder Bremen 18 8 1 1 23 8 0 3 5 3 15 28

9th Hertha BSC 17 7 0 3 23 11 1 3 3 6 8 27

10th Schalke 04 17 6 1 1 20 10 2 2 5 14 20 27

11th Duisburg 18 5 2 3 15 13 2 2 4 10 17 25

12th HSV 17 4 1 2 17 11 0 4 6 11 21 17

13th 1.FC Köln 16 2 4 2 13 17 1 2 5 15 20 15

14th SC Freiburg 18 2 4 4 11 14 0 2 6 5 16 12

15th M'gladbach 18 2 3 3 12 11 0 2 8 6 21 11

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th Kaiserslautern 16 1 3 3 10 14 0 4 5 8 18 10

17th Bielefeld 18 1 2 5 6 13 1 1 8 10 24 9

18th Cottbus 18 2 3 5 14 18 0 0 8 4 24 9

</pre>

[Harleqin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

December 31st, 2005

A year of desperation and exultation.

Dear SF Siegen fans.

In what I hope is going to be a future tradition here at our club I am going to address you directly here at the end of the year and give you some information about how we at the club sees the past year and what our hopes are for the future.

One year ago we were newly promoted to the Bundesliga and had major problems at the bottom of the table as we simply didn’t play fast enough to keep up with the established team. Every match was a struggle for points and we were in the drop zone with just 18 points in as many games. We lost five of our first six games, with the sole win coming against Dortmund and all hope looked lost. We were in luck though as our closest competitors also had a rough time of it. The 7-1 defeat against Hertha Berlin was probably an all-time low for us after years of success, but gradually we fought back and collected some valuable points. As the season drew to an end it was all down to the final match. As you will remember the lads did their job there with the 2-0 win at Bochum and that result saw us stay up due to the defeat Aachen suffered. We made it with just one point and finished the season with 34 points, an exact average of one per game.

Now, six months later a lot has changed as we’re sitting top of the table with 47 points after 18 games. Already better than out total from last season. How has this change come to be? Well, for one thing our players have adapted to the quicker pace and they have also come to know and trust in one another. Players like Nico Beigang, Imre Szabics and, not least, Marcel Gombert, have lifted their play to a whole new level. Gombert has shown progression and skills that could easily make him the number one German keeper and has already made the U-21 number 1 jersey his own. Our defence has learnt how to deal with the dangerous forwards here and led by Philippe Christanvel they have become a bulwark that we can rely upon.

In midfield Arzu is stronger than ever. He has been with us throughout our rise through the divisions and it is no wonder that he is our captain. Always leading by example he is rapidly becoming symbolic of Siegen as a tough, fair and determined player. Our midfielders have flourished this season and they have a lot of credit for the goals we have scored. Our dynamic trio of attacking midfielders are showing skills matched by few. Finally credit must go to young Fabio Tonelli. He is a player whom we have tracked for a long time and I was delighted when we finally got him. He made the transition perfectly and is rapidly evolving to be a top player.

We had expected another year of relegation worries, but instead everything has just clicked and we are stronger than ever. With our current lead it will be disappointing if we do not take at least a UEFA cup place when the season is over. While we are first now it is still a long season, and if we can actually end up in the top three then it is a miracle not seen since Kaiserslautern won the title in the promotion season. Can we do it? Possibly. There is no question though that the next six months will be incredibly exciting for all involved with SF Siegen.

The players have done well, we have had luck with our transfers and we have some of the best and most supporting fans in Germany. We could not have made it this far without your support and faith in us.

We here at SF Siegen would like to wish you all a happy new year and look forward to seeing and hearing you again at the Leimbachstadium.

Karl Franz von Mannstein.

Manager

SportFreunde Siegen.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Harleqin]

January 1st, 2006

We started the new year with the loss of Albrechtsen. After his earlier attempt to leave had failed other clubs had come in to try and lure him away. Kaiserslautern had luck in their attempt and as they also had the cash we allowed them to sign him for €2,4m. A good price for a player who has lost the place and wanted to leave. They will be put to good use. Also, several other players were rumoured to be leaving. Both Jorginho and Gombert were linked with other clubs, but of course we quickly crushed these rumours as there is no truth in them what so ever.

January 2nd, 2006

Boy aren’t we popular. A fax ticked in from Stuttgart with an official bid of €7,5m for Arzu. While I was tempted to just throw it out and ignore them I still faxed a polite “thanks, but no thanks†reply back to them. We too were locked in negotiations with Swiss club Grasshoppers. They have a young Swede by the name of Alexander Farnerud playing for them and I’d really like to sign him. The major block here was the price as they wanted more than €10m for him. Quite a lot of money, but he really looks like he could make us stronger. After some thought I decided to offer them €8m straight up with a further 3 million once he had ten caps.

January 3rd, 2006

Stuttgart is apparently not too pleased about my return fax as they send yet another one this time offering a whopping €9m for Arzu. They can forget about it though. My mind is set and I want at least €14m for my captain.

Also, Hertha Berlin offers €4,1m for Jorginho. Yeah right… as if! I paid more for him and he is one of the best at his job in the division. Try giving me €10m. Then we can talk about it.

Note… I’m changing the currency from Euros to Pound Sterling as I simply have too much problems with these high amounts to figure out if the various offers are too expensive or cheap.

January 4th, 2006

Stuttgart just won’t leave me alone. Hearing about Herthas bid for Jorginho they try to top it with an offer of £3,2m. While it is better it is just not good enough.

January 9th, 2006

After thinking about it for a week we got a call from Grasshoppers telling us they had decided to accept our offer for Farnerud as they just couldn’t turn down that much money. We quickly entered negotiations with the player and offered him what we would consider a good deal for him including a massive pay rise. Two days later he signed on the dotted line completing our £7m swoop.

January 19th, 2006

Hertha Berlin made an attempt to lure away Jorginho with a £2,7m offer. Hmm… I wonder what weed they are smoking as I’ve just refused a £3,2m offer. Needless to say they were told to get lost.

January 20th, 2006

Prior to the start of the spring season Bild Zeitung ran a massive article on Phillippe Christanval praising his efforts and adjustment to life in Germany. This caused other media to focus on him and I was interviewed on my thoughts on him. Of course, I could only praise my valued defender who has become so vital for us.

January 28th, 2006

FC Bayern vs SF Siegen

It was finally time to get back to the action after a month long break and we started it in perhaps the most difficult way possible with an away fixture to FC Bayern. Still, we were fit and had no injuries The opening twenty minutes were very quiet as both teams held great respect for the other and none dared to fall behind. Only one chance was produced in that time and it was easily held by Gombert. Our first chance came after 23 minutes. A poor clearing by a Bayern defender saw Zé Roberto take control of the ball. Looking up he saw Solís with acres of land, played him and the Costa Rican swirled with the ball and blasted it past Kahn in one fluid motion.

The goal kickstarted the game and with the upper hand, both morally and on the board, we took control of the game. Neither keeper was beaten again for the next 30 minutes, but then Gombert could only watch as Zecke powered off a shot that hit the upright. The Bayern striker had more luck a little later when he passed Gombert in two attempts after the keeper had blocked the first shot. Both teams had penalty appeals turned down in the dying minutes as it finished all square.

FC Bayern 1-1 SF Siegen

0-1 Solís (24), 1-1 Zecke (69)

FC Bayern: Kahn ©, Sagnol, Ochs, Kovacs, Demichellis, Zecke, Jeremies (Riquelme 75), Nanni, Husain, Salihamidzic, Ballack

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud, Arzu ©, Beigang, Tonelli, Zé Roberto

Februar 5th, 2006

SF Siegen vs Nürnberg

We are without Jorginho for this match due to suspension, but we should be ablt to handle 5th placed Nürnberg despite of this as they have both Qu Bo, Alex Alves and Popovic doubtful due to injuries.

With several key players out the guest started out defensively and this allowed us to unleash out full attacking potential on them. Still, they defended well and it took us 25 minutes to score. Sadly the effort was ruled out due to offside, but there was no such ruling two minutes later when Zé scored on a header after a corner. One more goal came in the dying seconds of the half. Döring tackled the ball from Ujfalusi just outside their penalty area, passed it on to Zé while lying down and the Brazilian curled it into the six-yard box where Arzu popped up as a jack in the box and headed it unstoppably home.

We closed the bag in the second half as Tonelli scored a great goal. He got control of it after a long pass from Arzu and despite being heavy pressured he used his strength to keep the defenders away and blasted in to the top corner without chance for the keeper.

SF Siegen 3-0 Nürnberg

1-0 Zé Roberto (27), 2-0 Arxu (45), 3-0 Tonelli (73)

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Döring, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud (Woods 66), Arzu ©, Beigang (Szabics 66), Tonelli, Zé Roberto

Nürnberg: Saja, Balitsch, Diarra, Hübschmann, Lembi, Preuß (Nikl 52), Ujfalusi, Jarolim (Michalke 77), Barbatov ©, Bobadilla, Geoane

[Harleqin]

Februar 6th, 2006

Once again a message arrived from Dortmund inquiring about Jorginho and offering £3,2m for him. I really don’t know what they are smoking. I’m not selling a valuable player for so small a profit. They were told to come back when they would offer me £6,5m. Unsurprisingly, they never called back.

Februar 11th, 2006

Borussia Dortmund vs SF Siegen

A tough match this, away to second placed Dortmund who are chasing us, but still eight points after us. Needless to say a win would be fantastic for our title chances, a draw good and a loss survivable. With a completely fit team again I knew that we would be able to match them.

The Rheinlanders came out baying for blood and put us on our heels right from the start, enjoying the first corner of the match after less than a minute. For the entire first half they dominated and we only got a single shot in on target. I didn’t mind it much though as Tonelli actually beat Forsyth with it. The goal came thanks to a swiftly taken free kick which allowed the Italian to go through their defence before they were ready and despite protests the goal stood.

Sadly, but just enough, we couldn’t hold tight in the second half and allowed Dortmund to score twice. Generally speaking the players failed their big test. Both defence and midfield had big problems and this gave the striker nothing to work with. No matter how heroic Gombert were in goal, he could make it up for 7-8 disappointments on the field.

0-1 Tonelli (10), 1-1 Rosicky (52), 2-1 Éwerthon (83)

BvB Dortmund: Forsyth, Evanilson, Fernández, Zepek, Metzelder, del Piero, Rosicky ©, Hamann, Malbranque (Ulich 83), Salas, Éwerthon

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud (Woods 58), Arzu © (Cappa 58), Beigang, Tonelli, Zé Roberto

Februar 19th, 2006

SF Siegen vs Armenia Bielefeld

I was concerned about Farnerud before the match as he hasn’t made much of an impact yet, but I suppose I should give him time to adapt to the higher pace, thus I started the same eleven again.

Things went much better this time as we totally dominated events. Still, poor refereeing almost cost us the win as we had two goals ruled out and a penalty appeal turned down. Beigang gave us the early lead after picking up the ball from Farnerud, but then the ref started his weird decisions and let Bielefeld back in the game. It was only at the end we finally were able to close it. First Beigang added his second after Arzu won a header and directed it on to him.

Just as it looked like we would scrape a narrow win, Farnerud finally started to pay us back. Getting hold of a loose ball he took a quick move and the blasted it home close to the post.

1-0 Beigang (23), 1-1 Flavio Conceicao (65), 2-1 Beigang (67), 3-1 Farnerud (75)

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Beigang, Tonelli, Zé Roberto

Bielefeld: Radakovic, Schiersand (Ruman 52), Voss, Klimek, Ejiofor, Erneman ©, Conceicao, Gulé-Mien (Przybilla 52), Küntzel, Christiano, Matellán

Februar 23rd, 2006

Spotlight in the local newspaper this week was on Fabio Tonelli. The way he has adapted in not time to a new country despite his age had made them tout him as a great player and a star in the making. Of course I agreed, as I also see him as a player who can lead us for years.

Februar 25th, 2006

Gladbach vs SF Siegen

Never change a winning team they say and after the way the lads played last week every single one was recalled to the team.

Both teams started out optimistically and after an even exchange in the start we were the first on the board as Lucic headed a powerful header home after a corner. A splendid set piece that gave us the moral higher ground. We added to more before the break to put us firmly in the drivers seat as we went down for tea and medals.

Szabis came on for Tonelli later on for some match practice, but as Beigang had to limp off I feared that he would get more minutes in the future than anticipated. It also upset us a bit and we almost managed to throw our lead as Gladbach seized the initiative with some quick goals. Ultimately though, the day belonged to us.

0-1 Lucic (17), 0-2 Farnerud (38), 0-3 Beigang (44), 1-3 Strasser (79), 2-3 Oktay (90)

Gladbach: Mantey, Kirch (Reuter 69), Carnell, Strasser, van Hout, Ernst, Reich, Kwan-Woo, Oktay ©, Skoubo, Seitz

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Beigang (Woods 73), Tonelli (Szabicz 64), Zé Roberto

A medical scan and check after the game revealed that Beigang had damaged his knee ligaments and would need to rest for three weeks before resuming training. Drats.

[Harleqin]

March 3rd, 2006

A surprise offer ticked in on the fax for Erik Akoto. The Togolese is a good and valuable player, but he hasn’t got as many chances as he might have due to our good defence. I’m in a bit of doubt over whether to accept the £400K from Hansa Rostock or not, but as his contract is running out in the summer and I don’t want to offer him a hefty raise for a squad player I decided to accept it. The player quickly agreed terms and signed the following day though we would keep him until summer.

March 5th, 2006

SF Siegen vs Kaiserslautern

With Beigang out I handed Szabics a recall to the line-up and I expected him to do well as he was rearing to get a go. What followed was a thrilling match that had it all. Goals, a red card and a terrible defensive performance from us.

After just nine minutes Kulpaka headbutted Tonelli in anger after the Italian first out-dribbled him and then dived after a tackle from the defender. The Pole was sent off, but instead of being daunted by it the visitors took the lead shortly after. Then we slotted home four goals including a brace from Farnerud before they pulled one back. A last exchange of goals saw the match end 5-3 but 3 goals scored by ten men is simply disastrous and a clear sign of overconfidence.

0-1 Park Ji-Sung (16), 1-1 Arzu (22), 2-1 Farnerud (45), 3-1 Farnerud (48), 4-1 Solís (62), 4-2 Shao Jiayi (66), 5-2 Tonelli (76), 5-3 Kern (78)

Kulpaka sent off (9)

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Tonelli, Szabicz, Zé Roberto

Kaiserslautern: Wessels, Albrechtsen, Kulpaka, Reinhardt, Knavs, Ji-Sung (Latoundji 22), Jiayi, Morantes, Arveladze (Nakazawa 22), Kern, Grammozis ©

Pleasingly though we set a new record attendence with more than 27,000 fans showing up and that also resulted in record earnings of more than half a million pounds.

March 11th, 2006

Energie Cottbus vs SF Siegen

Due to a minor injury we rested Tonelli as we travelled to East Germany in order to face the bottom club. Cottbus have far from impressed this year and with our current form everybody expected us to pick up three points.

Therefore it was a chock when we conceded an early goal. We quickly pulled level, but we continued to be under heavy pressure and failed to create chances. Things got a little more normal in the second half, but once again we leaked too many goals and only an injury strike from Kirichenko gave us the three points.

1-0 Kovac (3), 1-1 Farnerud (11), 1-2 Farnerud (53), 1-3 Kirichenko (56), 2-3 Zilic (60), 3-3 Hempel (63), 3-4 Kirichenko (90+)

Cottbus: Haas, Velkorborsky, Blank, Tunchev ©, Klos, Kovac (Wiesinger 59), Zimmermann, Brenda, Zilic, Boriseiko, Hempel

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Kirichenko, Szabicz, Zé Roberto

March 12th, 2006

The upcoming internationals saw an exodus of players from our club as Christanval joined the French squad, Farnerud the Swedish, Rune Pedersen the Danish, Borgersen the Norwegian, Kirichenko the Russian and Szabics the Hungarian. Had Beigang been fit he too might have been called up.

March 19th, 2006

SF Siegen vs Duisburg

Confidence was high at the club after Dortmunds defeat the day before meaning that a win would send us ten points clear as we approach the end of the season.

Once again all the players were fit allowing us to go out and demolish the visiting club.

Still on fire after his long spell out our Russian striker netted another brace in the first half and even the injury to Lucic couldn’t dampen the spirits in the dressing room at half time. A firm speech was needed to inform them that we still hadn’t won the match. Nodding somberly the went out and completed the job in the second half showing the skills the fans have learned to cheer and trust in.

1-0 Kirichenko (17), 2-0 Kirichenko (20), 2-1 Dworrak (51), 3-1 Tonelli (60), 4-1 Kirichenko (64)

Tomas sent off (74)

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Kirichenko, Tonelli, Zé Roberto

Duisburg: Langerbein, Kienle, Lala, Bogesits (Tomas 57), Drsek (Tweed 57), Shiller, Petkovic, Alexandersson (van Houdt 52), Kurth ©, Dworrak, Throm

Sadly we would be without Lucic for three weeks and Maciel had also picked up a slight injury keeping him out for two. Quite a blow to our defence, but with the internationals coming up, we should be able to weather it.

[Harleqin]

March 31st, 2006

With his good form throughout the month our strong Swede, Alexander Farnerud, was awarded the prestigious Player of the Month Award. We were still surprised at this, but he has really earned it after he quickly adapted to the Bundesliga.

April 1st, 2006

Leverkusen vs SF Siegen

With two players still out in defence things were not looking to good at the back before the game away to fourth-placed Leverkusen. We conceded after seven minutes, but luckily our off-side trap worked and the goal was ruled out. Still, it was not enough to still prevent them from netting twice in the first half, despite a goal inbetween from Beigang. We did pull level again, but terrible defending was our undoing. Bäcker is simply a liability to have in the team and he will never feature again.

1-0 Franca (29), 1-1 Beigang (30), 2-1 Klimowicz (32), 2-2 Solïs (55), 3-2 Klimowicz (62), 4-2 Klimowicz (71)

Leverkusen: Butt, Feulner, Dimutru, Heinrich (Sebescen 67), Kuffour, Ramelow ©, Duscher (Schwarz 61), Mazingu-Dinzey, Klimowicz, Franca, Kobiashvili

SF Siegen: Gombert, Bäcker, Jorginho, Christanval, Borgersen, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Beigang, Tonelli, Zé Roberto

April 9th, 2006

SF Siegen vs Hertha Berlin

With a full squad to choose from again we were looking to get back on track in our effort to secure the clubs first trophy and get to Europe. What a triumph it would be. No TOTO cup, no UEFA cup, but straight into the Champions League. Well, it could still go wrong, but three new points would help a lot.

A string of injuries in the first half to both sides overshadowed the two goals shared by the teams. Still, Beigangs 20th goal of the season was cause for cheer as it was a new club record. Still, we were made to sweat more than expected as we didn’t get the equalising goal until the added times after Hertha had played an intelligent game, punishing our mistakes and standing firm at the back.

1-0 Beigang (27), 1-1 Khoma (31), 1-2 Hleb (77), 2-2 Farnerud (90)

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel, Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Beigang, Tonelli (Kirichenko 35), Zé Roberto

Hertha: Hildebrand, Schmidt (Kamphuis 68), Münch, Stefanovic, Nené (Burik 16 (Quattrocchi 29)), Ernst, Hleb, Deisler ©, Madsen, Mintal, Khoma

April 15th, 2006

VfB Stuttgart vs SF Siegen

A lot of players were called up to represent their nations again just before the game and to our delight we learned that Marcel Gombert had been named in the Germany B squad. Massive congratulations were in order and as he led the team out on to the pitch one could see his determination to prove himself worthy from miles away.

The first half caused some odd emotions in the home crowd. First they moaned when Lucic gave us the lead only to to replaced by laughter when Roberto was injured in the celebrations and had to limp off. Of more concern was the injury to Maciel later as it leaves us without a right-sided defender due to my refusal to play Bäcker. Still, we held on to win and now we can see the finish line in the distance.

0-1 Lucic (38), 1-1 Mahdavikia (51), 1-2 Beigang 60), Farnerud (65)

Stuttgart: Király, Korzynietz, Oswald (Djordivic 21), Bordon, Matheus, Wenzel ©, Mahdavikia (Mettomo 65), Bopp, Luizáo (Belik 80), Lincoln, Gargorov

SF Siegen: Gombert, Maciel Döring 62), Jorginho, Christanval, Lucic, Solís, Farnerud , Arzu ©, Beigang, Kirichenko, Zé Roberto (Cappa 39)

April 23rd, 2006

SF Siegen vs Werder Bremen

A few changes were in order before this match due to injuries, but most of our reserves are so good that it should not be a problem. As far as I can tell we only need to pick up around four points in the last five games to secure the title. Amazing actually considering the struggle we were in last season.

The first half was about as exciting as watching grass grow and if it hadn’t for a single goal from Solís the crowd might well have fallen asleep.

The pace quickened in the second half and with four goals shared evenly both sides had something to cheer though we got the last laugh.

SF Siegen 3-2 Bremen

1-0 Solís (29), 2-0 Beigang (48), 3-0 Farnerud (61), 3-1 Miedl (65), 3-2 Hristov (90)

Hehe…. We have now scored 85 goals this season in just 30 games and that is a new Bundesliga record. Go go Siegen!

[Harleqin]

April 26th, 2006

Massive celebrations were held at the club as Nico Beigang finally got his first cap at the age of 23. With 15 minutes to go he was substituted on as Germany lost 0-1 to France as a replacement for Miroslav Klose.

April 30th, 2006

Freiburg vs SF Siegen

After Kirichenko got the opening goal after just two minutes it quickly became clear that this would be one of those days where our offence worked as a dream and we created chance after chance. Despite a brief revival in the first half there was nothing Freiburg could do to hold us back. With the points secured we hurried to the radio to get the result from Dortmund.

Freiburg 3-4 Siegen

0-1 Kirichenko (2), 1-1 Iashvili (19), 1-2 Farnerud (44), 1-3 Farnerud (63), 1-4 Solis (69), 2-4 Serban (86), 3-4 Coulibaly (89)

It turned out that Dortmund had won as expected but with an eight-point lead and just three more games things were looking bright indeed.

May 4th, 2006

Major disaster struck in training. Akoto is on his way out of the club and Lucic and Borgesen are getting old, so Christanval and our already prepared summer transfer of Panagiotis Manikas was vital to give us a defensive pairing of the Greek and the Frenchman. Those dream suffered when Christanval misstepped in training and broke his ankle, an injury that would keep him out for more than half a year. The need for at least one more international-class defender suddenly doubled.

May 6th, 2006

Wolfsburg vs Siegen

This was to be the day, the greatest in the history of the club. A special place had been prepared for Christanval so he could follow the game from the side as Akoto stepped in to take his place.

It was a thrilling match as we took the lead twice only to fall behind again, equalising in the last minute and then conceding in injury time. Shocked by the defeat I did still possess enough composure to look at the bright side. Dortmund might have lost and, if not, then we would take the title at home in front of our faithful fans.

Wolfsburg 4-3 Siegen

0-1 Beigang (22), 1-1 Petrov (32), 1-2 Farnerud (43), 2-2 Ziege (44), 3-2 Romeo (51), 3-3 Arzu (90), 4-3 Voigt (90)

May 13th, 2006

After days of negotiating we finally concluded a deal with Darren Purse which will see him join us from Birmingham in the summer. Able to play both in the centre and the right side of defence he is exactly the kind of player we need even though he has already turned 31 and is a bit old.

May 14th, 2006

SF Siegen vs 1. FC Köln

After the slight setback last week we were keen to avenge it and thus clinch the title we so craved.

Solís set the crowd into ecstasy after five minutes and we entered the break with a 3–goal cushion we did so to heavy applause and singing from the stands. When the clock ran out we were the emphatic victors with a solid scoreline and could receive the praise from the fans. We got our trophy ten minutes later and for a full half hour more the lads ran around the pitch to celebrate with the fans and soak up the atmosphere and praise that they had so earned. They were champions and had done the impossible.

Siegen 6-3 Köln

1-0 Solís (5), 1-1 Kwon Jib (14), 2-1 Arxu (20), 3-1 Cappa (25), 4-1 Kirichenko (34), 4-2 Inceman (41), 5-2 Farnerud (44), 5-3 Seol (64), 6-3 Farnerud (82)

May 15th, 2006

Despite heavy hangovers from the previous day we still had enough clearness of mind to issue a press release informing that young Portuguese defender Nuno Mata would be joining us from Aue in the summer. The former U-21 international is strong in the centre and on the right and capable of playing in both defence and on the midfield. He should fit in well though it is a step up for him.

May 20th, 2006

Schalke 04 vs Siegen

Well, it was all but over and we only needed to get the fat lady start singing. With the title clinched we were going out there to enjoy ourselves and go out with a blast though several players were still nursing hangovers.

As it was we were fit enough to take the win anyway, but most impressing was Farnerud who scored a brace to make it 16 goals in as many games. Truly impressive. He might have had a slow start, but has surely caught fire recently.

Schalke 1-2 Siegen

0-1 Farnerud (38), 1-1 Pjanovic (57), 1-2 Farnerud (60)

[Harleqin]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

************************************************************************************************

German First Division - Saturday 20th May 2006

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2005/6 Table

================================================================================================

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st C SF Siegen 34 15 1 1 52 24 11 3 3 48 34 82

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

2nd Dortmund 34 17 0 0 40 12 8 2 7 27 23 77

3rd Leverkusen 34 14 2 1 46 21 7 1 9 20 26 66

4th FC Bayern 34 14 2 1 37 10 6 2 9 26 29 64

5th Nürnberg 34 11 5 1 35 16 7 2 8 26 24 61

6th Schalke 04 34 12 1 4 38 22 6 3 8 21 27 58

7th Hertha BSC 34 12 2 3 36 15 4 6 7 18 21 56

8th Wolfsburg 34 12 4 1 38 22 5 1 11 21 30 56

9th Werder Bremen 34 13 3 1 32 9 3 3 11 17 31 54

10th HSV 34 12 2 3 37 16 1 4 12 15 36 45

11th Duisburg 34 9 4 4 28 20 3 3 11 17 36 43

12th VfB Stuttgart 34 8 7 2 21 11 1 8 8 12 26 42

13th Kaiserslautern 34 7 4 6 27 23 1 5 11 19 45 33

14th Bielefeld 34 6 4 7 22 19 2 3 12 16 35 31

15th SC Freiburg 34 6 4 7 24 23 1 5 11 13 28 30

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

16th R 1.FC Köln 34 6 5 6 28 33 1 3 13 23 50 29

17th R M'gladbach 34 4 3 10 24 31 1 2 14 16 42 20

18th R Cottbus 34 2 5 10 23 36 0 2 15 8 45 13

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

================================================================================================

2005/6 Goals

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Gls

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Dimitar Berbatov Nürnberg 33 19

2nd Nico Beigang SF Siegen 27 19

3rd Marcelo Josè Salas Dortmund 33 18

4th Darío Husain FC Bayern 24 (3) 16

5th Alexander Farnerud SF Siegen 16 16

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

================================================================================================

2005/6 Average Rating

================================================================================================

Pos Player Club Apps Av R

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Marcelo Josè Salas Dortmund 33 8.15

2nd Alonso Solís SF Siegen 26 8.08

3rd Dédé Dortmund 28 8.04

4th Mihajlo Pjanovic Schalke 04 25 (3) 7.96

5th Darío Husain FC Bayern 24 (3) 7.96

</pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Saturday 20th May 2006

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

2005/6 Senior Club Stats

================================================================================================

No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

18 Akoto, Erik 7 (1) 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 6.88

8 Arzu 38 8 0 0 15 3 0 4 7.66

15 Atalan, Servet 5 (1) 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.17

14 Bäcker, Sascha 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.00

9 Beigang, Nico 31 23 0 0 3 2 0 5 7.94

26 Benschneider, Roland 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

22 Borgersen, BÃ¥rd 1 (3) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00

28 Cappa, Mariano 17 (3) 3 0 0 9 1 0 0 7.55

6 Christanval, Philippe 34 1 0 0 1 5 0 0 7.32

20 Dione, Ousseynou 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

25 Döring, Nils 4 (1) 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.60

2 Farnerud, Alexander 16 16 0 0 4 3 0 5 8.31

17 Gastón Curbelo 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.50

1 Gombert, Marcel 38 0 62 0 0 0 0 1 7.42

3 Jorginho 34 1 0 0 4 5 0 0 7.09

19 Kirichenko, Dmitry 8 (1) 7 0 0 1 0 0 1 7.89

24 Koch, Andreas 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

5 Lucic, Teddy 35 2 0 0 2 4 0 0 7.17

30 Maciel, Francisco 18 0 0 0 7 7 0 0 6.94

13 Pedersen, Rune 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

16 Schöler, Tobias 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

7 Solís, Alonso 29 10 0 3 (2) 11 2 0 3 8.03

29 Spies, Armin 1 (1) 1 0 1 (1) 0 0 0 0 6.50

10 Szabics, Imre 11 (3) 7 0 0 3 0 0 1 7.50

27 Tonelli, Fabio 26 (2) 11 0 0 6 0 0 1 7.93

12 Truckenbrod, Jens 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 ----

11 Woods, Ben 17 (4) 11 0 0 7 0 0 1 7.67

4 Zé Roberto 28 (1) 7 0 0 13 3 1 2 7.69

</pre>

[Harleqin]

May 26th, 2006

Another round of congratulations were in order at the club as both Nico Beigang and Rune Pedersen got called up to the World Cup squads of their respective nations. It was a little disappointing for us that Gombert wasn’t named third-choice keeper for Germany, but the lad is young and should make it in due time.

Highly deserved Alonso Solïs also got called up to the Costa Rican squad and I’m sure that he’ll turn a few heads if he can maintain his fine form. Kirichenko also prepared to join the Russian squad while it was a surprise to see Maciel added to the Argentinian squad.

June 4th, 2006

Late in the afternoon I got a call from our friends at Schalke 04. Their manager talked long about his teams lack of a strong central, defensive midfielder and then bid me £8,75m for Arzu. While that much money is tempting I really had no choice but to turn it down. I’ll never find a player of that calibre to replace him. Certainly not for so little cash. I politely told him to dream on.

June 6th, 2006

It was award day at Frankfurt am Main and here our players really got the recognition they deserve. Marcel Gombert was voted keeper of the year ahead of Hans-Jörg Butt and Timo Hildebrand. The striker of the year award went to Nico Beigang, but I was slightly disappointed that neither Arzu nor Solïs got any award as I truly felt they deserved it. For some reason they named Berbatov the topscorer though Beigang had as many goals as him and in fewer matches. Not really fair. As a small consolation though out hitman won the overall Player of the Year award and was praised from all sides. I was happy too. After three seasons here he finally got his big breakthrough and with 40 goals in 73 games, most of the goals coming this season, he was finally the player I expected him to become when I signed him for less than two million pounds three back in 2003.

June 8th, 2006

The first shock of the World Cup, hosted right here in Germany of course, came when Belgium and Peru played out a 5-5 draw. Claudio Pizarro scored no less than 4 goals while Emilie Mpenza scored three for the Red Devils. The Peruvians got lucky though with their final goal scored in injury time, but they all count.

June 9th, 2006

The second upset came when northerners Denmark beat the hosts 1-0 thanks to a Peter Madsen goal. Not a good start for one of the favourites to the title.

June 11th, 2006

What looked to be a small English win over Belarus was turned about when keeper Steve Piggott was sent off after 81 minutes and with ten minutes to go the Belarussians scored 3 times to record a 4-2 win. Not a good show from the Chelsea keeper though they also suffered from having used up all their substitutions.

June 15th, 2006

The poor play of Germany continues with a goal-less draw against Saudi Arabia. No goals from them in two games now. Surely they can’t continue to keep Beigang on the bench.

In other news we sign Brian Helveg for £2,3m from AaB in Denmark. The 18-yo youth international is a major prospect and should be a star that might rival even Beigang. At first he will fight against Tonelli though.

June 18th, 2006

Canada continues their great Cup with a 2-1 win over Russia. Two late goals saw them clinch the win after Leeds Uniteds Yegor Titov was sent off in the first half.

June 20th, 2006

Following his great season it was no wonder that the fans chose Nico Beigang as Player of the Year. This completes a nice hattrick for him that also saw his take the German Player and German Striker of the year awards. Really a great season for our young striker. Elsewhere the club announced the addition of 2500 more seats in the stadium to replace the stands.

June 24th, 2006

The second round was the final stop for Germany after they were eliminated on penalties by France. Elsewhere normality reasserted itself with both Canada and Belarus knocked out.

[Harleqin]

July 7th, 2006

As the world was focused on the World Cup we managed to break the deadlock a little as we completed the signing of 20-year old U-21 Italian Claudio Borghi who can play on the right of both midfield and defence. He is still very rough, but has featured for Inter Milan. Hopefully he can develop a bit here in Germany. Going out Tobias Schöler agreed a move to Chemnitz.

July, 8th, 2006

In Hamburg Brazil took bronze after an emphatic 3-0 win over Denmark. Elsewhere we drew a tie with Stuttgarter Kickers in the first round of the German Cup.

July 9th, 2006

Today was a great day for the club. Argentina beat France 1-0 in the World Cup final and Maciel played 10 minutes for the winners. Returning home with the medal he should have gotten a massive boost of morale. Likewise the entire club is in an uproar over the honour of having a current world champion in the team. Considering that he had not played for Argentina in five years before coming here I’d also like to think that we have some part of the honour.

July 12th, 2006

The clearout continued as Beinschneider signed for Gladbach in a £1,4m deal. Considering that he never really broke through to the team made this a good deal. Just 11 games in three seasons is just not good enough, not even for a Bosman signing.

Also, Dione decided that it was time for him to retire with immediate effect.

July 28th, 2006

I’m not sure I understand the principle behind the League Cup. Without playing any games in it we were entered straight into the semi-finals against Leverkusen. Odd.

July 30th, 2006

Leverkusen vs. Siegen

Well, time for the League Cup Semi Final. I really can’t take this competition serious, but it would be a good indication of how fit the players are.

Both Farnerud and Beigang scored early in the first half to keep up the good form that marked them last season. Still, we were a bit shaky at the back and went into the break all square again. We kept up the pressure though it looked bleak when they got a penalty. Happily Gombert saved the weak kick, but he was faultless a few minutes later when we fell behind. Solís made it even again and the games progressed to penalties. For the second time Dumitrescu missed a penalty in the match and as we converted our five we ran out winners.

Leverkusen (7)3-3(8) Siegen

[Harleqin]

FIRST TEAM SQUAD 2006/7

Keepers

1. Marcel Gombert, 21 years, GER, U-21 international.

Marcel was promoted from our youth teams back in 2002 and after learning for two years he took the number one jersey at the age of just 18. Now he is an established U-21 keeper and one of the biggest names in Europe. A local lad he is Siegen through and through and is happy to be a part of the team.

12. Rune Pedersen, 26 years, DEN

Bought from Danish club AGF Rune is yet to make his debut. He was bought as a backup and understands that is his role. He is aware that is will take a massive dip in form from Gombert for him to be a regular, but he is good enough to step up and deputise if needed.

Defenders

2. Francisco Maciel, 30 years, ARG, 5 caps

Though signed as a temporary solution on the right, Maciel surprised everybody by delivering a string of high class performances that saw him return to the Argentine team after a five year absence and even played in the final when his country won the 2006 World Cup. A superb player.

4. Philippe Christanval, 29 years, FRA, 4 caps

A bargain at a price of just £900k Philippe has become a rock in defence and the first name to be picked. Sadly a broken ankle saw him miss some games last year and also the first three months of this campaign.

14. Claudio Borghi, 20 years, ITA, U-21 caps

A new player and one for the future. He never made it at Inter, but I see potential in him.

16. Teddy Lucic, 35 years, SWE, 38 caps

Teddy is probably facing his last season as an active player and he is looking to finish on a high note. After Leverkusen dropped him to their reserveteam he was delighted to join us and has been instrumental in our rise. Even if he’s only been here for four seasons he will always be one of our greatest players.

13. Nuno Mata, 23 years, POR, U-21 caps

Another new player and another talent that I’ve had an eye on for some time. He is yet to play at the highest level, but I have big expectations for him and his versatility makes him a great asset.

15. Darren Purse, 31 years, ENG

Darren is a great player, but even so he will have to accept just being third or fourth choice in central defence.

3. Jorginho, 26 years, BRA, U-21 caps

Another player whom we took a chance with, but yet another who has never let us down. There have been plenty of offers for him, but he is content to stay with us as he knows he is a first team player.

5. Panagiotis Manikas, 27 years, GRE

Yet another new player. He has been bought to start in the line-up and looks to be another bargain purchase. Time will show if he lives up to expectations.

Midfielders

6. Arzu, 27 years, ESP

Another player who will be a Siegen All-Time Great. He has been with us for 5 years and has been a regular since the days in the lower leagues. He is still a regular and is now carrying the captain’s armband. Why he has not been capped is a big mystery.

17. Danielle de Rossi, 25 years, ITA

Will only be a backup. He is there to provide cover for Arzu and that is all.

11. Alexander Farnerud, 24 years, SWE, 2 caps

One of our best players averaging a goal a game. He was expensive, but with the way he is playing he has been worth every Eurocent.

7. Alonso Solís, 27 years, Costa Rica, 35 caps

Intended as a rotation player he has played so well that he is now rated one of the best attacking midfielders in Germany. His skills has surprised everyone and he is one of our most consistent performers.

19. Ben Woods, 25 years, ENG

Backup player.

18. Mariano Cappa, 22 years, ARG, U-21 caps.

A massive talent and still young. He will get his fair share of games, but is still mainly a backup player.

8. Zé Roberto, 28 years, BRA

A long-serving star and another quality midfielder. He should have been capped and if he plays like last season he should be soon.

Strikers

10. Fabian Tonelli, 23 years, ITA

Bought at my insistence despite objections from the board. 11 goals in 23 starts is not as good as expected, but it is a good start for so young a striker.

9. Nico Beigang, 23 years, GER, 1 cap

Signed when he was a 20-year old talent he has really matured and was last years Player of the Year in Germany. He has also made his international debut and is being touted as the new Klinsmann.

22. Brian Helveg, 20 years, DEN, U-21 caps

A talent almost as big as Tonelli and Beigang and one who should have a bright future ahead. This year we will try to send him on loan though.

20. Dmitry Kirichenko, 29 years, RUS, 8 caps

Yet another strong striker. Scored 7 goals in 8 starts last season which demands respect. He is only third choice though behind the two youngsters.

21. Imre Szabics, 27 years, HUN, 21 caps

With 7 goals in 11 starts last season he has proved that he too is a quality striker and he completes the force of four super strikers I want.

Ideal line-up: Gombert – Jorginho, Christanval, Manikas, Maciel – Solís, Arzu, Zé Roberto – Beigang, Farnerud, Tonelli.

[Harleqin]

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Sportfreunde Siegen - Wednesday 2nd August 2006

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

6 Arzu DM RC ESP 17.3.79 27 - - £12.25K 6.6.11 £6.25M

23 Atalan, Servet AM/F LC TUR 1.1.77 29 - - £2.3K 14.6.08 £2M

- Bäcker, Sascha D/DM R GER 1.8.79 27 - - £1.9K 2.6.07 £700K

9 Beigang, Nico S C GER 24.8.82 23 1 - £5.25K 2.6.08 £8.5M

- Borgersen, Bård D C NOR 20.5.72 34 20 3 £350 11.6.07 £120K

14 Borghi, Claudio D/M R ITA 26.10.85 20 - - £2.6K 1.6.11 £1.5M

18 Cappa, Mariano AM LC ARG 30.1.84 22 - - £5K 28.6.09 £3M

4 Christanval, Philippe SW/D C FRA 31.8.76 29 4 - £14.25K 16.6.10 £4.7M

17 De Rossi, Daniele DM LC ITA 24.7.81 25 - - £10K 21.6.11 £2M

- Döring, Nils D/DM L GER 23.4.80 26 - - £550 22.6.07 £1M

11 Farnerud, Alexander AM/F RLC SWE 1.5.82 24 2 - £9K 9.6.12 £9.5M

- Gastón Curbelo AM LC URU 8.4.76 30 - - £1.5K 8.6.07 £825K

1 Gombert, Marcel GK GER 2.10.84 21 - - £1.9K 26.6.09 £2.2M

22 Helveg, Brian S C DEN 21.8.85 20 - - £8K 14.6.11 £2.6M

3 Jorginho D/DM L BRA 20.2.80 26 - - £9.75K 16.6.10 £6.5M

20 Kirichenko, Dmitry S C RUS 17.1.77 29 8 3 £3.2K 8.6.09 £4.4M

16 Lucic, Teddy D RC SWE 15.4.71 35 38 - £6.25K 25.6.07 £250K

2 Maciel, Francisco SW/D/DM RLC ARG 17.9.75 30 5 - £13.25K 3.6.09 £2.5M

5 Manikas, Panagiotis D C GRE 1.6.79 27 - - £9.75K 25.6.11 £1.1M

13 Nuno Mata D/DM RC POR 25.2.83 23 - - £13.25K 14.6.12 £2.3M

12 Pedersen, Rune GK DEN 9.10.79 26 - - £9K 11.6.11 £1.4M

15 Purse, Darren D/F RC ENG 14.2.75 31 - - £15K 9.6.09 £2.6M

7 Solís, Alonso AM RC CRC 14.10.78 27 35 15 £9.75K 28.6.10 £6M

- Spies, Armin AM C GER 14.10.88 17 - - £450 21.6.09 £650K

21 Szabics, Imre S C HUN 22.3.79 27 21 2 £8.5K 28.6.09 £5.25M

10 Tonelli, Fabio F C ITA 20.11.82 23 - - £7.75K 28.6.11 £7.75M

- Truckenbrod, Jens AM C GER 18.1.80 26 - - £2.8K 2.6.07 £575K

19 Woods, Ben AM/F RC ENG 9.5.81 25 - - £2.8K 8.6.08 £2.9M

8 Zé Roberto AM C BRA 13.5.78 28 - - £1.8K 28.6.09 £5.75M

</pre>

[Harleqin]

August 2006

What a ride it has been. As we embark upon our sixth season with me at the helm we can look back on an incredible rise. From the lower part of regional football we have been crowned champions. Also, with the title being our first trophy we are set to hit Europe for the first time and compete in the Champions League. It has been a ride of almost nothing but high points but all good things must come to an end. I’ve managed to assemble a quality side that can compete for honours, but this will be my last season at the helm of SF Siegen. I long for a new challenge and it is time to allow someone else to come with a fresh vision. First though, we have a title to defend

We start the month with the League Cup final against Dortmund. After weathering an early storm we are forced to make a substitution as Manikas has to leave injured. Shortly thereafter the Greek gets a reason to smile though as he sees Beigang power home a goal. Farnerud makes it two and with a comfortable lead I send on Nuno Mata for his debut twenty minutes before time. It finishes 3-0 to us after Darren Purse ties the bag just before full time and we can celebrate the first silverware of the season.

The proper league season opened with a trip to Bremen where we would face Werder. Always a tough prospect they put us under heavy initial pressure. Still, we fought on and just before the break we took the lead thanks to yet another goal from Nico Beigang. The goal seemed to deflate the homeside and the second half was devoid of any major threats as we were happy enough to defend our lead and travel home with a 1-0 win.

Once again Leverkusen tried to tempt us with a £6,25m offer for Arzu, but I’m not selling our captain that cheaply and especially not with the Champions League looming ahead. We are no longer a selling club, but a buying club.

The trees don’t grow to heaven though and we returned to the ground with a bang the following week. A poor game by Gombert was instrumental in our 1-2 defeat at home to Bayern. Two early goals by Denilson gave us a mountain to climb and though we clawed one back through Solís we never got close to the vital second goal.

The draw for the Champions League resulted in a hard group for us, but one that I’m confident in our ability to progress from. We’ll be facing Spaniards Villareal, Russians Spartak Moskva and Benfica of Portugal.

We rounded the month off by visiting Stuttgarter Kickers in the cup. Seems like it’s getting to be a regular feature that we’re playing them. I decided to rest Tonelli for the game and give Helveg a shot up front. It was basically just a heavy training session and four goals in the first half decided the game. Apart from a nice 5-0 scoreline only the dismissal of Solís gave us something to talk to the press about. As a reward for our win we get a trip to face 1860 in Munich.

[OMDave]

Just caught up with this. Great stuff!

Good luck in your first foray into Europe

[Harleqin]

Cheers Dave. Sadly I don't think it is very good. It is below the standard I know I'm capable of, but I'm not quite sure how to continue it.

___

September 2006

A lot of our players were in action at the start of the month where time was scheduled for internationals. Thankfully we suffered no injuries from them, but we did receive some bad news when we were informed that Solís would be suspended for a total of four games. Amongst those away and playing was Nuno Mata who received his debut for Portugal.

With Solís out it was time for Cappa to step in and fill his shoes while the young Armin Spies took a place on the bench. We were looking to pick up a win at Bochum but whatever hopes we had were daunted when we fell behind in the second minute. Talk about a poor start. We took over the match from then on and left them to rely on counter attacks. Typically enough we fell even further behind though we dominated and the consolation goal from Farnerud was not enough as we crashed 1-3.

With such shaky performances it was with a feeling of dread and trepidation that we travelled to Lisbon and an encounter with Benfica. Once again we fell behind early on only to start dominating without turning our possession into goals. Frustration set in and though we scored twice in the end it didn’t matter as we had fallen three goals behind. Quite a poor start to the season we’re having.

The game against Wolfsburg started on a positive note as we kept them from chances in the first half. However their ultra-defensive 4-5-1 formation also kept us down to only two chances. It helped in the second half when a freak shot from Farnerud went in and forced Wolfsburg to abandon their defensive attitude. Zé Roberto took advantage of the added space and clinched the game with his goal to 2-0.

A freak training accident just before the home tie with Villareal saw Kirichenko get injured and have to stay out for a month. Not the kind of warm-up we were looking for. Still it mattered little as we have such a strong quartet up front and of those Beigang put us ahead. Valladolid did pull level in the second half, though through Belletti rather than star striker, Roy McKaay. It looked to finish all square when an optimistic shot hit their left back and changed course. 2-1 and our first points have been earned.

Tonelli has played well so far, but the goals have not come. Therefore he took a place on the bench during the game with Hertha. Instead Hungarian Imre Szabics would start in and get to prove he is still a super-sub. The visitors surprised us in the first half by coming out with an offensive attitude, something we are not used to when playing at home. We took a lead in the second half once again thanks to Farnerud, but a serious lack in concentration let Hertha score thrice in ten minutes leaving us with long faces and no points. Bummer. Nothing seems to go right this season.

We rounded off what was a terrible month for us by going to Moscow to pay Spartak a visit in the Champions League. The game was another low for us. Despite being in serious problems we went 2-0 up at half time only to concede three times in the second half. The first and the last Russian goal came respectively two minutes after the break and two minutes before full time showing that the players appear to be lacking motivation. Perhaps some of the blame lies with me after so many years at the club. It is getting hard to continue finding the enthusiasm. I need a new challenge!

[Harleqin]

October 2006

After such a month things could only improve and we welcomed the challenge of Dortmund. What better way to bounce back than by taking apart a world class team? That was the theory. It started well enough as we didn’t concede until the 88th minute. Of course there was just one tiny problem, namely that we failed to score ourselves and thus lost it by a goal to nil.

Our impressive run continued at Schalke. First we lost Cappa to injury and even though Beigang put us ahead we conceded twice in the added time to crash 1-3. It is pretty impressive. It looks like the problem is mainly in defence and then the loss of Solís is also hurting our offensive. To cap off a lovely afternoon Arzu got his second yellow card ten seconds before full time. Just typical.

When we returned back to Siegen to train the following day a huge crowd met us with angry yells and demands of my resignation. Just great.

With the disasters in the league it was nice to return to the German Cup. Interestingly it was Solís’ first domestic game since his sending off in our last cup game. Still a trip to 1860 is not what we need to boost our confidence. The Costa Rican was obviously out to prove a point as he opened the scoring and then set Tonelli up for our second. In the end we ran out 5-1 winners and even gave Borghi his debut. Could this be the vital turning point for us?

With the second tie against Spartak coming up we needed to maintain the play we showed in Munich if we wanted to win. Three points would be essential if we want to move on to the next stage. Though there were bo goals in the first half we were clearly the best team and for the first time this season we showed great spirit in the second half and turned 0-1 around to a 2-1 win, Solís getting the clincher on a penalty. We are very much back in the running now.

It was time to transfer our cup success to the league and we all agreed that HSV would return home empty-handed. Obviously of course we were a goal down by half time. Who could expect otherwise? We did salvage a bit of honour though as Solís evened the scores, but, once again, we were forced to accept that we had dropped two points.

No matter how disappointed we were we had to forget it and move on as we were visited by Benfica. A defeat would almost certainly knock us out while a win would put it in our own hands. A draw would see us have a very tense last game in Spain. The Portuguese were also aware of the importance and started out cautiously. The first half was almost devoid of chances and though Beigang had found the net it was ruled out. 3 goals came in the second half, but with only one to us it was now clear that we had to win in Spain while at the same time Spartak had to drop points in Portugal. Not a good situation to be in.

It looked like this wasn’t going to be our year and I didn’t have any hopes. Strangely enough we then beat Stuttgart 4-0 on their own turf. I really don’t this… it just makes no sense. Well, at least we got three vital points.

[cantonaisgod]

Just caught up on this, I'm liking it

KUTGW

[Harleqin]

November 2006

Despite the setbacks I’m starting to develop a real affinity for 1860. Not so much due to their playing style, but more because we beat them emphatically again. This time we got a 3-0 home win once again with Solís being the dominant force. While he didn’t score himself he assisted twice and was essential in us getting some valuable confidence.

Unfortunately we suffered a major setback just three days before flying out to Spain. Arzu twisted his knee and was ruled out. Really unfortunate both for us and for him as he hoped to catch the eyes of the Spain coach with a good performance. Manikas was also out so we were not quite in our strongest formation. The Spaniards were hit worse though so I was moderately optimistic.

Both de Rossi and Beigang went close in the opening minutes as we came out hungry for victory. The game soon turned into a midfield battle but a shot on the post from Farnerud signalled the real start. Shortly after Valladolid took the lead only for us to draw level immediately. Still the went into the break a goal up and leaving us with a huge problem. The only good thing was that Benfica was also in the lead.

Tonelli was pulled off at half time The incredible scoring pace continued with another three goals in the first ten minutes to even it again at 3-3. No more goals came though and we had to face that we were out of Europe.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">

Phase 1 Group E

Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

1st Q Benfica POR 6 3 0 0 6 3 1 0 2 3 7 12

2nd Q Valladolid ESP 6 1 2 0 7 5 1 0 2 2 3 8

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

3rd Spartak Moscow RUS 6 2 0 1 6 3 0 1 2 3 5 7

4th SF Siegen GER 6 2 0 1 5 4 0 1 2 7 9 7

</pre>

The disappointment of our exit not withstanding the team did well and I decided to go with the same starting XI against Duisburg. We got off to a fantastic start. After just 40 minutes Farnerud had found the net thrice to give us a comfortable lead. We stepped down a gear in the second half and allowed them to score twice before de Rossi and Christanval clinched a memorable 5-2 away win.

At the same time we also drew our third consecutive away match this season in the German cup. This time we were paired with Kaiserslautern. A tough, but not insurmountable obstacle.

With our increase in fortunes our players suddenly became interesting objects again and offer were received, and rejected, for both Arzu and Solís.

It looked like we were back to the unstable ways when Nürnberg visited and took an early lead. To my shock and delight we managed to reply this time and a brace from none other than Farnerud again set us of to a 4-1 win. We might be out of Europe, but our league form is recovering.

The end of the world must be approaching was the main thought in my mind as we tore Kaiserslautern apart on their own ground. A solid 4-0 win founded in the first half saw us collect another three points as we made it five league wins in a row and continue our drive up the table.

The run ground to a halt in Leverkusen though. Truth be told we were robbed. Two goals were ruled out and if the referee had not ruled almost exclusively for the homeside we would have won this for sure. As it was we had to settle for a single point but all things considered it is acceptable.

We rounded the month off on a high note with another win over ‘slautern setting us up for the fourth round of the German cup. We might not be champions again, but I mean to win this trophy at least.

[Harleqin]

December 2006

The month of joy and happiness started off well enough when Solís was elected Player of the Month. The monthly meeting with the board was quite another thing though. We have done extremely well on the domestic scene in November and they express a concern over our league performances? I bloody well know we had a poor start, but the last month was fantastic and they choose this time to criticize? The only positive thing they said was that I should ignore the fans calling for my resignation. Ungrateful, no good SOB’s. I’ve made the club what it is. Me! Not them! Champions of Germany!

Well, it might be December and it might be freezing, but we still have to play. We started the month being visited by Bielefeld. They’ve had a rough start to the season with just six points and we made sure they didn’t earn anymore. Strikes from Tonelli and Farnerud sent them packing as maintain our pressure on the top spots. Our great run has seen us climb all the way up to fourth.

Another point was picked up at Freiburg and three more was earned when Ahlen visited. Our unbeaten run seems to just go on forever and with luck we’ll make it all the way to the winterbreak without suffering a defeat.

A decent crowd showed up at our last home game of the year and we hoped to give them the win they wanted. Fortunately we did just that thanks to Beigang and Farnerud and then it mattered less that our old player, Peter Graulund, got a late consolation goal. The year ends with us in fourth place though Hertha is just two points behind with a game in hand. All things considered I can’t be too unhappy about that.

We finished the year and the first part of the season with the trip to Dortmund whom we had drawn in the quarter finals of the German Cup. They are an exceptional strong team and it showed as it was all one-way traffic in the first half. Sadly, towards our goal. With Farnerud sent of later our last hopes were dashed and all in all we were fortunate to only lose it 1-3.

[Harleqin]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

German sensation switch to Ducth football

www.teamtalk.com

December 23rd, 2006

Dutch club, Vitesse Arnhem, confirmed today that they have appointed Karl-Franz von Mannstein head coach at their club. The German comes from SF Siegen, the reigning German champions and it is a shock to see him switch clubs in the middle of the season.

Originally inheriting Siegen he made a name of himself as a manager even when the German court ruled that he was allowed to own the club anyway. He managed to take the from the German regional divisions and all the way to the top of the pile, the last season seeing them crowned champions.

This year didn’t start well though. Lots of defeats in the league and an early elimination from the Champions League saw the fans start calling for his head. Likewise he himself has also spoken about trying something new for a few months, but it was expected that he would finish the season in Germany and then move to Spanish football.

Vitesse has fallen upon hard times lying only 13th in the Premier Division and finished 11th last season after having been pushing the big clubs winning medals in both 2004 and 2005. Club chairman Jos Vaessen expresses a hope that the German will return them to the top and bring honours and trophies to the Arnhem-based club who has never finished better than second in either the cups or the premier division.

It remains to be seen if von Mannstein will try to lure some of his talented youngsters with him to Holland. In Germany the fans have gotten what they wanted, but there is no doubt that the departure of the skilled manager leaves a big hole that will be hard to fill. A small fraction of fans have even declared that SF Siegen will never again get so great a man to lead them and that a statue should be erected of him.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[Harleqin]

December 2006 - continued

With the first game already a few days later I needed to hurry and get a bead on the squad. Primarily we should avoid losing it and then I could spend the winter refining the squad and look to build for the future.

I quickly got a picture of what I had to my disposal thanks to some good assistants.

Vitesse Arnhem First Team Squad spring 2007

1. Vladan Kujovic

A decent keeper though he has a few glaring weaknesses. We’ll have to see if we can find someone better to take over here. He is still the best at the club so he will be starting.

18. Jimmy van Fessem

Another decent keeper, but his skills just don’t cut it at this level and his age also works against him. I will look to replace him.

24. John Heitinga

A solid player without being exceptional. Useful both in the centre and on the right, but due to a plethora of right-sided players he will be playing centrally when chosen. A little weak in the air.

21. Edwin Musampa

Quite talented, but also very young. The previous manager didn’t use him much, but I think he has what it takes to make it at this level and he will at least get a chance to prove his worth.

2. Tim Cornelisse

I had major doubts over Tim. He looks decent enough, but I’m just not sure he is the kind of player we want if we aim for the Champions League. Still, he is the best of the crop and being used to play he should have the experience we will need. He has also been at the club for a long time and will be named captain.

4. Ruud Knol

Without a doubt the best defender present at the club. How he has avoided being capped is beyond me and he will be one of the first player to get picked. In him I see the rock that we will build our foundation on.

27. Aleksandar Rankovic

Backup.

41. Gregor van Dijk

A strong defensive who should do well in a holding role. At least I hope so as the club is sorely lacking in quality midfielders. This is one of the problems at the club.

46. Frank Bakker

While young and untried I have high hopes that Frank will prove able if given a chance and I expect he’ll have plenty of chances.

40. Maarten Kerkhof

Kerkhof is set to play a vital role. He has so much creativity and an uncanny ability to make incision passes so I’m counting on him to provide much of the midfield spark. Still, he is not getting any younger and will most likely find himself on the bench soon.

36. Cedric van der Gun

Backup

6. Ronald de Lange

What a talent. If he can do as well on the pitch as in training I have no doubts that he’ll make the step up from the U-21 to the A-team soon.

17. Mamadou Zongo

An exceptional player who has been topscorer at the club for several seasons. I see no reason to change that as he is without a doubt our best striker.

30. Nélson Marques

A very talented striker though not one who has been given a lot of chances. It is going to change though as I see much of Nico Beigang in him. A definite starter.

19. Kalle Sone

Not a bad player, but for now just third choice in the top hierarchy.

14. Sasa Stojanovic

Backup.

These players would have to make it until summer. Quite a few were found unworthy and listed for transfer.

There was a single match before the break on the 27th at home to RKC. With them hot on our trails a win would be nice to start of my Vitesse career and show that we are a force to be reckoned with. It would also be important to start with a win in front of the home fans to win them over.

We opened well and when de Lange made it 1-0 the crowd went ecstatic. Musampa increased the lead before de Lange got his second and as time ran out and we collected a 3-0 win I could delight in hearing the fans chant my name.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************************************************************

Vitesse - Sunday 31st December 2006

************************************************************************************************

================================================================================================

Squad

================================================================================================

No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

46 Bakker, Frank M RC HOL 23.8.87 19 - - £550 3.6.11 £625K

9 Bakker, Marc S C HOL 5.8.85 21 - - £1K 17.6.07 £200K

42 Bosman, Robert M C HOL 21.7.88 18 - - £525 24.7.07 £85K

26 Brouwers, Roel D C HOL 28.11.81 25 - - £4.6K 21.6.07 £950K

2 Cornelisse, Tim D R HOL 3.4.78 28 - - £12.75K 28.6.07 £2.2M

- De Meersman, Tim D/DM LC BEL 1.2.85 21 - - £375 18.6.07 £95K

29 El Brazi, Fauzi D/DM R MOR 22.5.77 29 39 - £7.25K 22.6.07 £200K

- Esajas, Dennis D/DM C HOL 28.6.90 16 - - £600 7.9.07 £120K

5 Fränkel, Purrel D L SUR 8.10.76 30 13 - £17K 17.6.09 £900K

24 Heitinga, John SW/D RC HOL 15.11.81 25 - - £8.25K 25.6.09 £1.9M

20 Hofs, Nick AM RL HOL 17.5.83 23 - - £9.75K 1.7.07 £2.3M

13 Houba, Jaap SW/D/DM C HOL 16.1.87 19 - - £775 7.6.07 £85K

32 Kaya, Onür M RC BEL 20.4.86 20 - - £325 2.6.07 £120K

40 Kerkhof, Maarten M RC HOL 29.1.75 31 - - £13K 10.6.08 £1.3M

4 Knol, Ruud D RC HOL 13.3.81 25 - - £8.5K 1.7.07 £2.4M

25 Kooiman, Henk AM/F RL HOL 15.3.85 21 - - £475 23.6.07 £75K

1 Kujovic, Vladan GK YUG 23.8.78 28 2 - £9.5K 6.6.09 £2.5M

35 Laros, Alfred D C HOL 20.12.86 20 - - £500 23.6.08 £210K

- Lurling, Cor SW/D C HOL 3.12.87 19 - - £675 8.6.07 £95K

30 Marques, Nélson F C POR 15.11.86 20 - - £2.2K 22.6.08 £1.6M

15 Molenaar, Dick AM/F R HOL 18.12.87 19 - - £575 13.6.10 £750K

28 Munthali, Heston M RC MWI 12.10.82 24 4 1 £8.75K 18.6.09 £2.2M

21 Musampa, Edwin SW/D C HOL 12.10.85 21 - - £600 15.6.10 £725K

7 Mustapha, Rahamat F RC GHA 10.10.81 25 5 - £13.75K 10.6.09 £3.7M

39 Nijhuis, Chris AM C HOL 3.11.86 20 - - £10.75K 21.6.07 £1.6M

- Pronk, Arjan GK HOL 14.5.87 19 - - £325 14.6.07 £22K

27 Rankovic, Aleksandar D/DM RC YUG 31.7.78 28 3 - £8.5K 30.6.07 £1.1M

33 Renfurm, Jermaine SW/D RC HOL 16.1.85 21 - - £575 26.6.07 £35K

16 Rensen, Sjoerd GK HOL 18.4.83 23 - - £1.5K 9.6.08 £400K

31 Schaars, Stijn D/DM L HOL 11.1.84 22 - - £6.5K 24.6.10 £825K

34 Seedorf, Mario GK HOL 30.3.84 22 - - £1K 7.6.10 £475K

3 Shew A Tjon, Etienne D/DM L HOL 24.11.79 27 - - £4.9K 26.6.11 £1.8M

- Smit, Jeroen D/DM LC HOL 27.9.88 18 - - £375 10.6.07 £50K

19 Sone, Kalle F RC CMR 5.5.82 24 18 4 £6.5K 12.6.08 £2.6M

14 Stojanovic, Sasa F LC YUG 27.1.81 25 - - £7.75K 9.6.10 £2.7M

12 Terpstra, Richard D RC HOL 29.1.82 24 - - £1.3K 3.6.07 £170K

- Witschge, Johan D L HOL 21.7.85 21 - - £500 19.6.07 £50K

17 Zongo, Mamadou F RC BFA 8.10.78 28 24 12 £21.5K 4.6.09 £4.1M

6 de Lange, Ronald AM/F LC HOL 6.5.84 22 - - £975 28.6.09 £3.5M

8 van Bochem, Rick DM R HOL 18.10.82 24 - - £5.25K 16.6.08 £1.1M

41 van Dijk, Gregor DM RC HOL 16.11.81 25 - - £9K 27.6.10 £2M

- van Es, Nick DM C HOL 21.1.87 19 - - £325 7.6.07 £20K

18 van Fessem, Jimmy GK HOL 8.7.75 31 1 - £13.25K 9.6.08 £1.2M

36 van der Gun, Cedric AM/F RC HOL 5.5.77 29 - - £7.5K 7.6.09 £2.2M

</pre>

January 2007

I quickly discovered a serious mismanagement by the old gaffer. None of their players had had new contracts offered and a disproportionately large section of the squad was about to end their contracts including many players whom I see as vital.

Not much happened during the month. Finding players of the right calibre who were interested in joining on small wages and available for nothing was impossible… especially since we couldn’t even afford to renew with those who were running out.

[Harleqin]

February 2007

Things look grim. There are no money and some of the best players are about to leave the club for nothing. Rebuilding will be a hard task but I’m certain it’s one that I’m capable of.

The break was over after about 5 weeks and it was time to get back. There was still plenty of points to play for and I hoped that the players would be ready to go out there and show their quality. Maybe even moving us all the way up to a European placing. Zwolle came for at visit at the Gelredome and they looked like a likely victim as we sought to start our long march. We kept them down to only one chance in the first half, but since they scored on it and we failed to turn our dominance into goals it didn’t look too good. While we did score in the second a 1-1 draw just wasn’t what I was looking for.

It looked to be the same story as we faced Den Bosch. Complete dominance and no goals until three minutes before time that is. Marques latched on to the ball and send it flying into the box where Zongo rose the highest to head home the winning goal. Three games in and 7 points earned. Not too bad a start.

Next up on the list of teams scheduled to be caught in the Vitesse machine was NEC. Kerkhof gave us the early 4th minute lead we wanted as we started to grind them down. A few mishaps however saw things go a little slower than planned even if it was enough for us to win it 3-1. A terrible ref gave our entire defence yellow cards though while letting NEC get away with murder… more or less. Even so it means that half the defence will be suspended for the next match.

De Graafschap would be our toughest challenge with me at the helm and then away too. Still it has to come sooner or later and it is still better than meeting one of the big three. Injuries and suspensions hurt our team a bit, but morale is rising and the squad is getting quite optimistic. The optimism was well deserved. A 4-0 lead at half time gave us an unassailable lead and even though there were no more goals we were in ecstasy. Only the top 6 clubs go through to Europe and we’re just nine points of Groningen in 6th now.

[Harleqin]

March 2007

Twente gave us quite a shock both when they took the lead and when they equalised to 2-2. Out of their just two chances they’d managed to score on both. Quite impressive, but also very sloppy work of our keeper. It looked like we were going to drop twp points again when Sone popped up deep into injury time and scored the winning goal for us. He is only playing since Marques is injured, but the way he is performing he might keep the place. The win also moves us up to seventh and we’re just six points after MVV who is new on sixth.

Amazingly we kept it up as we won at VVV (what’s up with all these appr.?) though it was made easier when experienced defender Raymond Victoria was sent off. I found it difficult to cheer Marques even if he scored all four of our goals as we had three players limping off with injuries. Making matters worse was that the least serious of the injuries would keep a player out for two weeks. Just what we don’t need.

A shock then hit us. Due to the injury that Ruud Knol sustained and which we expected would keep him out for about a month he actually decided that enough was enough and decided to retire from all professional football. This was just about the last straw. My defensive brick gone for good. We did get an insurance compensation of £2,2m but it’s still just not the same (NOTE: Interesting. Never had this happen before).

Facing league leaders Feyenoord with so many key players out is close to a dream. Not! Cor Lurlin, a young player just 19 years of age would face the task of replacing Knol. We created a lot of chances at the start, but still fell behind to a Christian Vieri strike. Not surprisingly, we then lost yet another player to injury Even so we managed to draw them 2-2 at half time. Not bad considering the difference in quality. Incredibly enough we added four more goals in the second half inflicting upon Feyenoord their greatest defeat in several season. I just couldn’t enjoy it much. I’ve discovered that we make way too little money to pay for the high wages several players collect.

We rounded the month off with a trip to MVV. This match will be vital for us as a win will really close the gap while a defeat will undo much of our hard work to catch up to them. A comfortable 4-1 thanks mainly to a brace from the on-fire Zongo gave us what we wanted. Even more than that it moved us to fifth place just a single point behind Groningen in fourth. Fourth is the last place qualifying for the UEFA cup and if we can avoid the Inter TOTO it is just great.

[Harleqin]

April 2007

More fuel was added to the fire as we got all three points at the Abe Lenstra Stadium when we visited Heerenveen. With three goals for us and none against it could seem pretty one-sided, but the game was much closer and a 1-2 scoreline might have been more accurate. Still, I’m not complaining.

The last win made it a new club record with 8 straight wins. Now it is just a matter of extending that run and see where we end up. Another win was added to the tally away to AZ Alkmar but this time we were really lucky in an extremely close match. Still, even if we only won 1-0 and it was close it is still 3 more wonderful points. Right now I’m feeling invincible. I’m on the run of my life and with both PSV and Ajax amongst the remaining teams we might really go somewhere. Especially considering the way the top clubs continually drop points.

Even after the retirement of Knol the young Musampa has really taken over responsibility at the back and the young defender has done so well that the media has started to pay attention to him. A large article in Voetball International focused on him and as his manager I was asked my opinion. I reflected on how he had been wasted in the reserves and how I expected him to be a first team player at Vitesse for years to come.

We faced Groningen next. Not a match I would have given any second thoughts if it hadn’t been for a chilling nightly visit. The Spirit of Christmas came to me and said if I didn’t win I would never have a happy Christmas again as he would then lose some bet he had made. Really weird. After a tied first half we opened up a gap in the second half and collected our tenth straight win. With 3-1 the final score I guess it is going to be Christmas again.

PSV Eindhoven were due to visit next and they were due the “Feyenoord-treatmentâ€. Zongo gave us an early lead before Richard Knopper pulled them level. A very close half ended with us on top after Johann Vogel got sent of for a reckless challenge leaving PSV to play an hour with ten men. We had quite a few penalty appeals turned down as we started an all-out offensive against the Eindhoveners, and due to their extremely defensive attitude those appeals were the closest we came to a winning goal.

Our TOTO place had already been more or less secured as we took to the pitch against RKC and about to hours later the three gained points insured that we just needed one point from the last two games to secure UEFA cup football. We should be able to do that easily and even if we failed then there was always a chance that our pursuer would **** up.

[Raptor]

I'm afraid that come Wednesday morning, this thread will require a new title.

[Goldy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Raptor:

I'm afraid that come Wednesday morning, this thread will require a new title. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yeah...can add "in der welt, especially the Netherlands"

Good story btw

[Harleqin]

Go ahead and do your worst Raptor

And thanks Goldy

---------------

May 2007

With just two games remaining and the last against Ajax we needed a good result against RBC if we were to keep them behind us. We’re even on points and games, but our goal difference is much better than theirs. Still, three points today would mean we should be able to do with a draw next week instead of being forced to win.

At half time we had gained a 2-0 lead, but word from Groningen was that Ajax was also ahead. Well, we were doing our part and if we were lucky we would get some aid as well. RBC managed to pull a goal back, but it didn’t trouble me as much as losing both Kerkhof and Lurling to injuries. To top it off we also learned that Ajax had won. It was time for a final showdown at Amsterdam ArenA. Some good came of it though. The 17 game unbeaten run is a new record for Vitesse.

Well, the big day came a week later. With a draw we would take the bronze medals while a defeat would push us down to forth place. No matter what we would qualify for Europe and make the season a huge success. The first half was pretty even. We had the most chances and possession but Ajax were much more clinical in their finishing and therefore took an undeserved 2-0 lead at halftime. The second half got more intense. Bakker pulled one back for us with half an hour remaining before Wesley Sneider scored his second. Bakker scored again in the 89th minute and as we piled on the pressure we not only hit the bar in the added time but were also cheated of a penalty. Ultimately it was not enough though and we lost the match and third place.

Well, looking back it hasn’t been that bad. We made new club records and we ended with setting a new Dutch record for most goals scored in a season. Not too shabby.

A lot of work is going to be done during the summer. A lot of people are on higher wages than we can afford and some just don’t have the skill. We need to look for a new keeper, a central defender and two midfielders as well as replace those we sell. Also, some promising youngsters will be needed… and just for kicks we need to pick up cheap players. It’s going to be a busy summer.

A few transfers fell into place during May, but as they wouldn’t join until July the official presentations would have to wait. A lot of players were also listed, but generated no interest what so ever. I didn’t think they are that bad though.