Popular Post robilaz Posted May 1, 2023 Popular Post Share Posted May 1, 2023 At the very start of the Football Manager 2023 cycle, we began a series that took you behind the Iron Curtain in an adventure that aimed to work through the German football system in a bid to become the first-ever Bundesliga winner from East Germany. However, that plan went very wrong very quickly, as we were given the sack after just two seasons. But, having really enjoyed the original concept, I decided to revive it. As a reminder, in OstDeutscher Sieg (East German Victory) we can only manage football teams based in former East Germany. Our aim is to become the first-ever Bundesliga champion to hail from the former Soviet-ruled area by working our way from the bottom to the top of the German football system. However, this time around I've given the save a bit of a revamp in order to make it more interesting. Firstly, FM23 restricts you to managing in the top three divisions of German football so I've used a custom database from FM Inside to extend the playable leagues to six tiers of multiple divisions. A Brief History Of German football Football first arrived in Germany courtesy of English ex-pats, who brought the sport to cities like Berlin, Hamburg, Leipzig and Stuttgart. That spawned the start of various academic, city and regional leagues before the formation of Deutscher Fußball Bund (the German FA) in 1900. In 1903, the first recognised national championship match saw VfB Leipzig (now Lokomotive Leipzig) beat FC Prag 7-2. That spawned an annual knockout tournament to decide the champion of Germany, which ran until 1944. But the aftermath of World War 2 saw organisations dissolved by Allied authorities until a new format, the Oberligen, was created in Western Germany in 1948. The regional league and national playoff formats remained until 1963 with the creation of the Bundesliga, which saw German football go professional. The original Bundesliga was formed of 16 teams from Oberligen and introduced the more familiar round-robin format. However, clubs in East Germany, which was occupied by the Soviets after the war, competed in a separate championship, which continued through to 1991. Since the formation of Bundesliga 59 years ago, 11 different clubs have been crowned German champions: Bayern Munich (31), Borussia Dortmund (8), Borussia Mönchengladbach (5), Werder Bremen (4), Hamburg (3), Kaiserslautern and Köln (2), and 1860 Munich, Eintracht Braunschweig, Nürnberg and Wolfsburg (1). A common anomaly there is the lack of an East German club, as no team from East Germany has ever been Bundesliga Champion. So that's the task that awaits us in OstDeutscher Sieg. As long as Leipzig don't beat us to the punchline in the time it takes us to get there! Which East German Teams Are Playable On FM23? Expanding FM23 to the six-tier German football system opens up a wealth of playable clubs behind the top three tiers. Luckily, the lower leagues are organised by location, which makes it a little easier to understand which clubs are based in former East Germany. However, the geography of the region and the fact that some of the clubs are a little all over the place in the lower tier makes it slightly tricky to decipher. So, as far as I'm aware, the playable clubs now available to us on OstDeutsche Sieg are: Tier 6: German Thuringia League Wismut Gera Tier 6: German Division North-East VFC Plauen Tier 6: German Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt 1. FC Lok Stendal Magdeburg II SV Dessau 05 Tier 5: Oberliga Nordost Hansa Rostock II Rostocker FC 1. FC Frankfurt Tier 4: Regionalliga Nordost SV Babelsburg 03 Berliner FC Dynamo Carl Zeiss Jena Chemie Leipzig Chemnitzer Energie Cottbus Lokomotive Leipzig Rot-Weiß Erfurt 3. Liga Dynamo Dresden FC Erzgebirge Aue Hallescher FC FSV Zwickau Bundesliga 2 1. FC Magdeburg Hansa Rostock Bundesliga RasenBallsport Leipzig 1. FC Union Berlin Who Are The Playable East German Football Teams? So who are these football teams based in East Germany? Here's a brief history of our potential playable clubs in this adventure and what to expect if, or possibly when, we eventually take charge of them. Landesliga (Tier 6) Wismut Gera: The original club SPpVgg Gera was formed in 1922 but first played in the German "top flight" in 1939 which, confusingly, was one of 16 top-tier divisions devised under the Third Reich. The club was dissolved at the end of the war then went through multiple name changes, which included playing in the inaugural DDR-Oberliga campaign as Gera-Süd. The name Wismut Gera was adopted following reunification in 1990 as they entered the new-look system in the fourth tier. But they soon slipped into the fifth tier and went bankrupt in 2003. But a merger saw the current club created and a change to BSG Wismut Gera in 2008. VFC Plauen: Plauen enjoyed early success by winning Vogtland titles in 1930 and 1931. But, in what may become a familiar story, they were dissolved by Allied authorities and reformed in 1945 then went through multiple name changes. They struggled for decades but enjoyed a resurgence after reunification as they won the fifth tier Landesliga Sachsen, then got relegated from Oberliga conceding 108 goals and scoring just 12. But in 1996 they rose as high as the third tier, before dropping down the divisions and suffering with financial issues in 2014. 1. FC Lok Stendal: The club started out as Viktoria Stendal in 1909 but went through numerous changes post-war. It spent most of the 1950s and 1960s as a lower table side in East Germany's top tier before a decline through the 70s and 80s. Its biggest claim to fame may be a 1995 cup run that ended with a penalty shootout defeat to Bayer Leverkusen. But financial issues struck in 2002 as the club went bankrupt, but revived through a union with local club FC Stendal. Magdeburg II: The second team of second-tier side Magdeburg, which I'm not 100% sure is playable yet! SV Dessau 05: Dessau was founded in 1905 as FC Adler but went through various mergers and unions in the next few decades. It was part of the odd 16-division Third Reich system and performed well, winning three divisional titles between 1937 and 1939 and three more between 1942 and 1944. After dissolution, it reformed various times before finally becoming SV Dessau 05 in 1995. It has largely played in the fifth tier since the 2000s with two seasons up in Oberliga and one down in Landesliga, before promotion in 2014. The club's most significant claim to fame is winning the inaugural FDGB-Pokal, the East German Cup, in 1949. Oberliga (Tier 5) Hansa Rostock II: The second team of second-tier side Hansa Rostock, also not sure if this team is playable. Rostocker FC: Rostocker may have a claim to being the oldest German football club - which is held by BFC Germania 1888. However, Rostocker FC was reportedly founded on 20 June 1895 before going through multiple mergers. Its greatest achievement may be reaching the final round of the German national title in 1942, only to lose a preliminary round against Holstein Kiel. It was promoted to Oberliga in 2020, 125 years after it was founded. 1. FC Frankfurt: FC Frankfurt was founded as the army club SV VP Vorwärts Leipzig in August 1951 and it's had an "interesting" history. The club was relocated to East Berlin mid-season in 1953 and underwent multiple name changes over the next few years. A successful spell began by winning FDGP-Pokal in 1954 before becoming East German champion six times between 1958 and 1969. In 1971, the club relocated again to Frankfurt an der Oder, which is on the Germany-Poland border, replacing the secret-police-sponsored team SG Dynamo. More success followed in the 1980s as it enjoyed four UEFA Cup campaigns. The army affiliation was dropped after reunification, the club dropped down the leagues and merged with MSV Eintracht Frankfurt to come 1. FC Frankfurt in 2012. It won the Brandenburg-Liga in 2015 to reach Oberliga for the first time in 12 years. Regionalliga (Tier 4) SV Babelsburg 03: Babelsburg was founded as Sport-Club Jugendkraft in 1903 and briefly refuonded as SG Karl-Marx Babelsburg in 1948 among various name changes. It was largely a second-tier club through the 70s and 80s before adopting the SV Babelsberg 03 name post-reunification. It enjoyed a surge in the late 90s, winning promotion to tier three in 1999 then promotion to 2. Bundesliga in 2001, only to be immediately relegated, fall through the leagues and go bankrupt in 2003. But it recovered to reach 3. Liga again in 2008 and 2010, but has remained in tier four Regionalliga since 2013. Berliner FC Dynamo: Berliner FC Dynamo (or Dynamo Berlin) is one of the most successful East German sides, winning a record 10 consecutive titles between 1979 and 1988. It was founded in 1966 and has a strong historical rivalry with Union Berlin and Dynamo Dresden. Historically, the club's supporters have had serious problems with violence and far-right affiliations, which are discussed in depth on Wikipedia, and it's fair to say they are "passionate." Carl Zeiss Jena: Carl Zeiss Jena was founded in 1903 by workers at the Carl Zeiss AG optics factory. The club was one of the strongest in East Germany through the 60s, 70s and 80s, winning three Oberliga titles and three East German cups. It also reached the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1981. However, it's not played any higher than 2. Bundesliga since reunification. It was also involved in a betting scandal in 2009, which saw the club accused of match-fixing in a game against Meuselwitz, and subsequently suffered financial issues before relegation to tier three in 2012, promotion in 2017 and another relegation to tier four in 2020. Chemie Leipzig: Chemie Leipzig has a slightly confusing history that involves new clubs and mergers popping up all over the place. But the current club was founded in 1997. The confusion comes in the form of Sachsen Leipzig, which folded in 2011 then Chemie Leipzig and rival teams saw themselves as the rightful successors. But Chemie began way down in the 12th tier of German football and battled their way up to tier four for the first time in 2017. Intriguingly, Chemie are noted to have an expressly anti-fascist, left-wing ultras known as Diablos Leutzsch. Chemnitzer FC: Chemnitzer was officially founded in 1966 but has its roots in two previous clubs founded in 1933 and 1899, which was a founding member of DFB in 1900. It went through various changes post-war, including a spell as FC Karl-Marx-Stadt. The club was largely a lower-table Oberliga side but became East German champions for the only time in 1967. It also reached the UEFA Cup round of 16 in 1990 but lost to Juventus. Post-reunification, Chemnitzer joined 2. Bundesliga and reached the DFB Pokal semi-finals in 1993, but were relegated in 1996 and dropped into Oberliga in 2006. It rose again briefly but was relegated back to tier four in 2018. Energie Cottbus: Energie Cottbus is probably the most famous East German name outside the top three tiers. The club has its roots in a side formed by coal miners back in 1919 but was banned by the Nazis in 1933. It reemerged in 1949 and went through various names before becoming SC Energie Cottbus in 1963 then FC Energie after reunification. It gained promotion to 2. Bundesliga in 1997 and became the first former East German team to play in the DFB Pokal Final the same year. More success followed as it was promoted into Bundesliga in 2000 and stayed there for three years. Financial issues followed before a Bundesliga return in 2006, followed by a club-record top-tier points tally of 41, only to be relegated in 2009. It dropped into 3. Liga in 2014 then Regionalliga in 2016 and 2019, where it remains. Interestingly, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who grew up in East Germany, is an honorary member of Energie Cottbus. 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig: Lokomotive Leipzig can also claim to be one of the oldest teams in Germany as it began life as VfB Leipzig in 1896. It became the inaugural German national champion in 1903 and, in its various previous guises, won five FDGB Pokal cups and was Cup Winners' Cup runner-up in 1987. The good times continued after reunification as it reached Bundesliga in 1993 but soon declined and fell through the leagues. It was reformed as 1. FC Lokomotive Leipzig in 2003 and began climbing back up the leagues, reaching Regionalliga in 2021. Rot-Weiß Erfurt: Speaking of Germany's oldest clubs bring us to Rot-Weiß Erfurt, whose roots can be traced back to a cricket club created in 1895. The club was a DFB founding member in 1900 and went through various name changes post-war. In one of those guises, BSG Turbine Erfurt, it won consecutive East German titles in 1954 and 1955 before bouncing between the first and second tiers. However, the club flourished post-reunification, reaching 2. Bundesliga and the UEFA Cup in 1990, where they defeated Groningen before losing to Ajax in the second round. But they spent the 90s and 2000s in the third tier before promotion to 2. Bundesliga in 2004, then got relegated to Regionalliga in 2018. Financial difficulties struck in 2020, which forced the club to reform in Oberliga, but was promoted in 2022. 3. Liga (Tier 3) Dynamo Dresden: You've probably heard of the 8-time East German champions and 7-time cup winners as they have a bit of a hipster following. Dresden qualified for the first unified Bundesliga in 1991 and stayed there for 4 years but the debt-ridden was demoted to the third tier in 1995 then dropped into the 4th tier a few years later during a restructuring of the league pyramid. They've crawled their way back up led largely by their fanatical supporters and came close to reaching Bundesliga in 2017, were relegated to tier 3 in 2018, but got back to the 2nd tier in 2020. FC Erzgebirge Aue: Erzgebirge Aue was in Bundesliga 2 for six years before being relegated last season. It plays in the city of Aue-Bad Schlema, which has a population of around 20,800 and is one of the smallest cities to ever host a second-tier German club game. Looking further back in time, the club was dominant in 1950s East Germany, winning 4 titles and an East German Cup. They're not without a little controversy as in February 2015 fans unfurled two banners that compared opponents RB Leipzig (who we'll discuss shortly) to the Nazis. Hallescher FC: Also known as Chemie Halle, the club was in East Germany's top tier and won it twice before the reunification. But it suffered with financial issues as a result of the economic decline in the region, falling into the amateur leagues in the 1990s. But it climbed its way back up the ladder to return to the professional leagues in 2012. FSV Zwickau: Zwickau has the honour of being the first-ever champion of East Germany in 1950, under its former name ZSG Horch Zwickau. The club has undergone various name changes and mergers through the years, which are a little too confusing to jot down here. But found itself in tier 3 after reunification and was promoted to Bundesliga 2 in 1994. That lasted for four seasons and two more relegations saw financial issues strike in 2005, which sent them into tier 5. But they climbed through the leagues to reach tier 3 again in 2016. Bundesliga 2 (Tier 2) 1. FC Magdeburg: Some might say Magdeburg is the most successful "modern-day" East German side. That's because it's the only team based in East Germany to win a European trophy, beating AC Milan in the Cup Winners' Cup Final in 1974. However, the club has struggled to hit those heights since reunification, spending most of its time between tiers 3 and 4 and struggling financially. But it was promoted to tier 3 in 2015 and reached Bundesliga 2 for the first and only time in 2018. Hansa Rostock: Hansa Rostock was the final-ever East German champion in 1991, which saw it moved into Bundesliga with runners-up Dynamo Dresden. Since then, it's been one of the most successful of all the East Germany-based sides, including being in Bundesliga from 1995 to 2005. It suffered a decline that culminated in being demoted to tier 3 for only the second time in 2012, but was promoted back to the second tier as champions of 3. Liga in 2021. Bundesliga (Tier 1) 1. FC Union Berlin: Union Berlin was technically formed in 1906 with the formation of FC Olympia Oberschöneweide but only became 1. FC Union Berlin (and, incidentally, the 1. at the start of a club name indicates it was the first to be founded in a city) in 1966. Union nearly suffered financial collapse post-reunification and was denied a license to play in 2. Bundesliga following promotions in 1993 and 1994. But it eventually got promoted in 2001, also reaching the Final of the German Cup but losing 2-0 to Schalke, which saw Union play in the UEFA Cup. But it slipped into tier three in 2005 and Oberliga in 2006 before becoming a founding member of 3. Liga in 2009. It won the inaugural league to reach 2. Bundesliga in 2010 and spent 11 years in the division before beating Stuttgart in the Bundesliga relegation playoff to reach the top flight for the first time in 2020. RasenBallsport Leipzig: RB Leipzig was founded in 2009 when Red Bull purchased fifth-tier SSV Markranstädt with the aim of getting the club into Bundesliga within eight years. The club is operated by a spin-off company called RasenBallsport Leipzig GmbH, hence not explicitly using the Red Bull branding like other clubs around the world. It achieved Red Bull's ambition by gaining promotion to Bundesliga in 2017, then reached the Champions League semi-finals in 2020 and won its first major trophy when it won DFB Pokal in 2021. The city of Leipzig and its people were at the forefront of bringing down the post-war Communist government prior to reunification. So, while it's a "plastic club" - according to Eintracht Frankfurt board member Philip Renschke - that's hated by many German fans, RB Leipzig has to be included in this challenge. How Will OstDeutscher Sieg Work? Just like the previous iteration of the save, it wouldn't be an overly fun challenge if we jumped straight into managing Union or Leipzig. So those two jobs are going to be viewed as the holy grail of our mission to win Bundesliga with an East German club. Instead, we will begin the save unemployed and try to get a job with one of the East German sides in the lower reaches of the German football ladder. The aim will be to work our way up by any means possible, be it by getting our first team promoted through the leagues or by earning a job with one of the higher-ranked East German sides. So there you have it, OstDeutscher Sieg is back up and running! But who will be our first club? And who will be the protagonist of our new Football Manager adventure? 8 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
karanhsingh Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 Great intro and love the challenge, good luck 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteinkelssonFM Posted May 1, 2023 Share Posted May 1, 2023 I flirted with a similar save idea for FM23 before opting to go with Villarreal and the crown of Aragon. Will be following along. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 2, 2023 Author Share Posted May 2, 2023 19 hours ago, MattyLewis11 said: I flirted with a similar save idea for FM23 before opting to go with Villarreal and the crown of Aragon. Will be following along. Thanks, appreciate it! Tell me more about the crown of Aragon? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteinkelssonFM Posted May 2, 2023 Share Posted May 2, 2023 Here you go mate. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 I really love the concept of this save. I once tried to revive Hansa Rostock with a similar idea but failed in the end. Im here for the ride and hopefully you can get make a real dent in it this time as I loved the first go. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted May 4, 2023 Share Posted May 4, 2023 Good to see people delving into the rabbit-hole of East German football. Looking forward to the next post! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 5, 2023 Author Share Posted May 5, 2023 On 04/05/2023 at 04:17, SixPointer said: I really love the concept of this save. I once tried to revive Hansa Rostock with a similar idea but failed in the end. Im here for the ride and hopefully you can get make a real dent in it this time as I loved the first go. It'll definitely run for longer than the last time 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 5, 2023 Author Share Posted May 5, 2023 Our mission to lead an East German club to Bundesliga glory begins here as OstDeutsche Sieg kicks off in the full version of Football Manager 2023. Find out all about the revamped save concept in Part 1 here. Ruprecht Prusseit – which translates to “Robert a Prussian” – fell into football management when he picked up a nasty ankle injury during a Sunday League match near his home in Dresden. His team had been trailing 2-0 after an hour when he picked up the injury and the manager was so exasperated with the team’s efforts that he walked off for a cigarette and to read the daily edition of Bild. 38-year-old Prusseit dusted himself off, popped a bandage around his poorly ankle and threw himself into managing the team. He took to management like a duckling to water as his tactical changes inspired a superb comeback, and his team won 3-2. His teammates encouraged him to hang up his boots and take control of managing the Sunday League side full-time. And, after being slightly offended by their eagerness to see him retire, he eventually agreed and swiftly led his pals to the local league title. Prusseit took his boys down the local beer hall and it’s safe to say the celebrations got a little out of hand. But his brief spell as a Sunday League manager gave Prusseit a real taste for football management. So he wasted no time in visiting the German FA website and putting his name down to attend the course to obtain his National C Licence. Armed with that licence, he bid "auf wiedersehn" to his former teammates and set about pursuing his dream to become a real-life Football Manager. The Job Hunt Upon loading up FM23, two playable East German clubs had job vacancies. So Prusseit dusted off his CV and submitted applications to fifth-tier side 1. FC Frankfurt and sixth-tier SV Dessau 05. To his delight, his mobile phone was quickly buzzing away as both sides were keen to come in to attend an interview. First up, on 10 July 2022, was Dessau, who seemed relatively pleased with his responses and shared vision for the club. Later that day, FC Frankfurt got in touch and seemed equally pleased with Prusseit's interaction. Four days later, it was Frankfurt that got back in touch first, asking Prusseit for his suggested staff changes, which he submitted having removed a few of the pointless roles - having noted that none of the sackings would render any compensation necessary. And Frankfurt only took one day to agree to those changes and offered Prusseit his first-ever job as a football manager. However, he was keen to see if Dessau were also interested, so he delayed the offer for a week. On 21 July, Dessau eventually did make him an offer. So Prusseit now had a decision to make, but he couldn't find Frankfurt's offer in his inbox to compare the two, so he delayed Dessau too. And, as he had suspected, when Frankfurt came back he realised they weren't offering him a wage and were massive favourites to be relegated. So Prusseit made the unusual decision to choose the club in the lower tier. He negotiated a contract worth £700 per week and signed on the dotted line. Who are SV Dessau 05? SV Dessau 05 is a semi-professional club based in the town of Dessau in the Saxony-Anhalt state. The club's claim to fame is being the winner of the inaugural FDGB-Pokal, or East German Cup, in 1949. Die Nullfuenfer (The 05's) club play at the 5,000-capacity Sportplatz Schillerpark. They also have terrible facilities with 2s across the board and £5,000 in the bank and no transfer budget but a £3,200 weekly wage budget of which they were spending just £1,200. Dessau play in the German Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt, which is one of the many divisions in the sixth and final playable tier of this German database. The top two teams get promoted into Oberliga and the bottom two... well, based on what happened in the previous OstDeutscher Sieg, it's probably best not to think about that. Meet The SV Dessau 05 Squad Prusseit was a little alarmed that, upon arriving at Dessau, there were just seven players in his first-team squad, and one of those could be leaving. However, he was thanking his decision to "add players to playable teams." That essentially meant the club had a youth intake in the summer of 2022, which delivered 15 "elite talents!" So Prusseit promoted a host of those prospects The best players at the club are 25-year-old goalkeeper Zicos Resvanis, 33-year-old American striker Branden Stelmak and 36-year-old midfielder Robert Römer, who doubles up as a coach, And those are the only three players at the club who earn a wage. After that, they were reliant on newgens led by winger Koffi Laba, holding midfielder Iskilou Akakpo, attacking midfielder Wael Salhi, striker Thabang Ntsele, right-winger Aluong Yaak, versatile defender Karamoko Sylla and right-back Agostinho Mendes. However, 15-year-olds can't be registered for the league squad. Straight Into German Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt Dessau are fancied as a decent bet to achieve promotion with an expected 6th-place finish and odds of 33/1 to win the league, along with the teams predicted to finish 3rd to 9th. Magdeburg II are massive favourites at 1/91 followed by fellow East German side Lok Stendal at 25/1. Upon Prusseit's arrival, Dessau were already three games into their season and had won one, drawn one and lost one. So his first-ever match as a Football Manager took place just two days after he was appointed. And truth be told, he didn't really know what formation to play or which players to select, so he initially went with a 4-4-1-1. But that didn't work as they wasted chances and gifted Bitterfeld a goal with their only shot of the first half. So he moved to a 4-4-2 and they just about nicked a 2-2 draw. His first away game followed at Barleben and they were a little unlucky to lose 2-1. A switch to 4-3-3 at home to Gardelegen worked wonders as Stelmak scored a penalty after seven minutes, hit a 30-yard screamer two minutes later and wrapped up his hat-trick with another penalty inside 15 minutes. Not done there, Salhi teed the striker up for a 4th after 35 minutes then he latched onto a Resvanis clearance to slam home a fifth! The second half was quieter but Stelmak added a superb sixth as he curled home a 25-yard free-kick for a 6-2 victory. Stelmak was at it again next time out at Preussen, scoring a hat-trick inside 18 minutes and added a late fourth to cap a 4-1 victory. He slacked off at Tangermünde, taking 29 minutes to score a hat-trick then again scoring a late fourth in a 4-1 win. So that was 14 goals in three games! He then shockingly only scored once as Labba scored his first two goals and the club's youngest-ever goalscorer aged 16 years 45 days in a third-consecutive 4-1 win over Ammendorf. Next up was Prusseit's first all-East German clash at home to Lok Stendal and Stelmak again stepped up with a double to inspire a 2-0 win. The winning streak ended with a 0-0 at home to Blau-Weiß Dölau ten they strangely played Stendal again, this time a little unlucky to lose 2-1. But that man Stelmak got them back on track with a brace in a 3-0 win over bottom side Farnstädt and his fourth hat-trick in nine games as Dessau thumped 8th-place Amsdorf 5-1 away. So in Prusseit's first 10 games of football management, he'd led Dessau to six wins, two draws and two defeats, sitting in 4th place only three points off the second promotion spot. Stelmak leads the goalscoring charts with 23 in 13 and Yaak has the second-most assists with seven. Away from league matters, Prusseit took control of his first cup game as Dessau entered the preliminary round of Verbandspokal Sachsen-Anhalt against Tangermünde. And they had Römer to thank as he scored one and made another to inspire a 3-1 victory and Prusseit's first-ever win. That sent them straight into the quarter-final much later in the season. Could Prusseit maintain his strong start to life as a Football Manager with Dessau? We'll find out on Monday! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
haier_fm Posted May 5, 2023 Share Posted May 5, 2023 Good start! Now it is all about maintaining consistency from one game to the next. With 13 games in, are you set on a tactical setup, or still experimenting game-to-game? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 6, 2023 Author Share Posted May 6, 2023 On 05/05/2023 at 15:41, haier_fm said: Good start! Now it is all about maintaining consistency from one game to the next. With 13 games in, are you set on a tactical setup, or still experimenting game-to-game? Yeah, solid start, and we pretty much stick with the 4-3-3 approach that seems to work at this level 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 8, 2023 Author Share Posted May 8, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 3 | Sensational Goalscoring Exploits Ruprecht Prusseit enjoyed a strong start to his new career as a fledgling Football Manager, leading SV Dessau 05 to six wins in his first 10 games in charge. The challenge now was to maintain that form and push for promotion by finishing in the top two of Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt. Having been thrown straight into the thick of league action, Prusseit eventually settled on a fairly standard 4-3-3 formation that gave star striker Branden Stelmak, who's considered a leading player for the tier above, freedom to do his thing. And that had seen him plunder 23 goals in his last nine games. However, one slight issue with being a semi-professional club was that all but three players had non-contract status and were only being paid appearance fees. That meant any team could swoop in and steal his players for free at any time, which they soon did for holding midfielder Iskilou Akakpo and centre-back Mohamed Ibrahim. While the club's dwindling finances - due to losing about £20,000 per month - were a problem that Prusseit decided to blindly ignore as he couldn't do anything about it. Stelmark's Sensational Goalscoring Continues Prusseicht knew he was going to be reliant on Stelmak, and so it proved as he scored the only goal at home to Emseloh then the second after an own goal in a 2-0 win at home to Sangerhausen. That sent them into the toughest test in the league away to Magdeburg, which the media described as Dessau "facing the impossible" and they were 17/2 to win. But they went close to the impossible with a great defensive performance to draw 1-1. That result saw Dessau climb into the top two for the first time, ahead of Lok Stendal on goal difference. Stelmak continued to score goals for fun as Dessau went six games unbeaten. He also scored twice as they lost 4-2 at Weißenfels then bagged his fifth hat-trick of the season in a 3-3 with third-place Haldensleben. Another Stelmak brace earned a 3-1 win at Fortuna Magdeburg, which took him to 35 goals for the season in early December! But he wasn't done there as another hat-trick led a 4-0 thumping of Bernburg, which sent Dessau into the winter break in 2nd place. Normal service was resumed as Stelmak scored the second in a 2-0 over Cöthener, in which exciting winger Koffi Laba scored the opener, and two more in a 2-2 at Bitterfeld to move past 40 goals for the season. But he really hit top form as he hit his second double hat-trick of the season in a 6-1 romping of Barleben. That was part of a streak of goals in 10 consecutive games as a brace in a 5-2 win over Preussen saw him hit the 50-goal mark in mid-February! Elsewhere, Magdeburg II booked promotion in early March and led 2nd-place Dessau by 20 points. While Dessau had built an eight-point lead over 3rd-place Stendal. But a 10-game unbeaten streak ended with a 1-0 loss at home to 6th-place Tangermünde. And a potentially pivotal clash with Stendal, which was strangely a third league meeting, ended in a dull 0-0. But they boosted their promotion hopes with Laba and Stelmak braces in a 4-2 win at Farnstädt moving them seven points clear of 3rd. Promotion Battle! Dessau kicked into top gear as right-winger Aluong Yaak scored twice before Stelmak smashed another five-goal haul to down Amsdorf 7-1. But a couple of draws weren't punished by their rivals as they took a six-point lead into the final four games. The season conclusion started with a tough test at home to runaway winners Magdeburg II, which wasn't helped by Laba getting sent off after an hour and they lost 2-0. But luckily, Stendal also lost so they remained six points clear with three games remaining. Next was a tip to 18th-place Thalheim and they dominated the early stages with Stelmak missing three great chances. But he eventually took one, then went on to bag yet another hat-trick while Thalheim scored from two goalbound shots. Stelmak added another with a brilliant volley and Thalheim obviously scored their next shot on target, but midfielder Wael Salhi scored an even better volley and his midfield partner Robert Römer tapped home from a corner to secure a wild 6-3 victory. That meant Dessau were virtually promoted, bar a 32-goal difference swing. They could book promotion with a point at home to Weißenfels and started well as Stalmek headed home after 11 minutes but the visitors obviously scored their only shot on target of the half. And despite 23 shots to eight they only drew 1-1, but that was enough to confirm promotion. Dessau 05 secured promotion to Oberliga!! They wrapped up the campaign with a 2-1 win over Haldensleben on Prusseit's 39th birthday, with Stelmak bagging a ridiculous 65th league goal of the season. Unsurprisingly, he was the league's top scorer and Prusseit felt a little sorry for Bernburg's Usman Taiwo, who scored an impressive 41. Stalmek had the best average rating of 8.16 and a superb 18 player of the match awards, while Yaak topped the assists chart with 18 with Laba in second on 13. Verbandspokal Sachsen-Anhalt Latter Stages Stelmak brought his league goals into the cup as his double led a 3-2 win over Haldensleben to reach the semi-final. But the run ended there with a 3-0 defeat to Wernigerode, who were from the tier above and massive favourites for the tie. Excellent Season Ends With Exciting Youth Intake Prusseit was delighted with his team's efforts this season. However, he was under no illusions about the mammoth task awaiting them with the step up. Stelmak had been responsible for 65 of their 94 goals and they couldn't afford to resign him and the only other two players on contracts next season - and Stalmek agreed a move to the US. Hilariously, Stalmek had only scored 40 league goals in his 10-year career prior to this season, so his 65-goal tally increased his career total by 162%. But he preferred to focus on the positives, the main one being Stalmek smashing an incredible 69 goals and seven assists in 42 games. He was the only player to reach double figures for goals with Laba next on nine then Yaak on six. Yaak led the way with 19 assists followed by Laba (15) and Salhi (10). However, the loss of Stalmek was tempered by a youth intake that looked pretty impressive on paper. Prusseit's first official youth intake delivered 14 players with at least 4.5-star potential and nine with 5-star potential. That was led by striker Tom Berg, who could be the ideal replacement. The intake also included goalkeeper Frank Sander, which was much-needed as number one Zicos Resvanis will also be leaving. Other players to keep an eye on include wingers Oliver Büscher, Moritz Schüssler and Mohammed Al-Zidani, midfielders Marc Kauffmann and Finn Schorch and centre-back Kevin Wolf. Up in Bundesliga, there was no danger of a team upsetting Prusseit's pipedream of becoming the first manager to lead an East German team to glory just yet. Bayern won Bundesliga with eight games remaining, completed an unbeaten season and finished 22 points clear of Leipzig. How big a challenge will it be to keep Dessau in the fifth tier of German football? And would Prusseit's achievements at the bottom of German football attract bigger teams in East Germany? We'll find out on Friday! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Interesting challenge! I think Berlin is the only capital city in Europe to not have a dominant title winning team. How come not Hertha Berlin? Is it the colour giving that away? Also Victoria Berlin? Was it tricky to find all that info? Stalmek was incredible. 60+ goals is amazing. When first read his 6 goal haul, I was ticking off: penalty/long range/freekick, was waiting for left foot/right foot/header! Hope the new intake seemlessly fills in the Stalmek gap. And you weren’t even the highest scoring team? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jogo Bonito Posted May 11, 2023 Share Posted May 11, 2023 Agreed, those 65 goals was an amazing tally. Hope you can find a suitable replacement. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 12, 2023 Author Share Posted May 12, 2023 15 hours ago, Sonic Youth said: Interesting challenge! I think Berlin is the only capital city in Europe to not have a dominant title winning team. How come not Hertha Berlin? Is it the colour giving that away? Also Victoria Berlin? Was it tricky to find all that info? Stalmek was incredible. 60+ goals is amazing. When first read his 6 goal haul, I was ticking off: penalty/long range/freekick, was waiting for left foot/right foot/header! Hope the new intake seemlessly fills in the Stalmek gap. And you weren’t even the highest scoring team? Hertha Berlin isn't considered as the club isn't based in Eastern Germany. The West/East divide split through the middle of Berlin (hence the Berlin wall) and Hertha was based on the Western side. Yea, we're gone miss Stalmek a lot with the step up to the next level! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 12, 2023 Author Share Posted May 12, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 4 | A Significant Step Up In Quality Ruprecht Prusseit had enjoyed unexpected success in his first season as a Football Manager, leading SV Dessau 05 to an unexpected promotion led by the incredible goalscoring exploits of star striker Branden Stelmak. But the hard work began now as his semi-professional side made the step up to tier five with only a bunch of kids to work with. Worryingly, the Dessau board had unsubstantiated lofty ambitions, advising Prusseit they expected a mid-table finish while playing defensive, counter-attacking and direct football. Furthermore, the club went into the new season £200,000 in the red, despite paying barely any wages - and was seemingly all due to paying staff wages and near-enough zero income. Better news was that they offered their manager a new one-year contract until the end of the 2023/24 campaign on £700 per week. Which was about £700 more than all of his remaining players. The start of season two saw Dessau's three senior players Stalmek, who was earning £375 a week, goalkeeper Zicos Resvanis and midfielder and coach Robert Römer all depart the club. Probably worse than that, he also released his entire backroom staff as they were either overpaid or terrible, and in most cases both, which meant a painful process of piecing together a new one. That included bringing in Toni's brother Felix Kroos as his only coach on £25 per week. The lack of staff meant that, for the first three weeks of pre-season, Prusseit couldn't see how good any of his players were. And when he eventually could, he was slightly alarmed that recent academy graduates striker Tom Berg and goalkeeper Frank Sander were his best two players. While only those two and Koffi Laba are considered good enough to be of tier-five standard. Prusseit did, however, make his first signings as a Football Manager, snapping up holding midfielder Tobias "Clubber" Lang and goalkeeper Ralf Wölk on free transfers. They were added to by new Director of Football Carlo Schmidt bringing in centre-back Jean-Pierre Saba. Into A Strange German Tier Five The step up to tier five saw Dessau enter the German Division North East-South (whatever that means!) division of the Oberliga tier. Strangely, all of the divisions at this level have different numbers of teams, for example, Dessau's division had 16 teams, others had 20, some had 19, some had 17. It was all very strange! What wasn't strange was that Dessau were expected to struggle, with the club predicted to finish bottom of the table with odds of 150/1 to win the league. This time, only the winner gets promoted into Regionalliga with three teams being relegated. So it wasn't looking good for Prusseit. Last year's fellow promoted side Magdeburg II are again title favourites at 1/25 (even though they only have 13 players) followed by fellow East German side Wismut Gera (11/4). Dessau began life at the new level by welcoming fellow East Germans and one of the top six promotion favourites VFC Plauen. They got battered in the early stages but took the lead against the run of play as winger Aluong Yaak sent Berg through for his debut goal, becoming the club's youngest-ever goalscorer aged 16 years and 35 days. But Plauen scored a very dodgy penalty then Yaak got a ridiculous red card and they lost 3-1. Another defeat followed in their first away day, 2-0 at Bautzen, before picking up a very lucky first point with a 1-1 draw at home to Eilenburg, despite being dominated by 23 shots to three! A first win followed at Rudolstadt as Berg headed home the opener then curled home a delicious 30-yard free-kick. However, the striker got sent off after 54 minutes, the hosts got a goal back then centre-back Kevin Wolf got a second yellow card. But Prusseit's ultra-defensive tactics saw them just about hold on. But that proved very much the outlier as they struggled with the step up in quality. One shard of optimism was a 1-1 draw at home to Wismut Gera amid a five-game winless streak. Prusseit decided to forget the negative tactics he'd been forced into, which worked as a balanced approach saw a better defensive performance as midfielder Wael Salhi nicked the only goal after half an hour. And that lifted them out of the relegation zone for the first time in six weeks. Morale was strangely strengthened by only losing 1-0 to Magdeburg, which showed as Laba laid on goals for Yaak and a Berg brace to earn a 3-1 win at mid-table Nordhausen. And that was backed up by a first home win as midfielder Marc Kauffmann's first senior goal and a tidy Yaak finish sealed a 2-1 comeback victory against Fahner Höhe. A 1-0 defeat followed at Oberlausitz but Berg's second-half strike earned a vital 1-0 win at 12th-place Inter Leipzig. That victory saw Dessau climb above Inter in the league, up into 12th place at the 15-game halfway mark of the season. Their games had been highly uninteresting, with Dessau scoring 14 and conceding 20, which meant the defensive football Prusseit's board wanted was well and truly being delivered on. Despite Dessau's struggles, several Regionalliga (tier four) teams offered Prusseit interviews to fill their vacant managerial roles. However, none of the clubs that approached him, for now at least, were based in East Germany. Furthermore, it turned out the club had built a significant compensation fee into Prusseit's contract that saw BFC Dynamo reject the opportunity to interview him for their vacant position. However, Prusseit was happy at Dessau considering the significant potential in some of his exciting young prospects, considering 18 of the first-team squad have 5-star potential as do 17 more players in the youth squads. Could Prusseit lead his young Dessau side to an unlikely survival? We'll be back on Monday to find out! 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 On 11/05/2023 at 23:50, Sonic Youth said: Interesting challenge! I think Berlin is the only capital city in Europe to not have a dominant title winning team. How come not Hertha Berlin? Is it the colour giving that away? Also Victoria Berlin? Was it tricky to find all that info? Stalmek was incredible. 60+ goals is amazing. When first read his 6 goal haul, I was ticking off: penalty/long range/freekick, was waiting for left foot/right foot/header! Hope the new intake seemlessly fills in the Stalmek gap. And you weren’t even the highest scoring team? Scotland doesn’t have title dominant winning capital teams. Celtic and Rangers from Glasgow are far far superior than Hibernian and hearts from Edinburgh. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanys Posted May 13, 2023 Share Posted May 13, 2023 On 11/05/2023 at 23:50, Sonic Youth said: Interesting challenge! I think Berlin is the only capital city in Europe to not have a dominant title winning team. How come not Hertha Berlin? Is it the colour giving that away? Also Victoria Berlin? Was it tricky to find all that info? SixPointer mentioned Scotland above, but there's also Austria with RB Salzburg being now a dominant force for years, while Austria and Rapid from Vienna are falling behind. Even more so Italy has the same 'problem', it's been years since either of the Roman clubs have won the title and they've never been dominant. It's always the North - Milan, Juve, Inter, earlier Genoa, even Bologna. Roma and Lazio have fewer titles combined than Pro Vercelli. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 14, 2023 Share Posted May 14, 2023 19 hours ago, Hanys said: Even more so Italy has the same 'problem', it's been years since either of the Roman clubs have won the title and they've never been dominant. It's always the North - Milan, Juve, Inter, earlier Genoa, even Bologna. Roma and Lazio have fewer titles combined than Pro Vercelli. My original save idea this year was to try make the south of Italy teams as strong as the north. I opted for another happel challenge and Napoli decided to do the job in real life! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 15, 2023 Author Share Posted May 15, 2023 On 14/05/2023 at 08:35, SixPointer said: My original save idea this year was to try make the south of Italy teams as strong as the north. I opted for another happel challenge and Napoli decided to do the job in real life! Great points re Italy, Scotland and Austria. Could we also throw England into the mix? No London side has won the EPL in 6 years now, and it's also 1 title in 8 years and only 3 (all Chelsea) since 2006. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 15, 2023 Author Share Posted May 15, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 5 | Dismal End Of Season Form Newly promoted SV Dessau 05 found themselves locked in a tough battle to survive in tier five of German football. Manager Ruprecht Prusseit had been given no choice but to put faith in youth, and that was being rewarded as his prospects were showing signs of improvement. However, survival was still a tough ask with just a three-point gap to the bottom three. And, not to look like he was trying to jump ship, Prusseit did throw his hat in the ring for the vacant role at Rot-Weiß Erfurt, who offered him his first interview at another club but ultimately went with former MTK Budapest boss Michael Boris. Prusseit wasn't too disappointed, as Erfurt were cut adrift in Regionalliga and suffering significant financial issues, so he swiftly switched his attention to all matters Dessau related. However, the financial issues at his own club made that somewhat difficult, as the board dramatically slashed his wage budget from £3,530 to just £603 in January 2024. Tricky Run Of Form Dessau's semi-success had been built on relatively solid defensive performances. But the second half of the campaign began with successive 3-1 defeats at fellow East German side Plauen and at home to Bautzen then a 1-0 defeat at 2nd-place Eilenburg in which they mustered just one shot to the hosts' 19. But they put an end to that poor run as hot prospect wingers Koffi Laba and Aluong Yaak sealed a 2-0 home victory over 15th-place Rudolstadt. That win was vital as it sent Dessau into a 50-day winter break with a five-point gap to the relegation zone. The winter break saw the non-contract status problem hit Dessau again as they lost Prusseit's only two signings goalkeeper Ralf Wölk and holding midfielder Tobias Falk to teams in the league below them. Not ideal. Dessau returned to action with an unusually high-scoring game as they lost 4-3 to Sandhausen. But they stepped up with a vital 2-0 win at home to bottom side Wernigerode thanks to a Marc Kauffmann penalty and 16-year-old winger Oliver Büscher scoring on his debut. And crucially, that opened up an eight-point gap to the bottom three. Relegation Scrap Heats Up A tough run of games against five top-half teams followed and Dessau caused no surprises, conceding 16 goals in the process. The good news was that their run-in was slightly easier and they still had a five-point buffer as the teams below them were in equally dismal form. First up was 9th-place Nordhausen, who strolled to an easy 3-1 away win. But luckily Rudolstadt also lost at home to Wismut Gera. After six defeats on the bounce, Prusseit took a radically new 5-4-1 tactical approach to Fahner Höhe and it got the desired result as they bored the hosts to death and nicked all three points through a Kauffmann penalty. That secured Dessau's place in German Division North East-South and, according to Football Manager, it also secured the highest position in Dessau history! It was lucky they did seal survival in that game as they were hammered 4-1 at home by Oberlausitz and then lost 2-0 at home to Inter Leipzig. That confirmed a 13th-place finish and Dessau somehow stayed up despite losing eight of their last nine games and amassing just 26 points. Tough Season But A Bright Future? There weren't too many positives to take away from this season, other than a bunch of kids somehow managing to avoid relegation. Tom Berg, a striker with 5 finishing and Prusseit really wasn't convinced should be playing up front, led the way with eight goals in 25 games but, like most of his teammates, finished the season in abysmal form. Kauffmann was one bright spark with six goals and four assists in 30 appearances from midfield while Yaak got five goals and seven assists from the right. However, there was some optimism as Prusseit's second youth intake delivered again. It offered nine players with 5-star potential, but you obviously have to take intakes at this level with a hefty pinch of salt. The star of the 2024 crop is attacking midfielder Kevin von der Weth, who comes in with 3.5-star ability, along with fellow midfielder Mohamed Seidemann, who has 3-star ability, which immediately makes them the best two midfielders at the club! Also worth keeping an eye on are striker Lukas Böhmermann, wingers Tommy Eggert, Leander Stephan and Maik Altenschmidt, midfielder Niclas Senger, right-back Jan Heidel, left-back Jörg Flückiger, centre-backs Gabriel Kastenhofer and Kevin Pistol and goalkeeper Stefan Meier. Elsewhere in Germany, there was still no threat to Bayern's dominance as they won the league in March, completed another invincible season (so they still haven't lost a league game in this save) and finished 18 points clear of Dortmund. Leipzig and Union finished in 8th and 9th. Prusseit's contract was expiring in the summer of 2024 and he held off signing the latest offer from the Dessau board. The club's finances were an absolute nightmare as they ended the campaign over £500,000 in the red, with no viable income to address the ongoing losses. So Prusseit would keep his options open in the summer, in the hope that another East German club came calling. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 15, 2023 Share Posted May 15, 2023 Got it over the line and that’s all that matters in these battles. Wasn’t pretty but effective. Roll out the 5-4-1 all season! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sonic Youth Posted May 18, 2023 Share Posted May 18, 2023 Good effort avoiding relegation Now for the offseason of decisions, some easier than others. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 20, 2023 Author Share Posted May 20, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 6 | Massive Relegation Favourites Ruprecht Prusseit came into the summer of 2024 unsure of whether to continue the work he'd started at SV Dessau 05 or seek pastures new. He'd worked wonders to keep Dessau in the fifth tier with a bunch of high-potential but low-current-ability teenagers and the club's finances were a huge concern. Indeed, the board had already slashed Prusseit's wage budget and he'd somehow managed to overspend it, even though only nine players were being paid a wage! The poor finances meant it was also virtually impossible to bolster his squad, which gave him no option but to rely on a growing batch of exciting youngsters. Prusseit considered his options and, given a lack of available East German managerial roles, eventually agreed to a new one-year deal at Dessau. But crucially, he dropped his wage to address the club's finances and removed the high compensation his board were demanding from rival clubs to give him a better chance of a future move. With that contract in the bag, Prusseit cooked up a tactical switch to try and get the best out of his players. The last couple of youth intakes had produced some solid players but, crucially, no natural goalscorer, so Prusseit devised a strikerless approach that absolutely didn't work. However, a few days into the season, the perils of non-contract players arose again as midfielders Wael Salhi and Koffi Laba were poached by teams from the league below. So luckily he'd kept a modified 4-3-3 in his pocket. Second Season In Tier 5 The media certainly didn't fancy Dessau's chances, predicting them to come last in the extended 18-team German Division North East - South. They were 200/1 to win the league and, realistically, they were doomed to relegation. Magdeburg II remain favourites at 1/4 followed by relegated Rot-Weiß Erfurt (15/8), Nordhausen (13/2), Wismut Gera (7/1) and Plauen (15/2), so four of the top five favourites are fellow East German sides. The new tactic got its first outing at home to Eilenburg. Recent academy graduate Kevin von der Weth scored on his debut but his side was a little unlucky to lose 2-1. Next was a big game at newly promoted Halle 96, which was probably a must-win if they had any chance of survival. Prusseit switched to 4-3-3 and his team delivered thanks largely to the referee awarding two penalties converted by midfielder Marc Kauffmann plus a Tom Berg strike, which ended his 15-hour goal drought and sealed a 3-2 victory. A tougher test followed at home to Plauen, who won 2-0 with two goals from last season's league top scorer Christopher Bibaku, who scored a hat-trick in the corresponding fixture last year and, for context, earns more than Dessau's entire squad combined. Then they went to Magdeburg II and got thumped 4-1 and a 1-0 loss at Grimma dropped them into the relegation zone. But a 1-1 at home to Nordhausen thanks to Berg's equaliser lifted them to the heady heights of 14th. But that couldn't stop the rot as they went six without a win before a huge game at 17th-place Eisenberg. And they again delivered against a relegation rival thanks, again, to a Hoffmann penalty before Berg scored two direct free-kicks after Eisenberg had also scored a direct free-kick! They were nowhere near good enough to get anything from games against teams not struggling at the bottom. But crucially when they did take on the strugglers Prusseit's team just about had enough about them, as was proven again with a 1-0 win at home to Martinroda thanks to a delicious Berg finish. However, they finally beat a non-terrible team as midfielder Luka Böhmermann scored a 30-yard screamer for his first senior goal then a late Berg winner earned a 2-1 win over 10th-place Hohenstein. But they had goalkeeper Frank Sander to thank for making eight saves. Two away defeats before an absolutely dreadful game at home to 15th-place Inter Leipzig that absolutely deserved a 0-0. But in the third minute of injury time, Berg latched onto a long hoof clear and took advantage of some terrible goalkeeping to tap into an empty net to secure a massive win. The final game of 2024 saw Dessau host 17th-place Halle, who'd just sacked their manager, making this a vital game. But they played poorly as managerless Halle dominated them only for Berg to score both their shots on target to nick a 2-2. That sent Dessau into the 50-day winter break in 14th place and five points above the drop zone, which was a reflection on how bad the teams at the bottom of the league are. Over halfway into the campaign, only five Dessau players have scored a goal and Berg has scored 63% of their league goals and only Aluong Yaak has more than two assists. But Berg has excelled with an impressive 12 goals in 19 league games. Could Prusseit perform another miracle and keep his young Dessau squad in the fifth tier for a third season? We'll find out on Monday! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 22, 2023 Author Share Posted May 22, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 7 | Financial Issues And Relegation Scrap Relegation favourites SV Dessau 05 were performing above expectations to sit outside the drop zone of German Division North East - South. But Ruprecht Prusseit's young side were far from secure in the fifth tier, especially considering an increasingly concerning financial situation. Dessau began 2025 by taking an unlikely lead at Plauen, only to deservedly lose 2-1 after the hosts battered them by 22 shots to two, then got battered 3-0 at home to Magdeburg II. And results elsewhere swiftly reduced their gap to just two points. They maintained that gap with a much-needed 2-1 win over Grimma thanks to two goals in a minute from striker Tom Berg, as Halle and Inter Leipzig behind them were showing signs of resurgence. Unlike last season, the teams in the bottom three were picking up results, inlcuding Martinroda beating 3rd-place Bautzen. That sent Dessau into the relegation zone for the first time since September as they lost 4-1 loss at Nordhausen and they stayed there with unsurprising defeats against top half teams. That meant they absolutely had to get three points against bottom side Eisenberg, who only had four points from 25 games. And they delivered as 16-year-old midfielder Mohamed Seidemann scored his first senior goal before another Berg brace sealed a pretty lucky 3-0 victory. Financial Situation Heaps Pressure On Prusseit Dressau's dwindling financial situation was becoming almost untenable to the point where it was significantly impacting Prusseit's role. Firstly, the board decided to cease non-contract player bonuses. A few days later, the unsustainable position meant the club announced it would likely enter administration if Prusseit failed to avoid relegation. Then the board agreed a £725k loan to help the club's running costs, which it immediately began paying off in £3k monthly repayments. In other words, the club is screwed financially! Prusseit reached 100 games in charge of Dessau with a dreadful game at home to Zorbau, but his defence performed well to earn a 0-0. But they were terrible next time out at Martinroda, who won 2-0 to climb above Dressau, before a 3-1 loss at home to Wismut Gera. That left Dessau in a perilous position, just one point clear of relegation with four games remaining and with a pretty tricky run-in that, most likely, would hang on a big trip to Inter Leipzig. Game 1 - Hohenstein (9th, away): The strive for survival started terribly as Dessau got thumped 4-1 at Hohenstein. Elsewhere, Halle won at Inter Leipzig to climb out of the drop zone and send Dessau into it. Game 2 - Bautzen (6th, home): They played slightly better at home to Bautzen but fell behind to the visitors' first shot on target and conceded again after an hour. Beck got a goal back but it wasn't enough. Inter and Martinroda also lost while Halle somehow drew 0-0 at home to leaders Rot-Weiß Erfurt. So Dessau remained two points from safety with two games remaining. Game 3 - Inter Leipzig (17th, away): The crunch game of the run-in took Dessau to Leipzig and Prusseit took a tactical gamble with an asymmetric 4-5-1 approach. The home team absolutely dominated, racking up 28 shots to eight. But Berg scored inside three minutes to give his team something to hold onto before midfielder Marc Kauffmann smashed home a 30-yarder then, four minutes later, converted a penalty to seal a huge 3-1 win. However, Martinroda scored a 90th-minute winner to defeat Oberlausitz 1-0, which kept Dessau in the relegation zone on goal difference. Game 4 - Rot-Weiß Erfurt (2nd, away): A final-day clash with East German rivals Erfurt meant relegation was virtually guaranteed, considering the visitors needed to win to get promoted. They seemed to have a lifeline as Erfurt were down to 10 men after 36 minutes. But, typically of this team, they allowed Erfurt to go down the other end and score the opener. And as Prusseit pushed for an equaliser they allowed Erfurt in for a second. They suffered the ignominy of relegation while their opponents Erfurt celebrated the league title. SV Dessau 05 were relegated from German Division North East - South. Dessau were relegated by the merest of margins, finishing level on points with Halle and only going down on goal difference. They only scored 34 and conceded 69, and only won twice in their final 12 games of the season. What Will Become Of Prusseit After Relegation? Dessau's relegation seemed almost inevitable at the start of the season but they fought relatively hard in a bid to survive. But truth be told, they didn't have anywhere near the quality to stay up. One positive from the season was Berg top-scoring with a relatively impressive 22 goals in 34 games, but the rest of the squad only mustered 12 goals between them. However, there is significant potential in this young squad, if the club can get over its major financial issues. Another positive was Dessau enjoying another strong youth intake led by midfielder Fynn Fiedel, who came in with 4-star potential. Other players worth keeping an eye on include wingers Florian Osmanovic and Leonard Helmstedt, midfielder Jörg Jürgen and left-backs Robert Seidemann and Ben Feuser. Up in Bundesliga, there were seismic waves as Bayern Munich lost their first league match of the save. And not only did they lose once, they lost five times. Indeed, with five games remaining, Leipzig were actually top on goal difference. But they blew it and Bayern won their 13th consecutive title by seven points. Would Lazaró stick with Dessau as they drop back into the sixth tier of German football? Or would another East German side come calling over the summer? Join us on Friday to find out! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 26, 2023 Author Share Posted May 26, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 8 | Jumping From A Sinking Ship Cash-strapped SV Dessau 05 suffered relegation back into the German sixth tier on goal difference in 2024/25. And manager Ruprecht Prusseit needed a bit of time away from football to gather his thoughts and consider his options. Three years into the save, Prusseit's profile has increased slightly. His attacking coaching has increased from 5 to 8, defending from 1 to 3, mental from 6 to 8, determination from 4 to 6, level of discipline from 5 to 8, people management from 6 to 9 and, potentially most crucially, motivating skills from 16 to 20. But realistically, he wasn't going to improve as a manager at Dessau, as they couldn't even fund his second coaching course. However, Dessau did have an exciting pool of talent that should be good enough to compete in the sixth tier and potentially earn another promotion to add to his CV. The Dessau board was desperate to keep their manager, offering him a new contract four times between the end of the season and his contract expiring on 30 June. But the issue of players being on non-contract basis saw star man Tom Berg depart on a free transfer, which proved the final straw for Prusseit. So when the Lok Stendal job became available at the end of June, he jumped at the opportunity to apply and was swiftly asked for his staff changes on 8 July. Nine days later, they finally came in with a one-year contract to double Prusseit's wage to £500 per week. Ruprecht Prusseit was the new Manager of 1. Lok Stendal! Who are 1. FC Lok Stendal? 1. Lok Stendal are also a semi-professional club located in Stendal, a town of 38,000 people in the Saxony-Anhalt region. The club was originally known as Viktoria Stendal, which was founded in 1909, but went through numerous name changes before becoming Lok Stendal in 1949. Stendal play at the 6,000-capacity Stadion Am Hölzchen. In this save, Standal spent three seasons in Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anholt but gained promotion last season, which means Prusseit is heading back up to German Division North East - South. Prusseit's new board expects him to play defensively solid, direct and counter-attacking football with the aim of avoiding relegation. Financially, they seem in a much better position than Dessau with £400k in the balance and only a loss of around £9k last season. It looked to Prusseit as if the Stendal team had more about it than his former side. That was led by exciting midfielder Adrian Horner, fellow midfielders captain Sumaila Carvalho and Marvin Bokemeyer, winger Tshepo Gaoloalwe, goalkeeper Stephen Jäckel and centre-back Rene Schumacher. There was also plenty of potential in winger Malte Beste, midfielder Alija Grubesic, winger David Nurudeen and full-back Éden Traoré. Another Season Of Struggle? Having just failed to prevent the relegation favourites from going down, Prusseit again finds himself at the helm of the relegation favourites in the now 19-league division! Stendal are 150/1 to win the league with Magdeburg (1/91) again overwhelming favourites followed by Nordhausen and relegated Meuselwitz (11/2). Prusseit only had three days to prepare for his first match as manager of Stendal at home to Dresdner SC, another East German side that had been promoted from German non-league. And they started well as young striker Mamadou Keïta scored thanks to some dreadful goalkeeping and diminutive midfielder Henry Friday made it 2-1 just after the hour mark. The visitors had a man sent off before Prusseit's men added two more in injury time. And the game saw Stendal break their attendance record as 735 people flocked to see their new manager, beating the previous record by 16, and setting a new gate receipts record of £4k as a result. By comparison, Dessau's highest attendance all of last season was just 337. However, they then faced four of the top five promotion favourites. Keïta scored again in an unsurprising 3-1 defeat at Nordhausen before Nurudeen scored twice in a 5-3 loss to Eilenburg, a 3-0 thumping at Magdeburg II and a cruel 2-1 defeat at home to leaders Wilmut Gera, who scored a last-minute winner. They snapped the losing streak with a 0-0 at 2nd-place Bautzen thanks to Jäckel making 13 saves. That was followed by another point in an absolutely wild game at home to Merseburg, in which they fell behind and equalised twice inside 18 minutes, conceded again in injury time, equalised nine minutes after the break and went behind again a minute later. Merseburg scored again late on and it seemed all over but Schumacher got one back in the 94th minute then Carvalho scored a 96th-minute penalty to seal a 5-5! And it became three successive draws with a 2-2 at 6th-place Halle thanks to goals by Carvalho and Gaolaolwe. But Stendal's winless streak extended to 11 games with a 4-2 defeat at home to leaders Meuselwitz, 3-0 losses at Grimma and Oberlausitz, then a Gaolaolwe brace nicked a 3-3 at home to Sandhausen. Vital Games Against Fellow Strugglers Stendal finally faced a run of games against teams not in the top half of the table at the end of 2025. Their winless streak continued with a 2-2 at home to 12-place Hohenstein as striker Zakaria Asante finally scored his first Stendal goal after 16 hours of trying. A big game took them to 16th-place Martinroda but they still couldn't win as Horner's goal secured a 1-1 draw. But they finally snapped their painful 13-game winless streak as Prusseit switched to a 4-2-3-1 formation with two holding midfielders at Zorbau. And that worked well as first-half Carvalho and Asante strikes downed the 9th-place side 2-1 despite being thoroughly dominated. They backed that up by going to 18th-place Auerbach and nicking a 3-1 victory thanks to Gaolaolwe's 89th-minute strike and Carvalho's injury-time penalty. They took the confidence from those victories into a must-win game at home to bottom-of-the-league Rudolstadt. The impressive Gaolaolwe curled home a delicious 25-yarder inside 18 minutes then created the second for the in-form Asante, who sealed another 3-1 victory late on. That much-needed change in fortunes lifted Stendal out of the relegation zone and four points clear of the drop zone. But that was cut to three even as they gained a hard-earned 1-1 at fellow East German side Plauen. Another East German team followed as they travelled to Dresdner SC and Asante's early goal was enough for another 1-1 again against the run of play. The young striker Matthias Lindrath sealed a third consecutive 1-1 and an eighth game unbeaten at home to 9th-place Nordhausen. But that ended in the final game of 2025 in a 2-1 defeat at 4th-place Eilenburg, who nicked it in the 92nd minute. That took Stendal into the winter break in 15th and with a four-point gap to the relegation zone. However, the Stendal fans certainly got entertainment as their 36 goals scored was more than leaders Oberlausitz and the joint-second highest in the league and only 16th-place Merseburg had conceded more than their 45! First Return To Dessau Prusseit faced his first trip back to Dessau as his Stendal side took on his former employers in the first round of Verbandspokal Sachsen-Anhalt. His new team eased to a 2-0 success with second-half goals by Carvalho and Asante. Speaking of Dessau, they currently sit 10th in the 18-team Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt and 18 points off promotion. The manager had enjoyed an interesting time in his first five months in Stendal. His team had been on a club-record-breaking winless streak then recovered impressively, all while delivering goals aplenty for their fans. But could Prusseit avoid a repeat of last season and avoid dropping into a relegation battle? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 28, 2023 Share Posted May 28, 2023 Really love your style of updates. The passion for the East German save really makes me want to find a similar task for FM24. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 On 28/05/2023 at 04:38, SixPointer said: Really love your style of updates. The passion for the East German save really makes me want to find a similar task for FM24. Thanks! Yeah, I'm definitely keen to do something similar for FM24. Any ideas welcome! I'm thinking of doing another Americas save, where I try to win every title in North and South America - ideally with a custom database for every league across the continents as FM only offers a very limited selection. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted May 29, 2023 Author Share Posted May 29, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 9 | Another Relegation Scrap Ruprecht Prusseit's second role in football management had been packed with entertainment as his 1. FC Lok Stendal 21 games saw 81 goals. That resulted in a familiar position, with Stendal sitting four points above the relegation zone with 15 games remaining. Better results had come as Prusseit switched to a more solid-looking 4-2-3-1 having initially gone with a 4-3-3 - basically caving in to the AI's love of 6-man defences. But he'd later push Sumaila Carvalho back into a central midfield position for even further solidity. Typically, the club was now beginning to lose money, partly because there's no prize money at this level of football, which makes it effectively impossible to compete. Tricky League Resumption 2026 began with a difficult set of fixtures, starting by hosting league favorites Magdeburg II and unsurprisingly losing 3-0. That took Stendal to five games without a win, which unsurprisingly had the fans very unfairly on Prusseit's back for "negative tactics." As if they expect him to go out and attack teams they "face the impossible" against. And it didn't get better as they travelled to another East German side and lost 2-0 at 3rd-place Wismut Gera. Another top-half side followed as they welcomed Bautzen to town and gave up an amazing 12 shots in the first 20 minutes! The visitors eventually made one count but Stendal held on to stay 1-0 down at half-time. Prusseit decided to go for it in the second half and they eventually stemmed the tide, grew into the game, and got their reward as young midfielder Alija Grubesic curled home a beauty from 25 yards. A massive game followed as Stendal visited 17th-place Merseburg. They again started terribly, giving up 10 shots before going behind on 34 minutes. But an own goal gifted them a route back into the game before a special moment saw 16-year-old striker Malte Beste score his first senior goal off the bench to nick a 2-1 win in the 93rd minute. That vital goal, which made Beste the youngest goalscorer in Stendal history aged 16 years and 86 days, restored his side's four-point gap to the drop zone. They looked to be capitalising on the momentum as striker Zakaria Asante gave them the lead after 14 minutes at home to 7th-place Halle. But their shaky defence predictably threw away that advantage to lose 2-1. And they lost 2-1 again at Meuselwitz, which took their opponents top of the league and saw Stendal just one point outside the relegation zone. Another poor start saw them fall behind at home to Grimma, but tactical tweaks saw them actually dominate a top-half side for the first time and Asante nicked them a much-deserved point. Any specks of optimism were forgotten as they got thumped 4-0 at 10th-place Sandersdorf, but they pulled off arguably their best result yet as a rare resolute defensive effort earned a 0-0 at home to 2nd-place Oberlausitz. Another Tight Relegation Battle Stendal came into the final six games of the season with a two-point gap between them and 17th-place Martinroda, who had a game in hand, and a three-point gap to 18th-place Martinroda. The run-in began at overperforming Hohenstein and started well as Asante opened the scoring after 18 minutes. They let the hosts back into it just before half-time but Asante restored the lead five minutes after the break. But the dodgy defence predictably allowed the hosts to equalise eight minutes later, yet again thanks to their dreadful left-back Kevin Keller's inability to mark his winger, and Prusseit feared the worst. However, they held on for a vital point. That was followed by a massive game as Stendal hosted Martinroda. They started well as Asante took advantage of a poor goalkeeper clearance and teed up winger Tshelo Gaolaolwe for his first goal in months. But they predictably conceded to Martinroda's real attack just before the break then offered nothing after half-time and the sides played out a tame 1-1. The same result followed as Gaolaolwe scored again after 15 minutes at Zorbau, who scored a deserved 75th-minute equaliser. However, Martinroada managed to beat Plauen to climb out of the relegation zone on goal difference ahead of both Stendal and Auerbach. But Martinroda, Auerbach and Merselburg all had a game in hand on Stendal. The final three games saw Stendal face two absolutely must-win matches. Firstly, they welcomed Auerbach and started superbly as Grubesic rifled a 25-yarder into the top corner. And it got better 10 minutes later as the Auerbach keeper kicked the ball straight to Asante and he did brilliantly to round two defenders and curled the ball into the bottom corner. Auerbach got back into it early in the second half but Gaolaolwe killed the game off 10 minutes later. Next up, Stendal visited bottom side Rudolstadt who had just 17 points. They started the game on top but couldn't take their chances in the first half. But Asante eventually did as the keeper parried winger Adrian Horner's header straight to him. However, the hosts came back into it and Stendal predictably conceded a 25-yard screamer to draw 1-1. That left Stendal four points clear of relegation a week before the three teams below them played their games in hand. Auerbach drew 1-1 at Dresdner and Martinroda drew 0-0 at Eilenburg, which meant Stendal were safe bar a goal difference swing of 12 on the final day. Stendal had a local rival clash against Plauen while Auerbach welcomed Nordhausen and Martinroda hosted Magdeburg II. But Stendal put in a great defensive performance to see off Stendal's 28 shots before Asante nicked an injury-time winner. And a new record crowd witnessed that victory as 830 people turned up to see Prusseit's survive, smashing the previous record of 740. That saw Stendal defy the odds to secure survival in 15th place, six points clear of relegated Auerbach. They scored 51 and conceded 67, while they tied the league record with 16 draws. Reflecting On A Successful Campaign Having been massively tipped for relegation, Prusseit certainly believed a 15th-place finish was a significant success. He'd seen signs of positivity from his Stendal side, especially Asante, who scored eight in his last 11 games to finish the campaign with a club-high 14 goals and was the only player with above a 7.00 average rating. As a result, he won the fans' player and young player of the year. Gaolaolwe also impressed as he finished the season with 10 goals and a club-high 10 assists. Midfielder Carvalho also did well, scoring 10 goals, but Prusseit was a little disappointed with the lack of contribution from supposed star player Horner, who only scored three and got five assists but did get the goal of the season. Prusseit's contract was up at the end of the season, so he was in two minds about whether to accept Stendal's contract offer or explore new options. So he gave himself a little time over the summer to assess his options and see if his efforts this season had increased his stock with other East German sides. Bayern Munich retained their stranglehold on Bundesliga, winning their 14th successive title but only by four points from the increasingly impressive RB Leipzig. While Union Berlin flirted with relegation but finished 14th, two points above the drop zone. Down a league, two East German sides dropped out of 2. Bundesliga as Dynamo Dresden and FSV Zwickau were relegated. But one replaced them as Energie Cottbus were promoted from 3. Liga. Would Prusseit stay in Stendal for a second season? Or could he secure a job higher up the German ladder? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted May 29, 2023 Share Posted May 29, 2023 Relegation battler specialist! Well done. Any other jobs looking promising? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 On 29/05/2023 at 08:40, SixPointer said: Relegation battler specialist! Well done. Any other jobs looking promising? Love a relegation scrap! Nothing yet... we tried for a few in the summer, but got flatly rejected. So we'll stick with Stendal for now.. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 2, 2023 Author Share Posted June 2, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 10 | Summer Rebuild Inspires Improvement A second successive relegation from the German tier five was narrowly avoided as Ruprecht Prusseit led 1. FC Lok Stendal to a solid run of form at the end of the 2025/26 campaign. After four years as a Football Manager, Prusseit was finally able to begin studying for his second coaching badge and his ability was gradually increasing. With that in mind, he submitted speculative applications for vacant roles at higher-tier East German sides Erzgebirge Aue, Dynamo Dresden and FSV Zwickau. But, unsurprisingly, none of them even considered his applications, so he eventually agreed a new one-year deal to stay at Stendal. With his short-term future sorted, Prusseit set about strengthening in key areas. First priority was left-back, where he'd had to rely on the dreadful Kevin Keller all of last season, which he filled with Riccardo Coda and Faraj Saad. Further defensive reinforcements arrived in centre-back Yannick Itoua and versatile full-back Markellos Koumourias. He also added attacking depth with striker Gisbert Zokpa before his DoF snapped up goalkeeper Robert Kampa, attacking midfielder Nikola Duric, holding midfielder Salih Aktürk and promising centre-backs Djuma Nshimiramana and Nicolas Burghard. And with those players recruited, Prusseit decided on a tweak in formation that played to their strength in central positions and utilised star player Adrian Horner in his natural position while retaining defensive strength. Seeking Stendal Improvement Prusseit's additions certainly struck the right note with the media as his side had gone from relegation favourites 12 months ago to being predicted a 15th-place finish at 33/1 to win German Division North East - South. Magdeburg II remain favourites but their odds have significantly dropped to 1/10 followed by Plausen (9/2), Nordhausen (5/1) and Wismut Gera (11/2). The new tactic began well as Zakaria Asante and debutant Zokpa gave them a 2-0 lead inside half an hour at home to Bautzen. But last year's draw kings got another as the opponents dominated by 26 shots to 10 and found two second half responses. They conceded twice again in their first away day at Inter Leipzig but new boy Zokpa ensured they took all three points as he scored a new club-record four goals to inspire a 4-2 victory. The defence finally showed up at home to Dresdner as Kampa kept his first clean sheet and a Sumaila Carvalho penalty sealed a 1-0 victory. Then a Zokpa brace earned a 2-2 draw at Sandhausen, which showed how much the team has improved considering they lost 4-0 there six months ago. Abd Zokpa's excellent start continued with two more goals after holding midfielder Marvin Bokemeyer's opener to lead a 3-1 victory at home to Grimma. That took Stendal to 11 points from five games, which it took them 14 games to achieve last season! The strong start continued as Zokpa scored after five minutes at early leaders Wismut Gera and they held on for a point, which equalled a club-record as they went 13 games unbeaten going back to last season. They broke that record as a late Zokpa brace earned a 2-2 draw at home to Nordhausen then extended it with a 0-0 at Oberlausitz. Zokpa continued his excellent start with a hat-trick to defeat last season's relegation rivals Martinroda 3-0. He added a brace and two assists in a thrilling 5-2 win at newly-promoted Bitterfeld, in which Duric scored his first goal for the club, and another hat-trick to down Erfurt-Nord 3-1. That took him to 20 goals in just 11 games, breaking the club record for most goals in a season, surpassing Carvalho's 18 in 2022/23. A 0-0 draw at Plauen took Standal an incredible 19 games unbeaten heading into a big test at home to Magdeburg II, to whom Prusseit had lost in every previous meeting. That continued with a 3-1 defeat to end their impressive form before another loss at Eilenburg despite Zokpa scoring two more. Prusseit's team didn't let that blip get them down and recovered with two draws before Zokpa hat-trick inspired a 3-1 defeat of Hohenstein then his brace led a 2-1 win at Zorbau. Consecutive 2-2 draws and a Carvalho penalty nicking a 1-0 win at Dresdner took them into a winter break sitting in an impressive 6th place, nine points behind leaders Wismut Gera. They'd already equalled last season's points tally of 37, so any relegation concerns were well and truly forgotten. Stendal were second top scorers in the division with 42 goals, of which they'd been totally reliant on Zokpa scoring a ridiculous league-leading 32! Asante leads the assist chart with 14 with Duric third with 11, while Zokpa and Asante top the average ratings on 7.81 and 7.64 respectively. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted June 4, 2023 Share Posted June 4, 2023 Things are definitely on the up!! It would appear no relegation scrap is on the cards this year. Hopefully a bigger job opportunity on the horizon 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 On 04/06/2023 at 00:53, SixPointer said: Things are definitely on the up!! It would appear no relegation scrap is on the cards this year. Hopefully a bigger job opportunity on the horizon Definitely! And hopefully job prospects in the summer, we'll see 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 5, 2023 Author Share Posted June 5, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 11 | Zopka Smashes Goals Records A summer rebuild and tactical rethink had seen Ruprecht Prusseit transform 1. FC Lok Stendal's fortunes, leading the former relegation favourites to sit sixth in German Division North East - South. Just over halfway through the season, Prusseit's side had already matched last season's points tally. So he was hopeful that maintaining that form and his newly acquired National B Licence would start to attract clubs higher up the German footballing pyramid. Stendal Rely On Free-Scoring Zokpa 2027 began at home to 14th-place Sandhausen and a rare clean sheet was coupled with centre-back Djuma Nshimirimana heading home his first goal for the club. Then a more exciting game at Grimma saw the hosts lead 2-0 at half-time but Prusseit's angry half-time words inspired a three-goal turnaround led by a brace by the league's top scorer Gisbert Zokpa and midfielder Adrian Horner's first goal of the season. But their good form of nine games unbeaten was unsurprisingly ended with a 3-1 defeat at home to leaders Wismut Gera. The defence stepped up again to earn a 0-0 at Nordhausen then a 2-0 win over Oberlausitz thanks to Zokpa and a trademark screamer by Alija Grubesic. Zakpo continued to score for fun, including a brace in a wild 4-4 draw at Martinroda and a hat-trick as Stendal thumped Erfurt-Nord 4-0 away. Zokpa scored in three successive games to break the league goalscoring record, bagging his 45th of the season in a 1-1 draw at home to Eilenburg. He further extended that record with both goals at Halle and two more in a 5-3 win at home to Heiligenstadt. A strong conclusion to the season was stopped suddenly with a 4-0 thumping at Hohenstein and 2-1 defeat at home to Zorbau, but that final game saw Zokpa notch his 50th goal of the campaign. And that saw Prusseit's team finish in 7th place on 61 points, 20 points back from champions Plauen. They scored 70 goals, which was only bettered by Plauen, but conceded 52. And Zokpa was obviously the league's top scorer with 50 league goals, as well as the top average rating of 7.62. While Nikola Duric broke the league's assist record with 19 followed by Zakaria Asante with 16. Reflecting On A Successful Campaign Stendal's summer transfer business helped them surge up the table this season, escaping any risk of relegation. Zokpa obviously led the way with 50 goals, which not only smashed the club record for a season but also made him the all-time leading scored in club history. Behind him, the attacking midfield duo of Duric and Asante top-scored with five each, but they excelled in creating goals for Zokpa as Duric set a new club record 19 assists with Asante getting 16. An unsung hero was centre-back Niclas Burghard, who impressed with a 7.04 average rating and has made massive improvement throughout the season. Away from the positives, the issue of club finances has rapidly reared its ugly head, with Stendal finishing the season with £33,000 in the bank. That's a loss of £200,000 over the season, despite Prusseit spending under half of his wage budget. So football clubs at this level are basically unmanageable. However, Prusseit hoped his overachievement with Stendal this season may just pique the interest of an East German club at a higher level, allowing him to push forward with his career. Bayern maintained their dominance of Bundesliga, winning a 15th successive title by seven points from Leipzig, who'd been way back in 7th going into the winter break. Union Berlin again just avoided relegation, this time by one point. Energie Cottbus played a relegation playoff and Magdeburg were promoted from 3. Liga while Prauen won Stendal's division to reach the fourth tier. Would Prusseit stay at Stendal to continue managing the exciting team he was building? Or would an East German rival come calling? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 9, 2023 Author Share Posted June 9, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 12 | An Opportunity To Develop Five years into his OstDeutscher Sieg challenge to lead an East German club to Bundesliga glory, Ruprecht Prusseit had just enjoyed his second-best season as a Football Manager. A successful summer rebuild had transformed the fortunes of 1. FC Lok Stendal from relegation favourites to a solid top-half finish. But finances at the club weren't great, so Prusseit was hopeful his efforts would catch the attention of a more established East German side in the summer of 2027. To further that cause, he submitted applications for vacant roles at third-tier Dynamo Dresden and fourth-tier Hansa Rostock II but wasn't holding his breath based on previous experiences. But this time, Rostock II did respond positively, offering the Dresden-born manager an interview and swiftly offering him the job. Prusseit had some reservations about managing a B team, so delayed for a week for any potential interest from his hometown club. But, for a third time in a year, Dynamo turned him down without even offering an interview so Prusseit accepted the Rostock offer. Ruprecht Prusseit was the new Manager of Hansa Rostock II! Who Are Hansa Rostock II? Hansa Rostock II is the semi-professional second team of second-tier side Hansa Rostock, one of the most successful teams from East Germany. The first team has won five East German titles and won 2. Bundesliga in 1995 but, of course, the second team can't compete in the same league. So Rostock II compete in the fourth tier Regionalliga Nordost. Given he was managing a B team, Prusseit had less control over the club than he'd enjoyed with Dessau and Stendal. For example, he wasn't able to sell players he didn't want and had no transfer budget to buy players. But there was no doubt it offered a significant step up in player quality and standard of club. So Prusseit saw this as an opportunity to further increase his stock and raise awareness of his managerial skills, which was immediately boosted by his new board accepting his request to study for his National A Licence. Prusseit's new club play at the 5,000-capacity Volksstadion and has good training facilities courtesy of the first team. And the new board have lofty expectations, looking for him to finish in the top four of Regionalliga Nordost. An example of the challenges facing Prusseit in his new role was his best player Blaz Jelic-Balta, who was considered the fourth-best player in the division, being called up to the first team. While his two best midfielders and his best left-back were loaned out to other clubs. Of the players remaining, the pick of the bunch are attacking midfielders Kevin Stark, Melvin Kaminski, Jan-Lukas Franke and Chilohem Onuoha, 16-year-old right-back Christian Jänicke and 18-year-old Alexander Schumacher, who needs to work on his 4 finishing. But another player keeping an eye on in the future is exciting 15-year-old midfielder Nico Geppert. Having assessed the players available to him, Prusseit initially settled on a fairly standard 4-3-3 formation, but that would later evolve as he took a more offensive approach. Prusseit's First Taste Of Tier Four Rostock II are well-fancied to perform in Regionalliga, predicted to finish 3rd with odds of 12/1 to win the division. Only the league winners get promoted and recently relegated Dynamo Dresden are favorites at 3/10 with another East German side Chemnitzer at 11/1. And the league is packed with OstDeutscher Sieg sides, with nine of the 17 teams located in the region. Prusseit's first match in the German tier four was one of many East German rival clashes as they welcomed Chemie Leipzig in the Friday night curtain raiser. And they started well with a Schumacher brace and a late third by Onuoah. A big game followed as they went to title favourites Dynamo, to whom Prusseit felt he had a point to prove after multiple rejections. And he came close to it with a narrow 3-2 defeat thanks to Onuoah scoring a late brace off the bench. That inspired Prusseit to switch to a 4-2-4 to shoehorn Onuoah into the team as a deep-lying forward, which worked excellently in a 4-0 win at home to Reinickendorf led by a Schumacher hat-trick. A run of five successive wins followed before a 2-2 at fellow East German side Hallescher. That was part of a 10-game undefeated streak, including another Schumacher hat-trick in a 4-1 home thumping of Plauen, who won the division Prusseit managed in last season. They backed that up with another 4-1 win at Berliner AK with braces by Schumacher and Stark, which moved them just three points behind Dynamo with a game in hand. But they kicked on a level as Onuoha bagged a new club record four-goal haul and Stark got an assist hat-trick in a 6-2 hammering of managerless Berlin FC Dynamo. Rostock II maintained their stellar form as they went to Chemnitzer and late goals by midfielder Fritz Fuchs and Onuoah nicked a 2-0 win. Then a trip to Rot-Weiß Erfurt in their game in hand saw them ease to a 3-0 victory. That took Rostock II to the top of Regionalliga Nordorst for the first time at the halfway mark of the campaign, having only dropped points in two games. The strikeforce of Onuoah and Schumacher have taken the league by storm with a shared 29 goals, with Onuoah leading the way with 15. While Stark tops the assists chart with 10 followed by Kaminski with seven and goalkeeper Fabian Eutinger has kept the most clean sheets (9). Could Prusseit maintain Rostock II's form and win the first piece of silverware in his career? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swaban Posted June 10, 2023 Share Posted June 10, 2023 excellent story so far, managing a B team looks interesting & not something I've done before. Good luck mate 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 Love them move to Rostock II. It was Hansa I tried to do something similar with many moons ago. Excellent start and hopefully this leads to the actual Hansa Rostock job. That would be a fantastic narrative and a very realistic feel to the save. keep up the good work! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pedrike2021 Posted June 11, 2023 Share Posted June 11, 2023 (edited) Hi, how are your previous two teams that you managed are doing? Edited June 11, 2023 by Pedrike2021 corrigir 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 16 hours ago, Pedrike2021 said: Hi, how are your previous two teams that you managed are doing? Good question! Dessau actually just got relegated out of the 6th tier into German non-league Lok Stendal remain very much in 5th-tier mid-table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 On 10/06/2023 at 04:34, Swaban said: excellent story so far, managing a B team looks interesting & not something I've done before. Good luck mate Cheers! Yep, it's interesting, but there are definitely challenges to managing a B team.. largely, the total lack of power and responsibility haha Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 12, 2023 Author Share Posted June 12, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 13 | Battling Dresden For The Title Life in tier four was off to a flying start for Ruprecht Prusseit with his free-scoring Hansa Rostock II side sitting top of Regionalliga Nordost at the halfway point of the campaign. Prusseit was proving any doubters wrong, in particular the powers that be at his hometown club Dynamo Dresden, who had refused to entertain his applications three times and now trailed him in the league. However, there was plenty of hard work ahead if he wanted to secure the first piece of silverware on his OstDeutscher Sieg adventure. Crunch OstDeutsch Clash The second half of the season began with a trip to Chemie Leipzig and two goals either side of half-time by 18-year-old striker Alexander Schumacher nicked a 2-1 victory. That also took them to a new club-record nine successive victories. But next up was a huge game against another fellow OstDeutscher Sieg compatriot as Rostock II hosted the only team to have beaten them so far, Dynamo Dresden. Prusseit's side performed well, especially defensively, only to be denied by a goal from a corner in injury time, which ended a 15-game unbeaten streak. The game also saw Rostock II break their attendance record as 2,410 people flocked to the game, smashing the previous record of 1,314. They recovered well to defeat Reinickendorf 3-0 led by a Schumacher brace, which took Rostock into a 49-day winter break in 2nd place, three points behind Dynamo. Taking The Fight To Dynamo Prusseit celebrated passing his National A Licence over the winter break. And his Rostock II gave him more to celebrate as they returned at home to Meuselwitz, dominated them by 20 shots to six and a second-half strike by winger Kevin Stark earned a 1-0 win. In that game, midfielder Nico Geppert became the youngest-ever Rostock II player aged 16 years and 35 days. Striker Chilohem Onuoha earned another 1-0 win at Bischofswerda and things were looking good. However, the curse of being a B team struck as Prusseit's best winger Stark was sold to Hannover then goalkeeper Fabien Eutringer was loaned to FSV Frankfurt. Prusseit took the unusual step of moving his defensive midfielder Horst Nusshall forward to replace Stark, with Damien Roßbach coming into the holding role. The 1-0 victories continued as an Andreas Fehling penalty defeated 14th-place Rathenow, winger Jan-Lucas Franke downed Babelsberg and centre-back Tim Hannak headed the only goal at home to Hallescher after two minutes. And that set a new club record of six consecutive games without conceding. They finally let a goal in at Lokomotive Leipzig but their attackers also found their shooting boots as Schumacher and Onuoha both scored braces in a 5-1 victory. Dynamo had also been winning relentlessly but eventually dropped points with a 0-0 at Plauen, which moved Rostock II four points back with a game in hand. The excellent form continued as Schumacher scored both at home to Viktoria 1889, in which they also hit the woodwork four times, then Schumacher and Onuoha sealed the same result at Prauen. Dynamo Hand Rostock A Lifeline Dresden had only dropped points in three games and led the way by four points having played a game more. But they imploded in a 5-2 home defeat against rivals Chemnitzer, which suddenly shifted the momentum in Rostock II's favour. And, bizarrely, their game in hand would be played one week after Dynamo's final game of the season! Game 1 - Berliner AK (8th, away): Prusseit's side capitalised on that advantage as first-half goals by 17-year-old midfielder Fritz Fuchs and Schumacher downed Berliner AK 2-0. That moved them one point behind Dynamo with a game in hand. Game 2 - Berlin FC Dynamo (12th, away): Relegation-threatened BFC were up next and a Fehling penalty gave them a first-half lead. Just before the hour mark, a brilliant run and finish by Schumacher strike saw him equal the Regionalliga Nordost goalscoring record and sealed another 2-0 win. The day before, Dynamo won 3-0 at TeBe Berlin. Game 3 - Chemnitzer (3rd, home): The biggest test in the run-in was at home to another OstDeutsch side Chemnitzer. But the strikeforce of Schumacher and Onuoha had too much for them as both scored twice in a dominant 4-0 victory. The next day, Dynamo hosted Rot-Weiß Erfurt and dropped more points as Erfurt scored a 96th-minute equaliser to nick a 2-2 draw, which kept Rostock II top of the league by a point. Game 4 - Tennis Borussia Berlin (12th, away): A win at home to TeBe Belin would seal the title with a game remaining, given Dynamo played their final game at the same time. However, Prusseit's time suffered stage fright and lost 1-0 to a very dubious first-half penalty. Elsewhere, Dynamo were winning 1-0 to move two points clear but conceded a 91st-minute equaliser at Chemie Leipzig. That kept Rostock top on goal difference going into their game in hand. Game 5 - Rot-Weiß Erfurt (5th, home): That meant Rostock would be Champions as long as they didn't lose 6-0 at home to Erfurt. This time they started much better as Schumacher tucked home a low cross at the near post then Hannak fired home from 20 yards. Erfurt got one back with their first attack but Fuchs curled home a delicious free-kick to remove any doubt. Hansa Rostock II won Regionalliga Nordost and Rupecht Prusseit had his first piece of silverware!! Rostock II won the title by three points, only drawing once and losing three times all season. They also scored a league-high 77 goals and conceded the fewest with just 17. Schumacher topped the goalscoring chart with a new league record 28 followed by Onuoah on 21. While Stark has the most assists with 12 and the second-highest average rating of 7.68. Unexpected Playoff Phase Having secured the Nordost title, Prusseit's side now progressed into the Regionalliga Promotion Stage. They now faced a tricky two-legged clash with professional side Hannover II, who dominated Regionalliga Nord. The home leg was up first and centre-back Justin Niehoff scored his first career goal with a towering back post head before Hannover equalised eight minutes later. But Rostock II had the best of the game, had 21 shots to seven and made one count as Onuoha raced in behind the defence and chipped the keeper to seal a 2-1 victory. The game again broke the club's record attendance as 2,993 people flocked to Volksstadion. Hannover scored early in the first half from a near-post corner, but a half-time telling-off saw Rostock II dominate the second half. They pulled level nine minutes after the break as Franke hit a screamer from the edge of the box. Ten minutes later, the winger created a second as his low cross allowed Schumacher to score from close range. Prusseit took a more cautious approach and his side eased to a famous 4-2 aggregate win. Hansa Rostock were Promoted to 3. Liga!! Exciting Times At Rostock II As far as Prusseit could tell, Rostock II were heading into 3. Liga for the first time in their history. Prusseit was delighted to have won his first-ever piece of silverware six years into his career, and his board responded by instantly putting plans in place to turn professional. Rostock II's star man this Schumacher, who scored 29 goals in 34 games with a 7.50 average rating. He was pushed close by Onuoha's 22 goals and 7.45 average rating, but no other player scored more than five. Winger Franke topped the assists chart with 10 followed by right-winger Matthiäs Kohler's seven, while centre-back Hannak got an impressive 7.44 average rating. Prusseit now had a tricky decision to make. On the one hand, he was excited about the opportunity to manage in the German third tier and at a professional level for the first time. However, the Rostock II squad was nowhere good enough to play in 3. Liga and he wasn't able to strengthen it. Up in Bundesliga, Bayern trailed Dortmund by seven points going into the winter break. But they were top by mid-February and eventually won their 16th successive title by 17 points from Leipzig as Dortmund slipped to third. Union Berlin again flirted with relegation, going into the relegation playoff and defeating the Hansa Rostock first team. Another OstDeutsche side Energie Cottbus was relegated from 2. Bundesliga and another Erzgebirge Aue were relegated from 3. Liga. Further down the leagues, there was sad news as Prusseit's first club Dessau finished bottom of Verbandsliga Saxonia-Anhalt into German non-league. Would Ruprecht Prusseit stick with Hansa Rostock II in 3. Liga? Or would another East German side come in for him in the summer? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 16, 2023 Author Share Posted June 16, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 14 | Going Professional After six years as a Football Manager, Ruprecht Prusseit had his fair share of struggles but 2027/28 was a season he would remember forever. The Dresden-born manager overcame his hometown club to lead Hansa Rostock II to his first-ever title then defeated professional rivals Hannover II to gain promotion to 3. Liga for the first time. Prusseit was widely heralded as the hero of this success, and his board immediately agreed to his request to study for the Continental C coaching license. The club also turned professional in July 2028 but Prusseit was unconvinced about the idea of staying at the B team in a league they apparently had zero chance of staying in. He held off signing a new contract in the hope that a fellow East German side would part with their manager over the summer. However, no clubs changed their managers, so Prusseit showed some loyalty to Rostock II and nearly doubled his wage to £1.6k per week until the end of the 2028/29 campaign. Prusseit's task wasn't helped by the first team promoting wingers Melvin Kaminski and Jan-Lucas Franke, who was actually starting for them in 2. Bundesliga, and defender Julian Niehoff. However, the step up allowed him to actually sign some players on free transfers, so he strengthened a little with giant holding midfielder Dembel Rassoul, midfielder Grace Kabeya (who the first-team manager foolishly then loaned out to Hallescher) and backup defender Paul Lehmann. He was also aided by promoting promising 17-year-old striker David Abeling, midfielder Karl-Heinz Fogel and centre-back Meik Müller. While the first-team demoted several players through the season, including Philippines international John-Patrick Strauß, which further helped Prusseit strengthen his squad. Bearing in mind the challenge ahead, Prusseit created a couple more conservative tactics in addition to the 4-4-2 that had been so successful last season. And he was initially leaning towards the 3-5-2 approach given his lack of recognised wingers. Facing A Tough 3. Liga Challenge Prusseit's show of loyalty meant he faced a tough challenge to keep Rostock II in 3. Liga, but luckily the board only expected him to attempt to avoid the four relegation spots. They were up against big sides like 1860 München, Holstein Kiel and OstDeutsch options Energie Cottbus and FSV Zwickau. Plus there was the challenge of facing Bayern II and Dortmund II. And unsurprisingly, Rostock II were widely tipped as relegation favourites, while Holstein Kiel, Osnabrück, 1860 München, Unterhaching and Zwickau were the favourites to fill the two promotion spots and one promotion playoff place. Life in the third tier began away to fellow OstDeutsch side Energie Cottbus. Against all the odds, Rostock dominated the game with 16 shots to five but relied on a penalty by Abeling for a 1-0 win. And Prusseit had his first professional victory! They again relied on a penalty in their first home game as Rassoul fired home to save a point against Holstein Kiel, in which they broke the club's record attendance as 3,071 fans turned up. Another tough challenge followed as they went to Zwickau but again bossed the game and Schumacher's first goal of the season sealed another 1-0 away success. So after seven points from three games against teams expected to finish in the top six, Prusseit was feeling much more confident. But the strong start ended with a 2-0 defeat at home to Hertha II then a 4-1 thumping at Osnabrück and 3-0 loss at home to 1860 München. And the honeymoon period was very much over! That convinced Prusseit to switch from the 5-3-2 to 4-2-3-1, which delivered a point in a feisty 0-0 at home to Stuttgart II, in which both teams finished with 10 men. It also worked well in a 3-0 win over Schweinfurt with goals by midfielder Niklas Dehmel, Schumacher and centre-back Tim Hannak. Building On A Solid Start Rostock II's home form was proving solid in the early stages as Schumacher nicked a 1-0 win over Hoffenheim II then a 4-2 win over Mainz II 4-2 led by Fogel's first two senior goals. That saw them sitting in a solid mid-table 11th position after 13 matches. That position was improved as Schumacher scored the only goal in another feisty match at Duisburg, which saw both teams down to 10 again. Arguably their biggest test so far saw Bayern II come to town and the exact same result followed as Schumacher again scored the only goal. But that little run ended with a 2-1 loss at Unterhaching then a 3-1 defeat at home to 3rd-place Aalen. An all-OstDeutsch clash saw Rostock II claim a credible 1-1 draw at Carl Zeiss Jena. But they reached the halfway mark of the campaign by getting well and truly dominated and losing 2-0 at home to Dortmund II. That suddenly had Prusseit looking over his shoulder as they were just five points above the drop zone despite being in mid-table. So that pressure on a visit from 17th-place Energie Cottbus, who'd twice rejected Prusseit's applications to their vacant managerial roles. But Prusseit's team delivered, limiting Cottbus to just five shots and scoring two of their 10 with a quickfire double from winger Hendrik Melfsen and Schumacher. So Rostock II headed into the winter break in an impressive 11th place with a seven-point gap to the relegation places. That had been built on a solid base, considering they'd only scored 20 and conceded 27 in 20 games. However, half of those goals had come from Schumacher, who was excelling with 10 goals in 18 games. Could Prusseit continue Rostock II's form and avoid being dragged into the relegation battle? And would his achievements attract interest from elsewhere? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted June 19, 2023 Share Posted June 19, 2023 While you aren’t clear of relegation just yet, 7 points is a decent buffer of points. Have you had anymore interest from other clubs after a solid first half of the season? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 19, 2023 Author Share Posted June 19, 2023 5 hours ago, SixPointer said: While you aren’t clear of relegation just yet, 7 points is a decent buffer of points. Have you had anymore interest from other clubs after a solid first half of the season? No interest just yet... But I'm hoping that's going to change come the summer, as managing a II team isn't the most enjoyable experience! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 19, 2023 Author Share Posted June 19, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 15 | Avoiding 3. Liga Relegation Battle Hansa Rostock II made a strong start to their first-ever season as a professional club, sitting safely in 3. Liga mid-table heading into the winter break. But manager Ruprecht Prusseit was acutely aware that a slip in form could quickly drag them into danger. Having signed his first 'professional' contract this season, Prusseit took another vital step on his path to the top of German football by completing his Continental C Licence. As a result, his profile, reputation and coaching attributes had seen a marked improvement. Furthermore, the Rostock II board was so delighted with his contributions that they agreed to send him on his Continental B Licence coach a month later. Looking To Avoid A Relegation Battle Rostock II resumed their 3. Liga campaign with a tricky trip to still undefeated Holstein Kiel and offered no shocks with a 2-0 defeat. That was followed by a big OstDeutscher clash as they entertained fellow mid-table side Zwickau, which was a dreadful game with 10 shots in total and one on target and deserved the 0-0 it got. But a 3-2 loss at Hertha II saw Rostock II drop to 14th and just four points above the drop zone. A worrying winless streak extended with a 0-0 at home to Osnabrück, a 2-0 defeat at 1860 München and a 1-1 draw with Stuttgart II. But a first-half brace by top scorer Alexander Schumacher saw them finally get back to winning ways 2-1 at bottom side Schweinfurt. The struggles continued as they lost at home to Frankfurt II but gained a credible 0-0 at Hoffenheim II. Then a huge victory at 10th-place Victoria Köln thanks to goals from Schumacher and midfielder Fritz Fuchs moved them eight points clear of danger with eight games remaining. Prusseit's side virtually confirmed survival as the brilliant Schumacher bagged a four-goal haul to down relegation-threatened Mainz II 4-2. That moved them to the 40-point mark and nine points clear of the relegation zone. 3. Liga Safety Confirmed Rostock II were already more or less confirmed to retain their place in 3. Liga, but they made sure of it as a Karl-Heinz Fogel penalty edged a 1-0 win over 15th-place Duisburg. Prusseit's young team impressed despite losing 2-1 at Bayern II then lost 2-0 at Unterhaching, but confirmed survival mathematically with three games remaining. They celebrated that survival by going to 3rd-place Aalen and winning 3-2 with goals from Schumacher, Fuchs and full-back John-Patrick Strauß. And the season was rounded off with a 0-0 draw against Jena then a solid 1-0 defeat at Dortmund II. That wrapped up an impressive 13th-place finish, 12 points clear of relegation. And they remained a solid outfit, only scoring 36 but also conceding a respectable 47. Another Season Of Overachievement Having been widely expected to return straight to the fourth tier, Prusseit led his Rostock II side to relatively comfortable survival. The team's star man was undoubtedly Schumacher, who scored 20 goals in 35 games taking him to 48 in 67 in two seasons under Prusseit. The next top scorer was Fogel with just three then Fuchs with two and 10 other players scored one each. Horst Nusshall led the assists chart with just four then Strauß with three, but nine players got two each. But Fogel was arguably their most valuable player, topping the average rating with 6.96 in 32 games. Prusseit's development continued as he bagged his Continental B Licence in April, which he hoped would set him up for the next role on his OstDeutsch Sieg adventure as and when an appropriate opportunity presented itself. Elsewhere in Germany, Bayern retained their iron grip on the Bundesliga title with a ridiculous 17th in a row. Hertha finished 2nd with Leipzig down in 5th and Union climbed to 13th. Prusseit's parent club Hansa Rostock won 2. Bundesliga but two OstDeutsch sides Energie Cottbus and Jena were relegated to 3. Liga. Dynamo Dresden reached the Regionalliga playoff but lost 2-1 to Augsburg II. Could Prusseit further build Rostock II? Or was it time to move on for the manager? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted June 20, 2023 Share Posted June 20, 2023 Surely you’ve earned your stripes for a new move 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 On 20/06/2023 at 03:41, SixPointer said: Surely you’ve earned your stripes for a new move Yep! We're on the move! 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
robilaz Posted June 23, 2023 Author Share Posted June 23, 2023 OstDeutscher Sieg | Part 16 | A Step Back To Move Forwards Ruprecht Prusseit was a Football Manager with a growing reputation, having led Hansa Rostock II to safety in his first season in professional football. The Rostock II board yet again agreed to allow Prusseit to go on another coaching course, which means he'll now spend 12 months studying for the Continental A Licence. However, Prusseit felt his career would be best off at a club that wasn't a B Team, which didn't give him any control over actual club management and offered limited opportunities. No jobs were available at the start of the summer, so he was settled on staying in Rostock. But he soon received an invitation to an interview from Energie Cottbus, who'd just been relegated from 3. Liga, after having to reject an interview offer from Bundesliga side Augsburg. A few days later, Cottbus asked for his staff changes and swiftly offered him the job on a one-year contract increasing his wage to £2k per week. So Prusseit was moving on to club four of his OstDeutscher Sieg adventure! It may sound odd to move from a third-tier side to one in tier four, but Prusseit firmly believed this was a great opportunity to strengthen his reputation. Who Are Energie Cottbus? Energie Cottbus is a professional club based in the city of Cottbus in the Brandenburg region in northeast Germany. Cottbus' roots trace back to FSV Glückauf Brieske-Senftenberg, a club founded by coalminers in 1919 in the town of Marga that was banned by the Nazis in 1933. It reemerged in 1949 and went through various name changes before becoming the SC Energie Cottbus sports club in 1963. Reunification saw Cottbus emerge as one of the better East German sides, reaching Bundesliga in 2000 and staying there for three years before returning in 2006. In this save, Cottbus spent the first three seasons in tier four before two consecutive promotions up to 2. Bundesliga then back-to-back relegations take them back into Regionalliga Nordost for the 2029/2030 campaign. Prusseit's new club play at the 14,929-capacity Eduard Geyer Arena, which was only built in 2026, and has fairly basic facilities. Cottbus have a bank balance of £1.4m but is spending well over its wage budget and has limited transfer budget. Cottbus had players that Prusseit had actually heard of, including former Dortmund left-back/striker Stefen Tigges. However, most of them wanted out as a result of the club's relegation, so Prusseit had to farm out a few and keep hold of some to try and achieve immediate promotion. The best player remaining at the club was Tigges, who's considered a good 3. Liga player. Other key players include winger Micael Sanhá, midfielder Arnel Kujovic, Prusseit's first Brazilian player left-back Mateus Brunetti and centre-back Malte Karbstein. There was also plenty of potential as six players had at least 4.5-star potential led by centre-back Daniel Klug, midfielder Daniel Yéo and midfielder/striker Dennis Carstens. And the quality in the squad was boosted by loaning in winger Phil Hennig and free transfers of right-back Emmanuel Ntsiakoh and promising striker Richard Busche. Having assessed the squad available to him, Prusseit decided to plug in the 4-4-2 system that led his Rostock II side to promotion from Regionalliga. And he was hpoepful the strikeforce of Tigges and Eric Hottmann would blow the league away. Heading Back To Regionalliga Nordost After a year up in the professional leagues, Prusseit found himself back in the fourth tier. His Cottbus side were third-favourites for Regionalliga Nordost at 9/4 behind old rivals Dynamo Dresden (1/16) and Chemnitzer (15/8). Life back in tier four began at Reinickendorf and the strikeforce dominated as Hottmann scored inside seven minutes then a Tigges brace sealed a 3-0 victory. Both scored again in Prusseit's first game at Eduard Geyer Arena then Hottmann and centre-back Jonas Böhmert secured another 2-0 win at Wilmersdorf. And Cottbus hit top gear with a 4-1 thumping of Rathenow with four different scorers, including Sanhá scoring one and creating two. A 2-1 win at Berlin FC Dynamo before Hottmann and Tigges strikes earned a 2-0 win at home to Chemie Leipzig, which took Cottbus top of the league for the first time. And they didn't let up there, going on to win their first nine league games which, combined with two cup victories, broke the club record for most consecutive victories. The winning run continued against two local rivals as Tigges hit a hat-trick in a 4-1 thumping of Erzgebirge Aue then a Brunetti penalty was the only goal at Rot-Weiß Erfurt. That teed up a top-of-the-table local clash as 100% Cottbus took on undefeated Chemnitzer. Both teams hit the bar early on but Cottbus seized control as a great Tigges run teed Hottmann up with a tap-in then a brilliant Kujovic 25-yarder doubled the lead just before half-time. They shut the game down after the break to move seven points clear and win 12 out of 12. They backed that up by hammering strugglers TeBe Berlin 5-1 away led by a Hottmann hat-trick. But the outrageous start to the season ended with a 4-2 defeat at home to Prusseit's old foes Dynamo Dresden. They got back on track with an easy 2-0 win at Berliner AK, in which they lost star man Hottmann for seven weeks with knee ligament damage. But his replacement Busche took his opportunity by scoring his first senior goal in a 2-0 win at home to Lokomotive Leipzig. Another OstDeutsche side Plauen was seen off 3-0 away before yet another clean sheet in a 2-0 win at home to Meuselwitz with goals from Hennig and Tigges. And the same two players scored again in the final game of the year to seal a 3-1 win at home to Reinickendorf. That took Cottbus into the winter break with an impressive nine-point lead over Chemnitzer and 11-point lead over Dresden with a game in hand. They'd still only dropped points once, scored a league-high 50 and conceded 12. Hottmann and Tigges lead the way with 15 goals each, Sanhá tops the assists with 12 and Tigges has the best average rating of 7.84 followed by Hottmann's 7.73. Prusseit's First Taste Of DFB-Pokal Prusseit's first game in arguably the cup competition with the prettiest trophy, the DFB-Pokal (German Cup), also saw his first-ever clash with a Bundesliga team as Cottbus entertained Greuter Fürth in the first round. And their strong start to the season continued as a Brunetti penalty and injury-time goal by winger David Hofbauer sealed a famous 2-0 win. Cottbus then took down a 2. Bundesliga side in round two as a Hottmann hat-trick down Heidenheim 3-2. Another 2. Bundesliga side followed as they hosted Augsburg in the "Eighth Final," or last 16 to normal people. And they again gave it a really good go, even after Tigges was very harshly sent off after just six minutes. Augsburg raced into a 2-0 lead through a penalty that was as dodgy as the sending-off, but Prusseit rallied his troops and they fought back to earn a 2-2 through Busche and Bonetti's late penalty. But their luck ran out in a penalty shootout, losing it 4-3 on spot kicks with Kujovic missing their sixth. Could Prusseit maintain Cottbus' exceptional form and win Regionalliga for the second time in three years? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
SixPointer Posted June 23, 2023 Share Posted June 23, 2023 Good move and running away with the league. It’s weird how and old foe becomes a friend. Rivals at first now a manager 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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