Just About Managing

[jim65]

I've been reading this forum for a while now and thought it was about time I made a contribution, so what follows is my first attempt at an FM Story.

For the record, I'm running FM06 v6.0.2 with English leagues loaded down to League 2 and all German leagues loaded. I've also loaded a stack of players from eastern Europe.

This is a work of fiction based on a real FM06 game; use of real people is necessary but only in a fictional way, and any historical facts that are wrong I have changed to suit my story (or I've made a mistake ).

Feel free to post comments etc, feedback welcome.

OK, deep breath, here goes......

JUST ABOUT MANAGING by Jim Sichstefeiff

[jim65]

I've been reading this forum for a while now and thought it was about time I made a contribution, so what follows is my first attempt at an FM Story.

For the record, I'm running FM06 v6.0.2 with English leagues loaded down to League 2 and all German leagues loaded. I've also loaded a stack of players from eastern Europe.

This is a work of fiction based on a real FM06 game; use of real people is necessary but only in a fictional way, and any historical facts that are wrong I have changed to suit my story (or I've made a mistake ).

Feel free to post comments etc, feedback welcome.

OK, deep breath, here goes......

JUST ABOUT MANAGING by Jim Sichstefeiff

[jim65]

January 2005

I sat in the smoke filled bar of The Viking Pub, a small holdall at my feet that contained all my worldly goods. In my pocket was the change from the crisp twenty pound note that they’d given me as they’d let me out of prison. All I’d had to do was cross the road from Cardiff Nick and stumble into the pub. Now, with my second pint in front of me I began to feel the hopelessness of my situation, and the hardest thing to accept was that it had all been my own fault, and it could so easily have been very very different.

Growing up in South Wales, I had resisted the pressure to join the egg-chasing set with fierce determination and had steadfastly stuck to my footballing preferences. This had paid dividends when spotted by scouts whilst playing schoolboy football by the local team, Cardiff City, who signed me up. I made quite an impact too, and by the time I was eighteen was highly rated and quite a prospect for the future. So much so that Aston Villa poached me and added me to their Youth team. Leaving home had been okay, bearing in mind that my father was originally from Birmingham, though he was a tad miffed that I’d joined Villa and not his beloved Blues, though that didn’t worry me in the least, being a Villa fan!

It had been like a dream come true for me, not only being part of a historic Youth Cup winning team, but also being at Villa during the glory years of 80/81 and 81/82. The decline that followed, relegation down to the old third division, saw me make my first team debut at that level and I held onto that place for a few seasons, culminating in the promotion year back to the top flight.

Now, I’d never been a pacey winger or a free scoring striker, my game was all about giving ninety minutes of box-to-box graft from the centre of midfield. Mine was never the glory therefore, in fact you could say that I was almost an unsung hero in that promotion side, but I certainly played my part. That’s why I was so disappointed to be transfer listed by Graham Taylor. His was the decision that started turning my wonderful dream life into a living nightmare.

Sold off without ever appearing in the top flight, I once again found myself playing in the lower leagues for a series of clubs. I guess I just never got over being unwanted by Villa, and started to throw myself away. The drinking and smoking started to affect my game, successive managers dropped me and sold me on until I washed up back where it all started, Cardiff City. Fitting in some ways then that my last competitive game was for the same team as my first. I retired early, too knackered to train properly and my name only a memory at the club I loved more than any other and had helped to promotion back to the top flight.

However, it was Cardiff City who once again gave me a future. They got me into some counselling and started me off on my coaching courses, and I managed to hold it together for long enough to get all my badges. I believe that I would’ve been alright at that stage if Cardiff had given me a coaching job proper, but no sooner had I qualified than they let me go, part of a swathing reorganisation under their new owners and management. That finished me. The evil drink called and I went willingly to her, cosied up comfortably with her and went right off the rails in spectacular fashion. That’s how I ended up in prison, doing five years for burglary. I was a burglar, stealing peoples possessions to feed my gambling, alcohol and nicotine driven existence.

And here I was, not even an hour out and already in a pub with a pint. At least this was by choice and not need though, three and a half years without had certainly cured that addiction! I downed the rest of the ice cold lager and left the place, the summer sun welcome on my pale skin and the fresh (ish) air blew the smoke out of my lungs, lungs that hadn’t tasted the acrid smoke of tobacco for three years.

I caught a train to Penarth and found the digs that they’d arranged for me. It was only a bedsit on Victoria Road but it was clean and I didn’t have to share it with anyone. By the end of the afternoon I’d done the rounds of post-prison offices, benefits and potential counselling, possible career advice and all that trash, and sat down in my room to contemplate what my future would be, what little niceties that fate had in store! As it was to turn out, she was going into a kinder phase.

[jim65]

June 2005

I sat in the park overlooking the boating lake, it was a fine spring day and young mothers were pushing or toddling their offspring around the park, getting them to throw nuggets of stale bread to the ever hungry ducks. My eyes saw all this but it hardly registered in my head as my mind was off on another track.

I’d sat in that bedsit in Penarth that very first night out of prison and carefully went through that little holdall. The clothes and personal bits I’d tossed aside but spent hours looking at my coaching certificates and at the two promotion medals that I had hoarded jealously through all the crap times, and wondered if there was any way back.

Well, fate certainly was kind to me. It seemed that all those hours coaching the prison team had made an impression on the governor of the establishment who had recommended me to a friend of his, a friend of his who just happened to be the Chairman of Cwmbran Town FC. The job offer had come swiftly and I was just as fleet of foot in accepting a coaching position with the club who competed in the League of Wales.

It had been just the tonic I’d needed. Prison had cured the addictions that had destroyed my life, but it was only because of prison that I had been given another chance and I did everything to repay the faith the governor had put in me. Cwmbran finished the season mid-table, which was good for them, by which time I’d moved into a rented flat in the town and was at last paying my own way again, working with a smile on my face and enjoying life at long last. The demons had been exorcised.

But today I had a decision to make, a biggie at that too! Cwmbran had released me as soon as the season finished, with words of genuine regret on their part, and promises of a glowing reference. Finances just wouldn’t allow Cwmbran to keep the staffing levels as they had, and two coaches were released, me one of them. It hadn’t come as a shock nor had it fazed me unduly, indeed I had already been exploring avenues to reach my new goal in life, to manage a club. The decision that I was pondering was whether to take up a management position in the UK or to move abroad away from the very harsh spotlight of the British media. The decision had a very real focus too, as there were two jobs on offer!

[jim65]

July 2005

I sat in my office at the Stadion Oberwerth, Koblenz and reflected upon the press conference that had just finished. It had gone very well on the whole. The journalists had given me some credit by mentioning my Villa days and not putting too much emphasis on what had followed, for which they would be rewarded in the coming months. I didn’t forget acts of kindness, even from the Press! The fans were cautiously optimistic at my appointment it appeared, and shared the board’s view that to stay in the German Regional Division South would be an achievement. Despite that, there was a transfer kitty equivalent to GBP 85,000 and some room in the wage budget to allow it to be spent. Certainly a challenge, but not an impossible one I thought.

As I waited for Klaus Sussmeyer, my assistant manager, to join me for a staff and squad review meeting, my mind wandered back to the park in Cwmbran just a short while previously.

Hereford United or Koblenz? It seemed like a straightforward ‘one or the other’ type choice when you said it aloud but nothing was ever that easy. The Bulls had offered a one year deal but expected promotion back to the League from the Conference. They offered no transfer funds and were already over their wage budget. Worse, perhaps, was that the fans and media expected promotion too. I liked the idea of managing in England, and my obvious long term goal was to return to Villa Park one day, but my thoughts were that this job at Edgar Street would be just too much too soon. On the other hand, I knew nothing of Koblenz and in truth very little about German football.

Before making the final decision, I’d caught a flight to Germany to see for myself what was being offered.

Fifty seven miles south east of Koln, where the Mosel and Rhine Rivers meet, lies the historic city of Koblenz. Established as a military outpost around 8BC, it takes its name from the Latin ‘confluentes’ or confluence (relating to the rivers) and is now home to nearly 110,000 people. It’s streets and river frontage on the left bank of the Rhine cover over 100km2. It’s a delightful city with wonderful architecture and a real sense of history in a dramatic setting. In 1911 it’s football team TuS Koblenz, was founded as a semi-professional club and now occupies a 17,000 capacity stadium with, it has to be said, fairly basic training facilities.

In truth, after spending a day exploring the city I was already more than half sold on the job, and what doubts I did still harbour were quickly dispelled by chairman Bruno Gauggel when we met the following day. I agreed a one year contract at GBP 1,200 per week. Thereafter everything went into ‘fast forward’, or so it seemed. Within no time at all I returned to Wales, surrendered the rental flat there and flew back to Germany to take up residence in a charming flat with a balcony overlooking the Rhine.

I then had a free week to settle in before taking up my appointment and I’d made the most of it, taking a year long lease on a car and taking trips out and around the city which had really captivated me. I’d found a lovely cafeteria too, and as cooking had never been my ‘thing’ quickly got into a routine of taking most of my meals there and soon built up a rapport with the owner Rudi, a die-hard Koblenz fan, and his Spanish wife Maria.

Klaus arrived with the usual German punctuality. I’d already had an informal meeting with Klaus and knew that he was in his second year at Koblenz and was a year or two younger than myself. My first impression of him had been a positive one and I was confident that we would get along fine. Looking at the files he had brought and the detailed notes therein I began to believe the stories I’d heard of German efficiency and was encouraged by the man’s thoroughness.

There was only one coach at the club, thirty-five year old Andreas Stein, whom Klaus spoke very highly of. I determined that we should seek one or two other coaches to ease the workload, and Klaus was in agreement of this. He even offered to make a few ‘phone calls to see who was available locally that he could recommend, and I was happy for him to do that.

Marco Probst and Alexander Meyer were our two Physio’s and were deemed adequate for our needs. Scouts Timo Simon and Daniel Reimann completed an all German, full time staff that I would be working with. Stefan Kuntz held the position of Director of Football, and I had my first meeting with him scheduled for the following day.

[jim65]

July 2005 Cont'd

Klaus talked me through each player in the squad. There were twenty-one of them, eight of which were on part-time contracts.

We have three goalkeepers, all German. Peter Auer is the oldest and most experienced at 33 and Andreas Muller is the youngest at 20. Michael Gurski is 26 but looks a better bet for the number one shirt than the others at this stage, though early opinions can easily change after match performances.

There are four centre backs, Anthony Tieku from Ghana is 31 and will be first choice alongside 27 year old German Andreas Richter. Competent cover is in the form of 27 year old German Rudiger Ziehl and 25 year old American Josh Grenier. We have an outstanding left back in 33 year old Oliver Straube, who’s German, but no other left back. Tieku can play there but that would weaken the centre of defence so a Left Back is a must have. Greek International Evangelos Nessos, 27, will be first choice right back with 26 year old Dutchman Brenny Evers as cover.

In midfield we have the 29 year old Senegalise winger Salif Keita and 19 year old German Philip Langen. Mannheim are sniffing around Langen and have made an enquiry which I rebuffed until I have a clearer picture of how things are. Our only right winger is 24 year old local Anel Dzaka, so in addition to a left back we will need a right winger. In the centre we are overstaffed with defensive midfielders. We will keep 29 year old Croat Dubravko Kolinger and 23 year old German Ralf Klingmann for this role, and place the 28 year old Bosnian Nihad Mujakic on the transfer list. Klaus will inform the player later. 23 Year old Portugese Bruno Meirelles will provide cover in the attacking midfield role for 22 year old German Domenico Cozza.

Up front we have only three strikers on the books, so I will be looking to add another if possible. Lithuanian International Dimitrijus Guscinas will lead the line alongside 21 year old German Denni Patschinsky. 19 year old local lad Johannes Rahn will provide cover for now.

After this lengthy and detailed meeting, Klaus left to make a few ‘phone calls before calling it a day and I went over the squad lists once again. On paper it looked like a very poor side, and in truth with the objective being to avoid relegation it probably was, but with a bit of luck and a following wind I felt we could do the job!

The following morning I met with Stefan Kuntz and advised him of my team appraisal. My first reaction was to dislike the man, based I guess on the feeling that I didn’t need him, however he was keen to help where he could with contracts but promised not to interfere which suited me well.

I then met with my scouts and sent Daniel off to Eastern Europe where I was sure that there would be some inexpensive talent for hire, and got Timo sizing up the next opposition.

The pace continued to accelerate as I got things geared up for the first pre-season friendly scheduled for July 12th. I appointed two coaches to help in the running of the day to day training and take the pressure of Klaus and myself a little. Jan Zlomanczuk, a 53 year old Pole brought experience and a great sense of belief to the club, whilst 33 year old Czech Republican Jaroslav Dvorak brought an infectious enthusiasm and drive that complimented the existing staff beautifully.

It was a wonderful, balmy Wednesday evening as I sat on my balcony sipping an excellent Canernet Sauvignon from Australia. Around me, or rather below me, the city went about its business oblivious to my presence and my thoughts of the previous week’s events. Yes, only a week!

I’d taken my seat in the home dug-out for the first time as Chiasso visited us for the first of three friendlies arranged for the week. Chiasso scored just eighteen seconds into the game, but did very little else. Guscinas equalised for us very early in the second half and we should have gone on to win but couldn’t break them down for the all important winning goal. At least not a losing start, and we hadn’t let our heads drop after falling behind so early on.

Osnabruck came to town a few days later and again took the lead on us and set about pummelling us in truth. I changed the system to a diamond and urged the lads on for the second half and was rewarded with goals from Patchinsky and Guscinas late on to take the win. What a feeling!

Valladolid visited us next and despite thinking privately that we would get well beaten, I sent the lads out to go for the win, however first half injuries to Keita and Guscinas forced me into a more defensive system purely due to lack of personnel. It finished goalless and I had to praise the players for a first class defensive display that coped well with the Spaniards pacey attack and set pieces.

Also during the week, the draw for the first round of the German cup had paired us with Aachen at home at the Oberwerth to be played mid-August, and Nihad Mujakik had moved on to Stuttgarter K for GBP 5,000. All of which had pleased my new friend Rudi, who was doing wonders to champion my cause with the local fans!

I’d also had to learn some worrying lessons that week. It appeared that even players out of work and coming to the end of their careers didn’t fancy Koblenz. With the injury to Guscinas likely to keep him out for anything up to eight weeks that gave me a real and immediate problem too. More positively though, the games played had confirmed my early appraisals of the squad and I took a little confidence from the knowledge that my judgement wasn’t that bad!

[jim65]

July 2005 Cont'd

As the sun went down slowly I had to admit to myself that the three performances so far had been better than expected overall and I was encouraged by that. Two more friendlies were scheduled for the coming week, away at Dresden-Nord and then at Ulm. I really needed to get three players in before the season started proper on August 6th, and this I determined to set my maximum effort to from early the next morning.

As the month drew to an end I took the opportunity to take a few hours out to dine with the Chairman. Bruno had been careful to let me settle myself in and find my own way as it were, but was keen for a personal update from me and suggested that we do so over dinner.

The trip to Dresden-Nord had been a successful one. We didn’t really give them a chance in the game and a brace from Patschinsky and a screamer from Kolinger secured an easy win.

Straight on the back of that game I was able to introduce two new faces to the squad. Right winger Christian Schlosser, aged 20, was on a season long loan from near neighbours Koln and would bring much to the squad as well as to Dzaka who had had very little rest time, and similarly left back Roman Goretskyi. The Ukranian left back is 23 and had been captured for GBP 1,000 on a three year contract.

The subsequent trip to Ulm would see them both making their debuts as half time substitutes in a game which finished our pre-season nicely with a Johannes Rahn hatrick inside the first fifteen minutes and another Patschinsky goal before the half hour. The 4-0 win assured, I dabbled with substituitions and tactics for the rest of the game and was deeply pleased not be Ulm’s manager.

We still desperately needed a striker though and this was my main concern just a week or so away from the start of the season proper.

As it transpired, Bruno was more than pleased with how things were going, and the evening turned more into a social occasion than a ‘working meal’. When I returned to my flat later that evening I realised just how well I had settled in at Koblenz and how much I was enjoying life. A far cry from what I had called life eight or so months previously, that now seemed eons ago.

The search for a striker continued as July became August and the new season got closer by the day.

[jim65]

August 2005

The morning of the 6th dawned very brightly, and for me very early as I awoke with the dawn full of nerves on this the day of my first competitive match in charge of Koblenz. Eschborn, the opponents to visit the Oberwerth today, were newly promoted to the Regional Division South and had a team that Timo desribed as ‘capable but lacking pace in attack’.

I took my morning coffee on the balcony, only vaguely aware that the city was waking up all around me on this glorious August Saturday morning.

It had not been a good week. Bids for three strikers had been accepted only for each of them in turn to reject any approach from Koblenz, which meant that I would have only two fit strikers for my first league game. Also, midfielder Bruno Meirelles had injured his chest overdoing things with weights in the gym which put him out for up to four weeks, and after the game today Klaus and I had to make some progress on the twenty players in the squad who were into their last year of contract! Morale, despite this however, was very good in the camp and the players were looking forward to some real action again after the summer lay-off.

The early morning sunshine had faded away as I made the short drive to my office at the Oberwerth, and the forecast for our 2.30pm kick off was wet and warm. The Regional Division South consisted of eighteen teams and I was allowed the luxury of naming seven substitutes for each match, though I could still only use three. Further, there were some regulations about how many German born players had to be in the matchday squad, but that wasn’t about to cause me any problems.

Arriving at the stadium I parked my car and walked slowly to my office for a pre-match meeting with Klaus before a light lunch with the players, nerves starting to jangle a bit more as the realisation dawned that this was it, that there was no turning back. The season started right now! Just like the rain!

The cafeteria was a little more crowded than usual when I finally got there that evening for dinner. Rudi gave me a huge bear hug when I arrived and I was cheered to my table by the locals. Rudi had arranged a screened off table for me so that I could eat privately and tonight he had provided ‘on the house’ a bottle of excellent Shiraz from sunny Australia.

My first competitive match couldn’t really have gone any better. We had simply taken Eschborn apart from the first minute, our midfield completely dominating their unusual 4-1-2-1-2 formation. Johannes Rahn started the scoring with a diving header after 14 minutes and made it two on the half hour with a more straightforward header from a pinpoint Dzaka cross. At half time I told them to keep their concentration and go and do it all again, replacing Cozza who had a minor knock with Klingmann to really solidify our midfield in search of the clean sheet. Rahn completed his hatrick, rounding the ‘keeper to slot home after 54 minutes and the game was over. Nessos picked up a knock and so Straube was switched to right back and Goretskyi had made his league debut at left back. Rahn tired as the game wore on, so I’d moved Leita into a more attacking position and put Langen on the left wing to see out the result. Our only scare in front of nearly 5000 fans was in the very last of the 94 minutes when Eschborn rattled the cross bar, otherwise the defence had been simply magnificent. We were off to a flyer, three points in the bag and a clean sheet to boot!

Klaus and I had been so pleased that we’d waived our post-match meeting in favour of a Sunday morning session, but it was still late enough by the time I’d finished with the local press when I finally made the short drive home, and the even shorter walk to the cafeteria to eat.

[jim65]

August 2005 Cont'd

Freshly showered I slid unsteadily into bed. The Shiraz had gone beautifully with the excellent steak cooked and served by Maria, and the atmosphere had been intoxicating too. I did wonder what it would be like when we inevitably lose a game, but resolved to still go there come what may. What a simply wonderful day to be a football manager, to be Koblenz manager even!

A week later found me much less spirited. I ate my meal in the caferia, and the atmosphere, though less of a party one, was still very warm and welcoming, and the wine was just as good except I was paying.

Contract negotiations with a couple of players had commenced and were ongoing, but two players had flat out refused new deals, one of them Richter a key centre back who had promptly got himself sent off at the Moselstadion as we slumped to a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Trier. A good side, and they’d played well, but with a depleted team for 80 minutes we were only ever going to hang on for a draw, and as it turned out lost. Not only that but left winger Keita picked up an injury that would sideline him for four weeks.

So with him out injured and Richter suspended, we took on Pfullendorf at the Oberwerth in front of nearly 5000 and never got out of the starting blocks. The players looked tired and out of sync’ and though we defended well and could have equalised late on, we went down to a second 1-0 reverse and ended the week on a real low.

Klaus had been given my brief on contract renewals and I’d left him to try and sort some things out whilst I concentrated on bringing some much needed new faces to the club.

Rudi was cheerful as usual as I left and Maria gave me an encouraging smile, but I couldn’t help feeling that I was letting these people, the fans, down already. Our next game was Aachen from the second division in the German Cup and I was determined to get a more positive display from the lads.

[BobBev]

Very nice start Jim

[Wimb The Barman]

What Bobbev said

[jim65]

Thanks guys Here's some more....

[jim65]

September 2005

I’d driven out of town and sat by the river at a quiet spot to think.

Over 7000 had turned up to see us play Aachen, and most of them left early. It took them just thirteen minutes to break us down and they basically toyed with us before making it a 2-0 defeat with a Richter own goal. Richter also got booked, got subbed and got himself transfer listed into the bargain as I finally lost my temper with him. Also, Anel Dzaka got wind of a bid I’d rejected for him and has threatened to quit on a Bosman at the end of the season. What was worrying was that we had now lost three on the bounce without scoring, and I was having no luck whatsoever in the transfer market.

Our final game of August was at the Granwalder Strasse Stadion where Bayern II were our hosts. An early own goal in our favour settled us, and our attacking formation started to function at long last. A very smart finish from Patschinksy made it two before the half hour. They pulled one back after 54 minutes and to be fair could well turn out to be the goal of the season, an absolute peach of a drive from the edge of the box that curled passed Gurski giving him no chance. Substitute Klingmann, playing out of position out of necessity, then popped up in the box to clinically finish after a bit of a scramble and the game was won. 3-1 to us and thank goodness. Shame only 1300 or so came to see it, but after the previous few performances who could blame them?

I watched the water bubbling over some stones in the river, not really seeing them as my busy mind was hard at work. We had finished the month in 7th place in the league with figures of P4 W2 L2 D0 GF6 GA3 GD+3 which could have been worse, though we had of course been eliminated from the Cup too! Only half a dozen or so contract issues remained, and Guscinsas was back in training after his injury which was just as well as a succession of strikers had turned us down, either loan or permanent moves.

I was, I decided, deeply frustrated at my inability to bring a new striker in and also disappointed at the lack lustre performances that the lads had put in after such a bright start. I was also, I thought, maybe asking just a little too much of them and myself, after all even Rudi was fairly satisfied as to how things were going and he pretty much had his finger on the pulse of all things fan related for TuS Koblenz.

With no game until the 10th I determined to get the lads fitness up, concentrate on the tactical side of things and generally stop beating myself up so much. And, I cautioned myself, I would have to cut down on the old red wine, I really did not want to go down that road again!

It was a dry and mild Friday evening as we travelled for our away fixture at Wehen, and it was a game I fancied us to win.

[jim65]

September 2005 Cont'd

Early September had seen me become a little anxious over things. Klaus had completed most of the contract issues but we had no fewer than four first team players refusing new deals, including both my first choice strikers and right winger Dzaka who was still rather mad at me for not selling him. The two players we were not offering new deals to were left back Straube and ‘keeper Auer who I thought were at the end of their playing careers in their mid-thirties.

Very much in need of some fresh faces then to bolster the squad, I hired Polish scout Radoslaw Szalak and sent him off to look at the next opposition which relieved German born Timo to have a thorough search for some players closer to home in Germany.

Second place Aalen visited on the 10th and it was a game our ‘keeper Gurski would remember for his 10th minute penalty save and overall performance which earned him the Man of the Match award. Patschinsky opened the scoring from the spot for us but Aalen equalised within five minutes and that had concluded the afternoon’s scoring, thanks to that performance from Gurski. Unhappy Dzaka picked up a knock that would keep him out for a fortnight or so, but Guscinas made a ten minute cameo at the end of the game as he continued to regain his fitness. We could have stolen it at the end but in truth it would have been harsh on the superior opposition, and so we took a point from our first draw of the campaign.

Keita resumed full training the following day. It was an annoyance to me that there was no reserve squad to push the ‘returning from injury’ and ‘not regular starters’ fitness levels up. Koblenz had an under 23 squad and an under 19 squad, but senior players had no match practice other than first team games.

September closed with news that two players had picked up injuries in training, Klingmann and Rahn. Klingmann was not so desperate but the loss of striker Rahn with Guscinas still not fully match fit was bad news indeed, but there had been good news in September, and whilst Rudi broke our chat to serve another customer I reflected upon it.

Only 800 or so had bothered to turn out for our visit to the Halberg Stadion where we completely dominated a poor Wehen side that had already lost five in a row. Patschinsky opened the scoring but it wasn’t until late on that Guscinas, on as a substitute in the pursuit of match fitness, added a stunning second to wrap up the win. Press headlines the following morning suggested that we had been somewhat fortunate to win, which prompted Klaus to learn the English expression ‘B*ll*cks!’.

Nearly 7000 turned out at the Oberwerth for the visit of Elversburg, and fit again but still unhappy Dzaka was recalled to the starting line up after injury. I really shouldn’t have bothered as he did nothing of note and was replaced by loanee Schlosser at the break. A dubious penalty to Elversburg was saved in fine style by Gurski just before the hour, and as we continued to press a brace from Patschinsky late on secured a comfortable win.

So, we’d finished the month 5th in the league with figures of P7 W4 L2 D1 GF 11 GA 4 GD+7 PTS 13. Back home, Chelsea were topping the table and my beloved Villa were 11th with only 8 points from their first 9 games and if I knew anything it was that a certain Mr O’Leary would be feeling the heat from board and fans alike if he didn’t step it up soon! I, on the other hand, was a popular figure with the fans pleased at my good start and Bruno was more than satisfied though still believing that avoiding relegation was the main object of the season.

Rudi and I finished the Merlot, not my favourite red, and we said goodnight as I left for home early prior to the following day’s trip to Augsburg. I had to be pleased with the start but couldn’t shake off a feeling of anxiety and wasn’t sure at all what my formation or starting line up would be for the following day’s game with only one fully fit striker available, and was still unsure about taking a risk with starting Guscinas. Sleep wasn’t going to come easily!

[jim65]

October 2005

In the end, the regulation for having six German players under 24 years in the matchday squad almost made the decision for me. I called up Michael Stahl and Stefan Haben from the under 19 squad and started both in 4-4-1-1 with Cozza pushed on to support lone striker Patschinsky. It must have caught Augsburg out because Stahl scored on 7 and Cozza made it 2-0 on 17. No changes were made at half time but Augsburg had come out fighting and were back in it with a Thomik strike after 50 minutes, only for Patschinsky to add a third for us from the penalty spot two minutes later. I then withdrew Haben, moved Cozza back into his usual position and brought on Guscinas to see the game out. Guscinas had one disallowed (rightly) for offside before Thomik struck again on 79 and a real ding-dong end-to-end battle ensued until the referee blew the final whistle with some 96 minutes on the clock! Three more points and I didn’t mind this time as the press headlined ‘The Battle of the Rosenaustadion’ which unfortunately only 1673 had witnessed, and unfortunately for Augsburg they’d lost!

The next fortnight passed more or less uneventfully, Guscinas went off to join the Lithuanian squad and the rest of the team trained daily to maintain their fitness and sharpen up on set pieces. My scouts reports were coming back regularly now and Timo was turning up some real talent that ought to prove ‘gettable’ when the window opens, so my anxiety was starting to diminish.

The Halloween party at Rudi’s had been a blast. There were Koblenz blue and black flags and scarves everywhere and the little cafeteria was packed to the rafters. After a huge amount of backslapping and chatting with his other guests I finally made it to my screened off table and sat down to eat, not feeling like a celebrity but hugely enjoying some popularity. Villa, meanwhile, had clawed themelves to 8th place in the Premiership with 15 points from 11 games.

The trip to Darmstadt’s Stadion am Bollenfalltor had proved to be a lively one. I stuck with the same team that had beaten Augsburg even though Guscinas was fully fit he was tired from his International duties. Darmstadt had a man sent off mid-way through the first half but nevertheless took the lead just before half time. I’d told the lads to keep pressing because they looked shaky at the back and within a minute of the restart Patschinksy had us level, then added another on the hour. Substitute Keita missed a penalty and I was forced to put Guscinas on just after that as Patschinsky picked up a worrying knock. The 3400 or so spectators saw a good game and another deserved Koblenz win.

The news that Patschinsky’s injury would keep him out for a month was tempered somewhat by the return to training of Rahn and Klingmann, and Stahl and Haben thrust into the team out of necessity had done much better than expected.

Guscinas started in place of Patschinsky for the visit of newly promoted Bayreuth to the Oberwerth Stadion a week later, on a chilly and windy afternoon where over 9000 fans roared the team on to the most one-sided 1-0 win of all time. It could easily have been a cricket score, but Cozza’s 40th minute screamer proved to be enough to secure the points.

We then travelled to the Regensburg Stadion for the final game of the month looking to make it six straight wins and end the month on top of the league. Only 2000 turned up but a revitalised Guscinas banged home the first after just 12 minutes and Regensburg were pretty much holding on after that. Second half substitute Keita, still searching for match fitness, lasted all of a minute before picking up another injury which forced him off. A cynical challenge saw a red card for Regensburg’s Alder and Kolinger dispatched the resultant free kick expertly from 20 yards out to seal the win.

After the game the press asked me if I thought I could keep Phillip Langen at the club as he was being touted as the ‘best young prospect in the German game’. I said I hoped he would stay at Koblenz and the lad was beaming like a Cheshire cat after that!

Keita’s injury proved to be not so bad as feared, but training ground injuries to Stahl and Tieku would see them both out for around a fortnight, and much more worrying our superb goalkeeper Gurski picked up a shoulder injury that would sideline him for at least four weeks.

The first managerial casualty in the Regional Division South was Hoffenheim’s Hansi Flick who was sacked and replaced quickly by Kostner, but Bruno was almost beside himself that the team were so gloriously exceeding his target. The Koblenz fans were ‘fully in support’ of me too so all in all things were looking rosy, yet that little man in my head was still anxiously, if now not so vocally, waiting for the fall!

I eventually made it out of there around midnight having drunk a bit more wine than intended, but feeling relaxed and happy. We’d finished the month 2 points clear at the top of the league with figures of P11 W8 D1 L2 19GF 7GA GD+12 and 25PTS

[jim65]

November 2005

There were only three games this month, albeit against three of the ‘fancied’ teams in the league in Kaiserslautern II, 1860 Munchen II and Stuttgarter K due to yet another enforced blank weekend.

The week between Halloween and bonfire night passed quietly. I left Klaus do most of the coaching and spent many hours in my office going through all the reports from Timo and Daniel, discarding some and retaining others. By Bonfire Night I had quite an extensive shortlist to work with and was feeling quietly optimistic about bringing a few new faces in in January. I’d also tied up new contracts for youngsters Stahl and Haben, whom I fancied would start to attract the attention of the bigger clubs very soon. I had also transfer listed the habitually unhappy Dzaka, poor chap, and contract rebel Evers. Patschinsky resumed full training too.

I declined Rudi’s invite to accompany him and Maria to the bonfire festivities, it being the night before the visit of Kaiserslautern II to the Oberwerth, and instead watched most of it wrapped up warm on my balcony with a glass of very good red wine.

Retiring early that evening, I did consider that my entire social life was revolving around the cafeteria and my balcony, but being a fairly private person this wasn’t an undue concern. The fact that I was happy and enjoying life was much more important to me. I smiled at the thought of my Dad’s old expression. When somebody enquired of him ‘How are things?’, he would invariably respond ‘Just about managing thanks’. That suited me right now, I thought sleepily.

The end of the month saw temperatures drop markedly and with it my enjoyment of the balcony at my small apartment overlooking the Rhine. Late in the month I sat at home watching angry grey clouds scudding on a strong wind across the horizon.

Just under 3500 came to the Oberwerth to see us play Kaiserslautern II in strong winds. Kolinger opened the scoring with a trademark blistering shot just before half time, which was cancelled out by their equaliser on 54. A perfectly good late winner from substitute Patschinsky was wrongly rules out by the officials and the game finished honours even.

After that game, Tieku resumed training and the manager casualty list in Germany continued to mount. Dusseldorf, in the Regional North Division, sacked Weidemann whilst Pogeldorf resigned from Hansa Rostock and Doll surprised everyone by quitting on Hamburg, who very quickly replaced him with Sammer.

Just over 3000 welcomed us to 1860 Munchen II’s Grunwalde Strasse Stadion to watch a match we totally dominated. Guscinas scored the only goal in just 6 minutes and we simply cruised the rest of the match to make it 10 games unbeaten.

Meanwhile, Vosic resigned from Wehen and Dusseldorf appointed Eduard Geyer as their new boss.

On the injury front, Goretskyi damaged a knee in training and will be out for about a month but Gurski resumed training after his shoulder injury.

Over 6500 came to the Oberwerth for the visit of Stuttgarter K, in which our former midfielder Mujakic played for them. They went 1-0 up on the quarter hour with an excellent free kick which we equalised after half an hour through Patschinsky, playing alongside Guscinas in a starting role for the first time since pre-season. Stahl was injured before half time and replaced with Schlosser but two more second half goals gave them a 3-1 win and our first defeat in 11 games.

Despite this, both the board and the fans remain delighted with my management of club affairs and Kolinger’s cracker against Kaiserslautern II won him goal of the month.

So as the winter really set in, we were second in the league by one point from Bayern II with figures of P14 W9 D2 L3 GF22 GA11 GD+11 and 29PTS and with the press still expecting us to finish bottom half, which suits me nicely as it keeps the pressure off.

[jim65]

December 2005

I started the month started with a busy few days in the office.

I decided to go ahead and offer contract extensions to Straube and Auer despite my previous thoughts as I felt that their experience might be useful next season, even if only to help bed newer, younger players in. This thinking was spoiled a little however when Straube rejected a new deal, but Auer signed an extension and also Guscinas finally agreed his new contract which was a bonus. Patschinsky is still considering my latest contract offer and I’m really keen to tie this one up as he’s a key player for us. I have also transfer listed midfielder Bruno Meirelles. I haven’t used him at all this season and with Haben looking a better bet have decided to move him on.

Before our first trip of the month to Hoffenheim, Wehen announced the appointment of Buckner as their new boss and the world almost recoiled in shock at the sacking of Rafa Benitez by the Liverpool board. Liverpool are 8th in the Premier League with 24 points from 15 games and are now looking for a new boss. Sadly Villa still have O’Leary!

Nessos has been sent home with a virus with physio Probst predicting a three week absence, which means it’s unlikely that our Captain will figure much this month. He will be missed for sure. Transfer listed Evers will take his place, and Straube will take over the Captaincy for a while.

The trip to Hoffenheim’s Dietmar Hopp Stadion on a bitterly cold but dry afternoon brought a straightforward three points via a 1-0 win courtesy of a Langen fluke goal. 940 people braved the cold to see it, and that’s about all you could say.

Patschinsky rejected his latest contract offer and I have now resigned myself to losing him at the end of the season. Meanwhile Liverpool appointed Spaniard Irureta as new boss.

The home match against Karlsruhe II could only be described as a farce. More than 2500 fans braved gale conditions and freezing temperatures. Gurski returned to goal after injury and Patschinsky scored an absolute belter in the first half, but Karlsruhe equalised early in the second and held on for the draw. Awful conditions meant that the quality of football on show was poor, but that was no excuse for the woefully bad linesman who ruled out two perfectly good goals for offside when our players were clearly and easily onside. Two points taken off us by the officials!

I did however, after this, agree deals to bring two new faces to the club. German central defender Sven Drews would join from Concordia for GBP 1000 and German striker Oliver Goschik would arrive from Auberlausitz for GBP 2000 in January.

We travelled to Stuttgart II expecting a tough game. Only 900 or so souls braved the sheeting rain at the Robert Schlienz Stadion to see them take us on with former Villa favourite Thomas Hitzlsperger in their starting eleven. It took Patschinsky just 9 minutes to break the deadlock and in truth we never looked like conceding until some sloppy defending ended in Tieku putting the ball in his own net on 69 minutes. That’s how it finished, 1-1, and it was a disappointing result in a disappointing month on the field.

Cozza picked up an injury that will keep him out for a month and central defender Ziehl, an ever present since Richter got on my bad side, will miss a fortnight.

Elsewhere, Liverpool win the World Club Championship, former Hamburg manager Thomas Doll joins Hansa Rostock, 1860 Munchen boss Reiner Maurer resigns and is replaced with Klaus Toppmoller.

Nessos and Goretskyi return to full training only for the latter to be sent home with a flu bug likely to keep him out for another three weeks.

Polish left back Kryzysztof Kazimierczak agrees to join in January for a fee of GBP 5000 from VFB Huls in January.

As I sat in my office with Christmas only a few days away, I was frustrated by the continental break at this time of year. We have no competitive fixtures until late January now and I was concerned for the squad’s fitness. I also had no idea what I would do myself with no matches to plan for, and only paperwork to worry about for the next six weeks.

Still, we had finished the footballing month in second place on goal difference, 2 goals being the difference, with figures of P17 W10 D4 L3 GF25 GA13 GD+12 and 34PTS. Bruno could consign his relegation worries to the bin along with the Christmas Cracker waste barring a total collapse, and that was very satisfying.

Christmas saw me fly ‘home’ to England for a brief holiday. I spent Christmas Day in an hotel where the food and wine were exceptional and just totally let go and chilled out. On Boxing Day I took a trip to Villa Park, for the first time since being sold as a player, and watched unrecognised as a paying fan as Kevin Phillips and Juan Pablo Angel scored the goals in a comfortable 2-0 win. A narrow defeat at Newcastle a few days later left them in 10th place with 28 points from 19 games and O’Leary’s job looking sickeningly safe, but I was back in Koblenz by then.

[jim65]

January 2006

The three new players duly arrived and there was much transfer talk and speculation. I had rebuffed enquiries for Phillip Langen and Stefan Haben, but accepted offers for the ageing contract rebel Oliver Straube, and the Portugese Bruno Meirelles.

As we travelled to Eschborn, at long last it seemed, for our only game in January I ran back through all the major activity of the month in my mind.

Right back Brenny Evers had shown a willingness to stay at Koblenz and had put in a few good performances in the absence of the injured Nessos, and had agreed a new contract and been removed from the transfer list.

Goretskyi hRegional Division North side Oberhausen terminate the contract of manager Pless.ad resumed training after his bout of flu, and Bruno Meirelles completed a GBP 5,000 (+20% of next sale) move to Engers. Aachen sacked their manager, Hecking, and appointed Peter Neururer. Regional Division North club St.Pauli sacked their manager Bergmann.

Dennie Patschinsky, our top goalscorer and want-away contract rebel finally got his wish. First division Hannover offered GBP 50,000 (+20% of next sale) and compared to nothing at the end of the season this was too good to refuse. Oliver Straube left for GBP 2,000 to join Aachen.

St.Pauli hired the former Aachen manager Hecking on the same day that Klingmann hurt his back in training and will be out for anything up to 8 weeks.

Young Turkish striker Bilal Yildiz joined Koblenz for GBP 3,000 from Freiburg whilst both Dzaka and Richter agree terms to join Essen when their respective contracts expire at the end of the season. New signing Drews resumes full training after his injury.

Experienced 28 year old German striker Rainer Hobel completes GBP 4,000 move to Koblenz from Memmingen with a fine goalscoring pedigree, and it is hoped that he will be Patschinsky’s direct replacement.

Regional Division North side Oberhausen terminate the contract of manager Pless.

Of my original transfer budget of GBP 85,000 I had spent GBP 16,000 and, due to sales, had GBP 130,000 remaining. I was also GBP 4,800 under my wage budget. I’d told an impressed Bruno that he could put away his cheque book until the Summer.

As the month ended I was fairly upbeat. I sat in my office, drinking coffee with Klaus as we reviewed things.

Our trip to Eschborn’s Heinrich Graf Stadion inspired just over 500 locals out into the bitter cold. They saw Eschborn beaten by a rusty looking Koblenz, second half goals from substitutes Rahn and debutant Yildiz securing the points. Hobel had a disappointing debut, but Polish left back Kazimierczak who captained the side for the day was outstanding, and would retain the armband, though I’d told him he would simply be Krys from now on as I just couldn’t get my mouth around his name.

Neuhaus took the Oberlausen job, and Stahl went home with a virus likely to keep him out for around three weeks

In light of the transfer profit I had chanced my arm on the way back from Eschborn and approached Bruno about upgrading the training facilities. He’d seemed amenable to the suggestion and would put it before the board.

We finished the month back on top of the table with figures at P18 W11 D4 L3 GF27 GA13 GD+14 and 37PTS. Bayern II and 1860 Munchen II in joint second place both had 35PTS so it was a close affair going into the second half of the season.

After a telephone call from Bruno, I told Klaus that the board had unanimously agreed to upgrade the training facilities and we hoped that this would also give a timely boost to the players.

We finished our meeting by discussing Klaus’ contract situation. His contract is due to run out in June, as was mine, and although I was confident that I could attract a more qualified assistant we worked well together and he was a decent man. I offered him a new contract which he went away to consider, and told him of my plans to bring in two or even three more coaches to really get the lads up to speed for a promotion push.

[jim65]

February 2006

I stretched out on the couch in my small apartment, my stomach heavy from one of Maria’s wonderful beef stews and sipped at a glass of South African Cabernet Sauvignon. Rudi had been in good form that evening too, regaling anyone who would listen with stories of Koblenz’s footballing tradgedies of the past and comparing it to the present, referring to me as ‘the chosen one’, which I laughed at heartily.

We had started the month with a visit from Trier and over 7000 hardy souls assembled at the Oberwerth to see a dull, goalless draw. Trier had come for a point, and did the bare minimum to get it whilst we were out of sorts and couldn’t break them down. 0-0. Captain Krys also picked up a knock that would keep him in the physio room for around three weeks.

Before the trip to Pfullendorf’s Walstadion, Klaus signed his new contract. Just under 3000 souls turned out to see them scrape a 1-0 win, but none of them saw me absolute blast the players afterwards. I told them in no uncertain terms that the last two performances were unacceptable, that I had seen better from them and expected better. They were all quiet on the journey back to Koblenz!

The following day, Czech Republic born coach Zdenek Turek joined the backroom staff. At 23 he was young for a coach, but that also made him very enthusiastic not to mention cheap!

A disappointing 2500 fans turned up at the Oberwerth for the crunch game against Bayern II. No doubt with my words still ringing loudly in their ears the lads went and put in a solid and professional performance of the highest order. A goal in each half from Guscinas and Cozza respectively gave us a comfortable 2-0 win and some breathing space from the opposition in the league table.

Another coach from the Czech Republic arrived shortly after the Bayern II game. At 35, Antonin Spevak had a little more experience than his recently employed countryman and was welcomed by all the others ‘ into the fold.’ He was joined very soon by Ukranian goalkeeping coach Igor Kulish, and between them all they took Stahl and Captain Krys back to full training after injury.

The biggest thing about Aalen’s Walstadion am Rohrwang was its name, but 2773 fans packed in to see our visit on a mild and dry afternoon. They were to see one of the most entertaining matches of the season. Guscinas had us in front in the 7th minute as Rahn slipped the defence and put the ball in front of him six yards out with the keeper stranded. The remainder of the first half was an end-to-end affair with Gurski’s brilliant goalkeeping keeping us in front at half time. I told them at the break that I wanted all three points and sent them out fired up for the second half. On the hour, Cozza cracked in a half-volley from all of 25 yards that curled around the keeper giving him no chance at all. They pulled one back with twenty minutes to go, but two minutes later our two goal lead was restored as substitute Yildiz hit an unbelievable curler from the left wing that flew like a rocket into the net. But this was a game that we just couldn’t kill off and they scored their second from the spot with around 10 minutes to go, so I pulled Cozza off and put Klingmann in alongside Kolinger to shut out the midfield and book the points. A 3-2 win for us and great entertainment for all who saw it.

Back home, Blackburn beat Newcastle 2-1 at the Millenium Stadium in my old home town of Cardiff to win the league cup, meanwhile in our gym Keita slipped a disc and ended his season. The prognosis is a 12 week lay off and a visit to a specialist.

I drained my glass and sat up to refill it. Yildiz’ wonder strike from the last game had won goal of the month, the third consecutive Koblenz win in this which was quite satisfying.

Finishing the month 4 points clear of 1860 Munchen II at the top (and now 5 points clear of Bayern II) with figures of P22 W13 D5 L4 GF32 GA16 GD+16 and 44PTS meant that both board and fans were just delighted with the job I was doing. I still had that nagging doubt that the wheels could yet come spectacularly off and hardly dared even dream of winning the league, though admittedly it was hard not to.

[jim65]

March 2006

I sat alone in my flat staring at the unopened packet of cigarettes on the coffee table. The ones right next to the shiny new ashtray and the Koblenz FC book of matches. The ones right next to the two empty cans of lager and the newly uncorked bottle of Shiraz. Anger simmered inside me. Anger that sat squarely alongside my fear, fear of failure, and listened to the annoying voice in my head screaming ‘I told you so, I told you so!’ over and over again.

Over 9000 had once again piled into the Oberwerth to roar on their title chasing team. Wehen were the visitors. They’d changed their manager and their formation since we’d played and beaten them last, and were on the back of a fourteen match unbeaten run. Morale was high in our camp and we’d fancied a win, despite their 4-5-1 ‘we want a point’ formation. Complacency is a dangerous thing, and I warned the players so much about it, drummed into them over and over never to take anything for granted. We stuck to the gameplan for eighty minutes as they frustrated us, blocking us out every which way as we’d failed to break them down. Then substitute Hobel created for himself a moment of awesome magic, a quick turn, an incisive run and a thunderbolt blast right into the top corner. 9000 voices can be very loud when raised in cheer and excitement at once. Then, just when the hard work was done and it was our turn to close the game out, a hopeless goalmouth scramble, the ball popping around like it was inside a pinball machine and it ended up in the net. Our net. 1-1.

Points dropped, but not insurmountable. We’d lost Yildiz for up to five months to injury which we could cope with now that we had extra strikers, but losing the influential Cozza for eight weeks would hurt us at a critical time where we should be looking to increase our advantage at the top.

We’d travelled to lowly Elversberg after that, to the grandly named Walstadion an de Kaiserlinde. In the first half hour we’d given them chance after chance, two or three of them gilt edged until we handed one out with an open invitation and succumbed. We never looked like getting back into it, and lost 1-0.

Despite two shoddy performances over 8000 came to see us play Augsburg. We went one down after just 20 minutes, and despite finishing the game with three strikers still couldn’t even get a point. Another 1-0 defeat and our first back to back defeats since the very first month of the season.

Phillip Langen picked up a knock that would sideline him for a fortnight, and after the game I’d locked the players in the dressing room and told them a few truths about complacency, lack of pride, and playing like a bunch of clueless pansies. I shouldn’t have but I needed to vent. Klaus looked visibly shaken by the time I’d finished as did quite a few of the players, but I’d killed morale, and I knew we’d suffer for that.

I poured another glass of Shiraz, picked up the cigarettes and turned them over in my hand. Darmstadt were in town the following night, and I had a squad shorn of it’s better players through injury and feeling sorry for themselves. I hated that it was my fault, hated to see Rudi so disappointed, hated the little b*st*rd in my head that had been warning me of this for months! Hated myself.

I’d opted for a 5-3-2, a formation I’d never used and didn’t particularly like but the absence of a left midfielder left me with no choice. 7500 turned out again, and went home disappointed again. Goals on 62 and 94 was enough for them to take a 2-0 win and three points home. In fairness to the lads they’d tried, tried like hell in fact, and I told them so, told them to forget the result and remember the spirit.

I had no idea who Hans Walter Wild was, or had been, but Bayreuth had named their stadium after him. We went there with them on the back of six games without a win. I reverted to a 4-4-2 and put Captain Krys in the left midfield slot, recalling Goretskyi to take over at left back, and with both my central midfielders of the defensive variety. Not even 200 turned up to see the game. Kolinger opened the scoring after 11 minutes with a trademark blunderbuss of a shot and Rahn added a second before the break. They pulled one back on the hour and I responded by pulling my central midfielders deeper and simply shutting the door. A much needed 2-1 win for us, but at a cost.

Guscinas would be out for two weeks, as would fellow strikers Hobel and Goschik, while goalkeeper Gursky would be out for four. Rahn picked up a knock too but it wouldn’t keep him out. That meant that I had no fewer than 7 first team players in the physio room (my number one ‘keeper, both my attacking midfielders and four out of 5 strikers!) , and out of a squad of only 24!

At the end of the month we had slipped to 4th in the league, 5 points behind leaders Bayern II, with figures of P27 W14 D6 L7 GF35 GA22 GD+13 and 48PTS. With the injury list just keeping on growing I admitted to myself that the title bid was probably over, barring a complete reversal of fortunes of course. Both board and fans were still delighted at my management, and I took some comfort that with still seven games to go relegation was not possible, even if we lost them all, so mission accomplished in that regard.

I had a very long heart to heart with Bruno at the very end of the month, resulting in me signing a new two year contract. The board were going to provide a significant (by Regional Division standards) transfer fund for the new season and maintain a higher wage budget to enable me to use it. The board were happy and optimistic for the future.

[Mighty Red]

Great read!

One very minor, picky note - do Germans celebrate bonfire night? Thought this was jsut an English thing with Guy Fawkes and all that.....

Anyways, keep it up!

[jim65]

Thanks Mighty Red, glad you're enjoying - you're probably right about Fawkes and that, never considered it being a Brit, but as stated in the opening, all facts are changed to suit...blah blah

[Dircks]

Fantastic start Jim, keep it up. Although I hope the drink/smoke doesn't get the best of him...

[jim65]

Thanks Dircks, pleased that you're enjoting it. As for his demons? Time will tell eh?

[jim65]

April 2006

I shared a bottle of red with Rudi on the very first day of the month. He was very upbeat about all things as usual. He admitted to his disappointment at the way March had turned out but was stubbornly hanging on to his title dream, though as I now understood he had no pretensions or expectations that it was more than that, a dream.

Later, I ventured onto my balcony in the chill spring night, and threw the still unopened packet of cigarettes far out into the Rhine. I was not beaten yet!

Villa too had seven games to go but unlike Koblenz were not mathematically safe from the drop yet. They had 36 points from their 31 games played, and were the filling between Birmingham (above dammit!) and the Baggies below. Sadly, O’Leary was still in his job.

Nearly 7500 came for the visit of Regensburg. We dominated the game from first to last but it took until the 90th minute for us to convert one of our many chances. Rahn applied that finish for a 1-0 win. I bemoaned lack of firepower due to injury in the post match interview, but could not praise highly enough the commitment and attitude of 20 year old Rahn who was well worthy of his man of the match award. Drews returned to the dressing room at full time with an injury that will keep him out for a fortnight.

Guscinas and Hobel both returned to training ahead of schedule in the run up to the next match, but neither would be fit enough to start, and Eschborn’s relegation was confirmed.

Less than 2000 attended the Fritz Walter Stadion for our visit to Kaiserslautern II. They took the lead early, and added to it mid way through the second half as we pushed for the equaliser. Rahn picked up an injury and Hobel took his place as we continued to dominate but his goal on 90 minutes was a mere consolation. A 2-1 defeat, but in truth the performance had been outstanding and a little more luck could have seen a vastly different result.

Rahn would be out for as long as 8 weeks, but Drews and the much missed Cozza were back in training. We also completed the free transfer signing of 20 year old Ukranian right winger Vasyl Mykulanynets on the recommendation of scout Reimann. He is one for the future and will join the under 23 squad.

There comes a match in any fan’s life that is simply breathtaking to behold. Whether that be for great goals, defensive solidity or an outstanding team or individual performance. In very rare cases the game may even have all those things, as this one did. Only 2005 came to the Oberwerth for the crunch game against 1860 Munchen II, but they all to a man went home having seen easily the game of the season. Here were two teams of similar quality both hell bent on leaving with the points, sharing them wasn’t an option, but in all honesty would have been the fairest result!

Guscinas opened the scoring after just 90 seconds and that set the tone. They rallied quickly and equalised on 20. On 36 Brenny Evers converted our spotkick but they pegged us back to 2-2 with their own penalty just five minutes later. Two minutes after that Kolinger hit yet another of his trademark thunderbolts to give us the lead 3-2 at the break. The second half was an ‘our-turn-your-turn’ affair with the ball moving rapidly from end to end without respite. They equalised from a brilliant free kick on the hour but ten minutes later Guscinas bagged his second of the night. Determined not to let them in again, I threw on a second defensive midfielder to close the door but still they pushed but an awesome defensive and goalkeeping display in the final ten minutes saw us through for a 4-3 victory. Rainer Hobel was instrumental for us as his tireless running and silky passing had created most of our better chances.

The only negative from the match was an injury to Tieku who would miss the next fortnight, but Rudi bought the wine that night and we chatted into the early hours.

The next game was a potential promotion decider for us. We travelled to the Gazi Stadion auf der Welde to play Stuttgarter K in front of over 4000 fans. Although the result was a respectable 1-0 defeat on paper, in truth they had been way too good for us and deserved the praise afforded to them in the press the following day.

Bayreuth’s relegation from the league was confirmed, and Siegen lost their place in the Second Division too. Goalkeeper Gurski returned to training but it was doubtful that he would figure in any of the three remaining games.

We had finished the month in 3rd place. 3 points separated us from second (Stuttgarter K) and 4 from first (Bayern II). It was still all to play for. Our figures of P31 W16 D6 L9 GF41 GA28 GD+13 and 54PTS meant that 8th place was now the worst possible finish, and as Rudi had said, if offered 8th place back in August nearly everyone at Koblenz would have gladly taken it. So would I back then but not now. We were just too close, and 8th right now would be greatly disappointing to me.

[jim65]

May 2006

The next three games would decide, and we needed those above to drop points as well, but it was still possible to get a promotion or even a title for Koblenz and as long as that possibility existed I was determined to go for it.

Klaus and I really worked hard in training stressing the mental toughness required of the players for the last three games, telling them what was possible, and asking them how much they wanted it. Three games, two at home, and all winnable.

Before the first of those three games, Burghausen’s promotion to the First Division was confirmed, and Schalke won the First Division title. Also, Bayern II and Stuttgarter K both lost. We went into the game with a golden opportunity to make up lost ground. It was do or die.

The old Obertwerth Stadion welcomed over 7500 visitors for the afternoon’s entertainment, and with central defender Tieku and goalkeeper Gurski restored to the starting line up I was in confident mood. Hoffenheim, the opposition, set their stall out to defend and did so extremely well, but the poor shooting of our forwards led to scores of wasted opportunities. Then, five minutes into the second half, they caught us on the counter and took the lead against the run of play and I couldn’t help but wonder if promotion in my first year of management just wasn’t meant to be.

I changed the formation to a much more attacking one and got a reward for it on the hour when we were awarded a penalty and a deserved chance to get back into the game. I’ll never forget their ‘keeper’s clenched fist and huge smile as he got up after the save, nor the anguished expression on Brenny Evers face as he collapsed to his knees in disbelief. Surely it was over now, the dream had died.

We never recovered from the penalty miss and didn’t get back into any sort of stride and they played out a 1-0 win.

Cozza, who’d come on as a substitute, had collected another injury and would miss the next three weeks, aka the rest of the season, and that just about summed up our luck!

In the days that followed, Man Utd were confirmed as English Champions and Burghausen secured the German Second Division title. Roma won the Euro cup on penalties after battling out a 1-1 normal time score with favourites Monaco.

Our last game on the road of the season took us to Karlsruhe II’s Wildparkstadion where only 1500 or so turned up for the definitive ‘game of two halves’. We started with morale low and a realisation that we’d blown it, and it showed in our first half performance. Clearly demonstrating that we had now completely forgotten how to shoot, Karlsruhe II settled into a defensive game designed to frustrate. On the half hour, Michael Stahl popped up at the back post to head in the opener from an inch perfect Phillip Langen cross, but we surrendered our ‘against the run of play’ lead within ten minutes and went in at the break level at 1-1.

At half time I simply told them to forget about promotion, titles and all that, and just go out and play to their capabilities which was much better than they had been. I just didn’t want them letting themselves and the fans down. A 51st minute penalty was confidently converted by Brenny Evers showing great character after his previous spot kick miss, and a clever Guscinas goal on the hour seemed to rap the game up. But we were not done yet. As young Stefan Haben got an iron like grip on midfield we grew and grew in confidence and at times our passing and movement was breathtaking. The irony of this wasn’t lost on me. If only! Guscinas added a stunning 4th goal just before the 70th minute and Phillip Langen applied the finish to as neat a move as you would see anywhere on 94.

The 5-1 away win was, on balance, a very fair reflection of a game that we had totally dominated. Stefan Haben received the man of the match award, but news that Stuttgarter K had won and secured promotion was quite deflating and we travelled home in quiet contemplation, perhaps at what might have been.

Newcastle were forced into a penalty shoot out in the English FA Cup against Charlton after a 2-2 normal time score, but prevailed to take the trophy back to the North East. Frankfurt’s relegation from the first division was confirmed, as was Offenbach’s demise from the second. Hertha Berlin boss Gotz resigned.

Back home, the Villa had finished in 14th place with 44 points from their 38 games, and the only thing good about that was that Birmingham had finished 15th and West Brom 16th!

Real Madrid had out scored Porto in the European Champions Cup by 3-2, but in truth the result didn’t reflect Madrid’s dominance of the game.

Kaiserslautern and Mainz were relegated from Division 1 with Freiburg and Bochum taking their places. Erfurt and Munster were promoted to Division 2. Emden and Chemnitz went down to Regional Division North while St.Pauli and Essen went out of the league altogether.

Champions Schalke fought out the German Cup Final with second division Aalen, who surprised everyone by pulling off a 2-1 win.

Cozza, Rahn and Keita were back in training after injury.

Only the Regional Division South final placings were to be decided with games on June 3rd before Germany was invaded for the 2006 World Cup.

[jim65]

June 2006

I sat in my office on the morning of the final game of the season. We were 4th going into the game, behind leaders (and already promoted) Stuttgarter K by 3 points and a single point behind Bayern II and 1860 Munchen II. The title seemed a lost cause and getting that second promotion place was a long shot.

I looked around the now familiar office. That very first day seemed both a lifetime ago and at the same time only minutes! I’d certainly come a long way, and whatever the outcome of the day’s events yet to unfold, I would have to accept. There were no prizes for coming this close, even if your board and fans were collectively ‘delighted’ with you!

With a glance at my watch I headed for the dressing room.

I’d told the players before kick-off to forget promotion. We’d need two of the three teams above us to slip up and win ourselves for that to happen and that there was very long odds on that happening. I’d told them that the game was all about sending the fans away for the summer with a smile on their faces and renewed hope for next season. I’d also reminded them that everyone had expected us to be at the bottom of the table right now and not at the top disappointed not be in the promotion places. I’d told them that they’d done more than expected already, and not to let themselves down on the last day of the season.

Despite a performance that matched all my requirements in terms of commitment and pride, we went down to a 1-0 defeat to a 14th minute goal. Only 2000 had come to see it, but I’d told the players not to be too downhearted as they were a credit to themselves and the club.

By the time we had all assembled in the players lounge, all hell was breaking loose. We had finished 4th in the league, but word was getting around that we had been promoted to the Bundesliga 2. I had no idea how this could be, and got a very excited Bruno to contact the German FA to ascertain what on earth was going on.

As it transpired, the rules for lower league football in Germany are quite complex. The upper league teams play their ‘reserves’ in the lower leagues, hence 1860 Munchen II and so on, but these teams cannot be promoted if a senior team already occupy the next league up. In the case of Koblenz, that ruled out Bayern II and Munchen II from our league, so third place Stuttgater K and 4th Place Koblenz were promoted instead, and that also explained the promotion of the Regional North’s 5th and 6th placed teams.

We finished with P34 W17 D6 L11 GF46 GA31 GD+15 and 57PTS. Considering the champions had amassed a total of 61 points we weren’t that far behind!

We’d done it! I took comfort from the fact that Bruno hadn’t fully realised the implications of these regulations to hide my own ignorance, but essentially nobody cared how or why anyway. Koblenz were up!

The following day, Rudi woke me early as I hadn’t made my customary visit to the cafeteria the previous evening. We sat on my balcony together drinking coffee and perusing the morning papers. There were quotes in there from some of the players, as well as Bruno, praising me for an ‘unbelievable and historic achievement’. Rudi was so excited he could only gesticulate and make guttural noises at first, and soon there was a small gathering of journalists below my balcony.

I gave them a few quotes about building on this for the future, and retreated inside with Rudi. We were both beaming like kids at Christmas. The feeling took several days to subside, during which Dubravko Kolinger was announced as runner up in the German Regional South Division player of the year, and was included in the team of the year along with Gurski, Langen and Cozza. It was then back to the reality of preparing for life in the Second Division.

Schlosser had not shown me enough to persuade me to try and sign him permanently, so returned to Koln, and I had the difficult task of telling Salif Keita that he would be transfer listed. He was a talented footballer no doubt, but his injury record would give any physio the base material for a medical book and I couldn’t justify keeping him on the books. Richter and Dzaka departed for pastures new, leaving the core of 21 players who would remain for the new season to which I determined to add three more of a higher standard.

I made Russian attacking central midfielder Simeon Melnikov my number one target for the summer. At just 21 he had outstanding physical, technical and mental qualities that earmarked him as a future star, and he had been recommended by scout Reimann. I negotiated a fee of GBP 80,000 with Arsenal Tula for the player and he quickly agreed terms with us and would join in July.

Joining more immediately were Ukranian physio Rostyslav Pastushenko to give some extra help in the medical department, and Russian coach Valery Nenenko. I felt that playing at a higher level would require even more physical care from our backroom team in both coaching and health, and Bruno was happy to sanction the salaries.

The Chairman’s office was a little grander than mine, but not significantly so. Bruno was a larger than life character but a down to earth man who had had a dream when he bought Koblenz and was passionate about the club. Koblenz were about to embark on a season at the highest level in its history and as the man sat chatting to me I could almost feel his pride it was that palpable.

He was telling me that the training facility upgrade was complete, and this I knew already, but went on to tell me that a new three year sponsorship deal had been signed the previous day and this combined with the windfall from the Second Division television rights, was enabling him to take the club to professional status with immediate effect. He thanked me for the huge part I’d played in facilitating this, and as he put it ‘My dreams for this club have taken a huge step to becoming reality since you arrived here’. He was so sincere that I had to swallow hard to keep my own emotions in check.

We both agreed that the objective for the forthcoming season was to avoid relegation, and both knew fully that this would not be as easy to do as last season. This was indeed a realistic, and from a financial point of view, essential ingredient in the ongoing development of the club.

He finished by confirming that the total transfer budget for the forthcoming season, taking into account the sponsorship and television money would be GBP 775,000 which was a huge amount. The wage budget was fixed, however, at GBP 11,500 which realistically meant that I didn’t have much chance to spend the budget. I wasn’t unduly worried though, as I had been working to his earlier budget estimate of around GBP 300,000 with some success.

He was excited by the signing of Melnikov and our latest recruit, 27 year old Polish left winger Pawel Sobolewski whom we had acquired for GBP 20,000 from Slask and would join on a four year deal in July.

Finally, he let me know of the annual award for Fans’ Player of the Year, and this year it was Dubravko Kolinger. I was delighted by this, as the player very much reminded me of myself in my playing days, my Villa days at least!

The following day these big announcements were all over the papers and Rudi was almost overcome with joy. His Koblenz in the second division and a fully professional club? He was in heaven as he prepared me a monumental English cooked breakfast that I struggled to finish.

Indeed, going towards the end of the month the City of Koblenz was a quite special place to be. Everywhere there was a vibrancy and expectation that things were better, it was a real community and a privilidge for me to live there. You would be forgiven for not knowing, away from television and press that is, that the World Cup was in full swing in the same country, but that could be down to the fact that Germany had been eliminated in the first knock-out round!

[jim65]

Hi folks, hope the confusion over the promotion didn't cause the story to lose too much credibilty. I have to put my hands up and admit to ignorance of the German lower league rules, but by the time it all came out in the game (and a few Google searches) I decided to run with it rather than rewrite a huge part of the story. Still, a dramatic twist eh?

Updates will start to slow down a little now as my 'posting' time is pretty much up to date with my 'gaming' time, but stay tuned, there will be more from Koblenz!

Thanks for reading. jim65

[Mighty Red]

dont worry jim - its to be expected when you go abroad! good story - keep it up!

[jim65]

Thanks Mighty Red

[jim65]

July 2006

I picked up my new lease car on the morning and enjoyed a relaxing drive through the country roads that surrounded the city before reporting to the ground. New signings Sobolewski and Melnikov officially arrived and were presented to the media before being released to finalise their personal affairs prior to pre-season.

Meanwhile the World Cup had drawn to a close in Germany, with England putting in a comfortable 4-0 win over Ivory Coast to take the coveted trophy back home. Italy finished third, beating Mexico in the play-off game.

Yildiz, only recently recovered from injury, reported for pre-season unfit and on the physio’s recommendation I allowed him an extra fortnight of rest. More disappointingly for me was that new signing Melnikov had also reported unfit and would have to take an extra fortnight too.

Our first friendly in pre-season saw us travel to Frankfurt. Within thirty minutes Stahl picked up an injury, ironically the one player I did not yet have cover for, so full back Nessos covered on the right wing and promptly scored the opening goal. Whilst we dominated much of proceedings it took us until the 88th minute to put the game to bed with a Langen strike.

Stahl will be sidelined for about four months, which is disappointing for him and the club as he had played a key role in our promotion, but I accelerated negotiations that had already started and within a week 23 year old Polish right winger Thomasz Kurpiel joined on a free transfer from Oldenburg, and Finnish right winger Jussi Kujala, also 23, arrived for GBP 30,000 from Tampere Utd and became our highest paid player. The week also saw 21 year old Oskar Edholm arrive on a free from Gimonas. The Swede was a highly rated centre back and would mean that unsettled American Josh Grenier could be transfer listed.

The draw for the first round of the German Cup took place, handing us an away tie at Halberg to be played mid-August. I was hoping to go a little further than last season!

No sooner had that all been done, than Polish side Amica came to the Oberwerth for our second pre-season friendly. The Polish first division side were well organised and hard to break down. Their passing and movement was much better than ours so a 1-0 defeat was not bad news, and credit to the defensive side of our game was duly given.

Ghanian midfileder Kadir Mumumi joined on a free transfer, having been a free agent, and assigned to the under 23 squad as yet another talent for the future of Koblenz.First Division Hannover visited and gave us a first half lesson in accurate passing and clinical finishing. 2-0 down at halftime, we reorganised and went more defensive and whilst we had few scoring opportunities we contained them well and, I hoped, learnt a lesson that would be valuable to us in the coming season.

First Division Hannover visited and gave us a first half lesson in accurate passing and clinical finishing. 2-0 down at halftime, we reorganised and went more defensive and whilst we had few scoring opportunities we contained them well and, I hoped, learnt a lesson that would be valuable to us in the coming season.

Yildiz and Melnikov have reported back from their extended leave in much better shape. Edholm, Haben and Goschik are going to spend some time with the under 23 squad to further their development.

We had two more friendlies before the big kick-off, both away at non-league grounds.

The 9000 capacity Eintracht stadium was a somewhat ramshackle home to non-league Nordhorn. Guscinas bagged a brace in the first half, but a Brenny Evers defensive howler let the get one back just after the hour. Thomas Rahn then added a brace of his own before a curious last minute incident saw the dismissal of their goalkeeper and Simeon Melnikov dispatched the resultant penalty to cap a very fine debut display indeed, and a resounding 5-1 win.

Cozza and Tieku sign new contracts, but Klaus and I agreed not to extend those of goalkeepers Auer and Muller, who would be free agents at the end of the season. I e-mailed our scouts to keep an eye open for goalkeeping talent as their searches of Scandinavia and Ireland and the UK progressed.

St Pauli’s Millentor Stadion was a far more impressive venue than that of our previous hosts, though the attendance was nowhere near to its 20551 capacity for our visit. They took the lead on the half hour, Guscinas equalised on the stroke of half time, and whilst nothing much else of any note happened, St Pauli could probably feel justified in saying that they were the better team on the day. We could easily justify saying that their brown and cream kit was disgusting, but kept that to ourselves!

[jim65]

August 2006

The month started with the bookmakers having us at 40-1 for promotion which seemed short odds from my point of view. Schalke beat Leverkusen 2-1 in a very close and hard fought German League Cup Final.

Keita departed in a GBP 5,000 move to Neunkirchen whilst Grenier completed a GBP 10,000 switch to Uerdingen in the first week of the month.

The night before the first game, Rudi and I shared a bottle of Cinsault Pinotage from South Africa on my balcony and chatted away an hour or so before he left to go back to the cafeteria, leaving me to mull over the squad, team selection and general tactics for the following day.

I had at my disposal a squad of 26 players, made up of 5 strikers, 10 midfielders, 8 defenders and 3 goalkeepers. Four of these I had assigned to the under 23 squad, and with the long-term injury to Michael Stahl that left me in effect a first team squad of 21 from which to select. Unlike in the Regional Divisions, there were no restrictions on the number of German born players in the matchday squad, the only relevant regulation being that no more than five non-European players could be included. Seven substitutes could be named, though only three used.

At the end of the season, the top three teams would be promoted to the promised land of the first division, what the rest of the world simply referred to (incorrectly) as ‘The Bundesliga’, and the bottom four teams would be relegated to the Regional Divisions. The usual ruling of second teams, the one that had caused me some confusion at the end of last season, still applied.

I was feeling more apprehensive than I had felt on the eve of my first league game last year, and I reasoned this was because the weight of expectation was now that much greater. I did not go in to bed until the stars splashed themselves across a clear, black night and the moonlight twinkled on the Rhine’s continually undulating surface.

A handful less than 4000 had gathered at Munster’s Preussen Stadion for our visit, and would have been, in all fairness, largely disappointed with the fare on offer that produced a 0-0 draw with very little incident. The press reported afterwards that Munster had been fortunate to get a point, and that was perhaps fair. Kolinger started the campaign with a man of the match performance, but Rainer Hobel started with an injury that would rule him out for 3 months.

Back home, Man Utd triumphed in a close fought game with Newcastle to take the Community Shield home after a 1-0 win.A fine summer evening at the Oberwerth saw the visit of Erfurt just a few days after the Munster game, and I was disappointed that less than 500 attended Koblenz’s first home match in the Second Division. Erfurt took the lead inside 20 minutes with a cruelly deflected shot from distance Despite having the upper hand for much of the game, it took until the 90th minute for substitute Cozza to even the scores. Had we equalised earlier I was confident that we would have gone on to win, but we ran out of time and the contest ended in a 1-1 draw.

A fine summer evening at the Oberwerth saw the visit of Erfurt just a few days after the Munster game, and I was disappointed that less than 500 attended Koblenz’s first home match in the Second Division. Erfurt took the lead inside 20 minutes with a cruelly deflected shot from distance Despite having the upper hand for much of the game, it took until the 90th minute for substitute Cozza to even the scores. Had we equalised earlier I was confident that we would have gone on to win, but we ran out of time and the contest ended in a 1-1 draw.

Prior to our visit to Mainz’s Bruchwegstadion, manager Jurgen Klopp made some comments to the media which I declined to respond to. Despite sitting in second place in this infant season, Mainz were predicted to be relegation battlers and I felt I had nothing to gain by entering into a game of words with their manager. Instead, I worked our players on the training ground into a new look 4-4-2 with a diamond shape for this game.

Over 6500 came to see this and would have been well entertained if neutral. A very dodgy penalty (foul questionable, inside area, NO) was awarded to our hosts and they were 1-0 up on 20 minutes. This unsettled our defence, and whilst trying to regain their composure they left goalkeeper hopelessly exposed and within four minutes were 2-0 down. Credit to the lads though, they got a grip of themselves and set about Mainz, getting a well worked goal back through Yildiz just after the half hour. After words of encouragement at half time, we continued tp ress and shortly before the hour Melnikov finshed a well worked move for the equaliser. Ten minutes later Melnikov again struck to give us the lead, but with just 10 minutes remaining Mainz were awarded another fairly harsh penalty and levelled it off at 3-3, and that’s how it finished. If ever a referee had influenced a game more (outside of Italy) I hadn’t seen it and was disappointed that such a committed performance had only yielded the one point.

Melnikov rightly collected the man of the match award after the game, whilst goalkeeper Gurski collected 8 weeks in the physio room for his troubles. Still, three games played and whilst we had yet to secure a victory in the second division, we had also to taste defeat.

I was impressed by Jonatan Lindevall. At 21 years he has a mature head on young shoulders, an ideal trait for an aspiring defender. The Swede, newly signed from Brage for GBP 2,000, would go into the under 23 squad initially but had the ability to push for a first team place this season. He could also play anywhere along the back four which was a real bonus. I shook his hand warmly and wished him luck before Klaus took him away to meet his new team mates.

Bruno was very supportive of these signings. Adding quality young talent to the squad for negligible cost was the way forward for a club like Koblenz, in the knowledge that even if they didn’t all work out for the long term, which was likely, they could be sold on for a profit. It was also pleasing that my scouts continued to unearth these gems.

Our next match was an away tie at Halberg in the first round of the German Cup, and we were hotly fancied by the bookies to give them a trouncing. Despite that, I was not going to field any weakened teams in this competition and decided to stick with the diamond formation for a second game.

Over 2500 came to see us play at the Stadion an der Turnhalle in a game that turned out to be like an exhibition match rather than a cup tie. Melnikov opened the scoring within the first five minutes from the penalty spot, then Rahn with a neat turn and volley from 18 yards made it 2-0 after 10 minutes. Melnikov added his second on the half hour with a delightful free kick from 30 yards. Before half time Kujala headed in at the back post from a superb Langen cross and Guscinas headed one in at the near post from a Kujala cross for a 5-0 interval lead. Rahn added the 6th on the hour with a solo effort and completed his hatrick with ten minutes left. The 7-0 result was a new record win for Koblenz and delighted the fans and Bruno alike.

We would now be at home to Unterhaching in round two in mid-September.

Argentinian goalkeeper Nick Gindre joined from Walton & Hersham for GBP 9,000 and was assigned to the under 23 squad. With Muller and Auer due to leave at the end of the season, Gindre would have a chance to stake his claim for a senior squad shirt fairly soon.

Roma beat Real Madrid in the Super Cup after a penalty shoot out following their 1-1 draw in normal time.

Hansa Rostock were the first ‘big’ club to visit the Oberwerth, but another disappointing attendance of only just over 1100 came to see them, expecting no doubt to enjoy some free flowing football. They would have been disappointed by Rostock’s bully boy tactics that saw a flurry of first half yellow cards for both sides before they went down to 10 men after the inevitable second yellow. We gave as good as we got though and took the lead on 70 minutes through the outstanding Melnikov and switched to a more defensive formation to see out the game, but a mix up in defence let them in on 88 and a disappointing 1-1 result ensued.

Klaus came into my office the following morning brandishing the local papers and clearly unhappy. The press had reported on the Rostock game and stated that we had been very fortunate to get a draw. Klaus was livid, and I’d not seen the normally calm man so agitated before. ‘It wasn’t us who needed a last minute equaliser to get a point was it?’. After he’d calmed down we discussed our first month in the second division.

We’d finished with P4 W0 D4 L0 GF5 GA5 GD0 and 4PTS and were 10th in the league but just 1 point off 15th place and the relegation zone. Still it was early days and we had shown a lot of fight to come out of our first league month unbeaten, and I took encouragement from that.

Klaus picked up the newspaper and tossed it in the bin, and for a second I could have sworn he said ‘b*ll*cks!’ as he did so, then he went on his way leaving me smiling.

Guscinas and Kujala went off for International duty and we now faced a fortnight of inactivity when we would much rather have pressed on with things.

[jim65]

September 2006

The month started with the players in good spirits after a solid if unspectacular start to league life. The Euro 2008 Qualifiers got underway, and back home Villa had made a poor start under the seemingly unsackable O’Leary with two defeats and two draws from their first four games.

We travelled to the Wildparkstadion where over 10,000 turned out to see us take on an unbeaten Karlsruhe. Melnikov got us off to a great start by sweeping the ball into the net from 20 yards after a huge goalmouth scramble, but they pegged us back before half time. We tried hard to get in front again second half but their solid midfield and experienced defence held until they caught us on the break to go 2-1 up after 70 minutes. We didn’t stop battling and didn’t deserve to lose the third goal on 95, especially as the officials had only indicated 3 minutes of stoppage time. A 3-1 defeat then, and our first of the season, but a good performance against stronger opposition had to be a positive.

Unterhaching of the same division as ourselves visited the Oberwerth for the second round of the German Cup on a warm and pleasant evening where I was hugely disappointed by the poorest attendance of my time as manager, with not even 200 in the stadium. The game proved to be a cup tie well described as epic. Guscinas got our noses in front just before half time following a well worked move and some excellent wing work by Kujala, but right after the restart they were level. Just five minutes later a pile driver from Johannes Rahn had us back in front and in control, moving the ball about beautifully, but once again they pegged us back and normal time finished at 2-2. Neither side looked like winning it in extra time to be truthful, though we had the better of it and so to penalties, and elimination for us! Their spot kicks were clinical and practised, ours were clumsy.

To add to the huge disappointment of this cruel defeat, Kujala’s late knock would sideline him for three weeks just as he was getting into his stride and putting in the sort of performances you would expect from your top earner.

My 41st Birthday came and went without fuss. I had long since given up celebrating the occasion and barely gave it a thought at all on the day, except to recall that I had totally forgotten my 40th a year ago. C’est la vie!

Braunschweig’s Stadion Hamburger Strasse was a neat ground and over 10,000 piled in for the match. I couldn’t understand why our home attendances were so low! Gurski was returned to the starting line up after injury and gifted them the lead after just 6 minutes trying to dribble with the ball just outside his area, and just four minutes later they were 2-0 up as our defence just couldn’t settle.

Eventually we found a rhythm and started to get hold of the game. Rahn pulled one back for us before half time and I urged the boys at the break to go for it. Melnikov cracked a superb equaliser on 64 and a diving header from Guscinas put us ahead just two minutes later. I made some changes to set us up a little more defensively but urged the lads to keep looking for a break on the counter. Disaster struck in injury time. Gurski had hardly made a mistake under my management before this game, and it was his second error of the night that gifted them their equaliser on 93 minutes, failing to clear the ball from inside his own six yard box and presenting them with the easiest of all goals. I was still reeling from this when they scored the winner on 94, sending us down to an undeserved and unbelievable 4-3 defeat, and shattering my morale in the process.

I looked out at the moonlit Rhine and took another sip of the Shiraz. I still could not believe how callously and cold-bloodedly Lady Luck had slammed the door on us. It was still early in the season, but I was simply at a loss to know what else to do to get that all-important first league win to set us on our way. The hard graft of August should have set us up for progress in September, and yet only bad luck, or so it seemed to me, had prevented us from pressing on. I simply couldn’t buy a win at present!

We finished the month with P6 W0 D4 L2 GF9 GA12 GD-3 and 4PTS, and were firmly in the relegation places at 16th.

I leaned back in the chair on the balcony and drew the bitter smoke into my lungs, watching the tip of the cigarette glowing brightly in the cool night air. I exhaled slowly, savouring my first smoke in nearly five years, and sipped some more of the excellent wine.

As I sat and smoked in quiet contemplation, I was aware that the only pressure upon me at that time was being put there by myself. Bruno and the fans were still hoping that we could avoid relegation and it was still relatively early in the season, but I needed desperately to understand what was going so wrong to be losing games from positions of strength, even after coming back from behind. Was it just horrendous luck?

I ground out the cigarette, then topped up my glass from the slowly but surely emptying bottle before lighting a fresh smoke without even thinking about it. My mind wrestled on with the problem well into the night.

[jim65]

October 2006

October started in the same manner as had gone before. Only 800 came to see us play Saarbrucken at the Oberwerth, and just as well! They scored after twenty minutes and didn’t have to do anything else to take the points from a 1-0 win. It was a lacklustre and quite frankly pathetic performance from the lads and I let them know that after the game.

Kujala resumed training, but would not be available for the next match, though how we needed him! Drews got a knock that will see him in the physio room for the next fortnight.

Kaiserslautern came to town after that and brought most of 4000 crowd with them. We took the lead early through Guscinas then once again threw it away, allowing them into their stride. They equalised on 16 and took the lead on 29, and the game was over. A 2-1 defeat!

We had now gone eight games without a win, and had lost the last four on the bounce, five if you included the cup game.

My contact with Rudi was getting less and less with each sorry result. What meals I could be bothered to eat I snatched at the club. I spent hours at night trying to come up with the solution to our woes, but it seemed that whatever formation or tactic, even whoever I selected to play, nothing was working for me or Koblenz.

I was questioning my own ability too, something that I had never had cause to do as a player, and slipping slowly into the bad habits of drinking and smoking into the early hours. Afraid of failure, and what it would surely do to me, I took the opportunity to take a few days away during the International break and headed for the coast, where I hoped the sea air and a change of scenery would give me fresh impetus for the job of keeping Koblenz in league two.

I had returned from my seaside sojourn refreshed and with some new ideas and a new formation. I curtailed my smoking to private moments in the evenings, but really needed it for the sake of sanity. It also helped me think better! The drinking I had again got under control too, at least for now.

Klaus and I spent a few days working with the lads on the new 4-5-1, or more accurately, 4-2-3-1, with two defensive midfielders and three attacking ones. Of course that meant playing with only one out and out striker, but so be it. Needs be as needs must. The rot had to be stopped.

Kujala had returned from injury and made the starting line up for the trip to Frankfurt. Klingmann came in to supplement Kolinger in the midfield defensive duties, and Guscinas got the vote for the loan role up front.

Nearly 27,000 fans packed the Commerzbank Arena on a wet afternoon and were in for a surprise as 17th placed Koblenz took the game to table topping Frankfurt in the early stages. Guscinas had four clear cut chances in the first twenty minutes but only a goalkeeping performance of superhuman proportions kept the scoreline blank. Our solid midfield kept theirs in tight control and always looked a threat on the counter, especially with the surging central runs of the inspirational Melnikov.

As the game wore on we grew in confidence and their chances were restricted to the odd long range effort, except for one point blank attempt that Gurski stopped with a breathtaking save. Substitutes Rahn and Sobolewski with fresh legs started to cause their tiring defenders problems. I would happily have taken a point from this game, but on 82 minutes Kujala played a slide rule cross into the far post and Rahn, unmarked, nodded in from within the six yard box. A great 1-0 victory away from home at the league leaders! Captain Krys took the man of the match award, deservedly so.

Hobel returned to training after injury in the days after the game, but it would be a while before he was fit enough to take part, and morale rose immeasurably, including my own!

Rudi welcomed me when I went to the cafeteria a couple of days after the Frankfurt game in his usual jovial manner, and we talked over coffee. There was no ‘where have you been?’ with him, realising as he did the demands that were being made upon me by my work, and I left after an amenable hour or so feeling much better.

There were still three games to go before the end of the month, and significant ones at that. We had to play two teams, Cottbus and Aachen, who were mid-table and 1860 Munchen who were actually below us. It was important now to press on and rattle up some points.

1860 Munchen came to the Oberwerth along with a 1000 or so fans. We were up against it from the 19th minute when Ziehl was shown the red card for a cynical foul. Still, we stuck to our game plan albeit with a makeshift formation and could have gone in front on 25 when Kujala cracked a blistering volley onto the bar. We continued to press, stopping Munchen from making their extra man count, and kept at it until the 93rd minute when substitute Rahn broke clear of the back line and swept the ball passed their advancing goalkeeper to secure a consecutive 1-0 win. Brenny Evers collected the man of the match award for as committed a display of defending as you were likely to see anywhere.

We travelled to the Stadion der Freundschaft, home of Cottbus, with Sven Drews stepping in for the suspended Ziehl but with an otherwise unchanged starting line up. Cottbus hadn’t won in seven attempts and our tails were up after two wins on the bounce, so when they took the lead on 27 our fragile confidence wavered. We changed back to the diamond second half to really have a go at it but got caught out on 64 when they countered brilliantly to add a their second and effectively kill the game. Over 8200 fans, like me, must have been wondering just how they had failed to win any of their previous 7 games, being an organised and tidy side. Captain Krys picked up an injury that would rule him out for four weeks.

The final game of the month saw the visit of Aachen to the Oberwerth in front of a handful or so over 2000 fans. Zeihl returned from suspension pushing Drews back to the bench, and Goretskyi came in for the injured Captain Krys. Melnikov took the armband.

It was Ziehl who conceded a penalty on 21 minutes and Gurski who pulled off a brilliant save to deny them the lead. Six minutes later Melnikov swept into the box from deep and passed the ball into the net from about 17 yards to edge us in front, and we remained the better team until the break. They came out fighting afterwards and equalised on 48 but we dug in and caused them more problems than they caused us, until on 67 Melnikov again broke free of his man and scored with a brilliant drive from 20 yards. We could, and perhaps should, have killed the game ten minutes later but Klingmann’s fierce drive came back off the bar and on 83 they pulled level again from an excellent free kick just outside the box.

Melnikov took the man of the match award and most of the papers the following day said how lucky Aachen had been to get the point. We, on the other hand, were getting used to that kind of luck by now and just shrugged it off. All points were welcomed at this stage, now matter how they were come by.

We closed October with figures of P12 W2 D5 L5 GF14 GA19 GD-5 and 11PTS putting us in 15th place, 4 points above bottom placed Erfurt but only 4 points behind mid-table Aachen.

[jim65]

November 2006

Back home, Villa weren’t faring much better than Koblenz with 11 points from their first 11 games and a lowly 16th place in the Premiership. One place behind Birmingham, and the inept O’Leary still somehow had a job!

We had three games in November split by yet another International lay off, then three more in December before the winter break. In my mind, these six games were going to be crucial in our bid for second division survival and we had to get ourselves clear of the relegation places by the end of them. If we could do that, a few new faces in January could give us the impetus to press on and avoid the drop.

At my flat the night before the game, sitting quietly in thought with a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon and a cigarette, I was remarkably calm and all things considered, in mentally good shape for the next six games.

It was a chilly Friday evening that travelled to Dresden, and a crowd nearly 12500 strong filled the Rudolf Hardig Stadion noisily. We didn’t get a sniff in the first half as they laid siege to our goal, but Gurski put in a commanding performance and centre back Tieku marshalled the defence brilliantly to send us in for half time with a clean sheet. The second half started much the same as the first had ended. We just couldn’t get out of our own half. I withdrew Melnikov and threw Guscinas on to try and hold the ball up at the opposition end, if only to give our beleagured defence some respite, but the move backfired and Dresden walked through the hole in midfield created by the absence of Melnikov to take the lead on 78. I pushed defensive midfielders Kolinger and Klingmann forward a little and urged the team on. To their credit, they never stopped trying and were rewarded deep into injury time with a penalty which Brenny Evers converted to give us a 1-1 draw.

We’d been second best, in fact rather outplayed, for most of the game but had refused to give up and whilst some considered it a lucky or fortunate point, I thought it was the least that we’d deserved. Tieku picked up the man of the match award, and we had escaped without any injuries.

Another frustrating break for Internationals followed, during which time Nessos picked up an injury in training that would rule him out for four weeks. Apart from that it was a very quiet time.

I’d enjoyed a highly relaxing and entertaining evening with Rudi and Maria, learning how the young German as a newly qualified chef had gone to Spain to make his fortune, and instead found that the only thing he liked about the country was waitress Maria. He’d brought her back to Koblenz with him, they had married and after several years of working in a range of establishments from the reputable to the downright seedy, an inheritance combined with their meagre savings had seen the birth of their own cafeteria. It had been nice just to take my mind off football in truth, and away from the struggles of TuS Koblenz.

But it was a short lived reprise as all too soon Koblenz hosted the old Regional Division South rivals Stuttgarter K, amidst a wave of pathetic attempted one-upmanship through the media by their manager. Another small crowd, barely 600, came to see an arrogant Stuttgarter K. take the lead on ten minutes and look as if they were going to wipe the floor with us. We held them until the break, changed to the diamond and came out fighting, with the ever inspirational Melnikov providing the equaliser with a neat turn and volley from 16 yards on 55 minutes. Then we reverted to type and let them back in, and succumbed to a 2-1 defeat. The overall performance had been disappointing and I’d told the players so afterwards. The one bright point was the return to action of winger Michael Stahl after his long lay off with injury.

Captain Krys returned to training after his injury, but didn’t figure in the trip to Unterhaching’s Stadion am Sportpark where over 6000, in wind and driving rain, saw an evenly fought contest where the winner was decided by a spectacular 80th minute free kick from 30 yards out. Melnikov the scorer. 1-0 win to Koblenz. Brenny Evers took home the man of the match award again.

I sat in my office following the meeting with Bruno. We had finished the month with figures of P15 W3 D6 L6 GF17 GA22 GD-5 and 15PTS. We were out of the bottom four, albeit on goal difference, and whilst only 5 points short of mid-table heaven remained perilously close to the drop zone. I was also concerned about the reserve team ruling, because as things stood even finishing outside the bottom four could see us relegated on the same ruling that had got us up in the first place, so it was vital to get a few places at least away from 15th.

Bruno had agreed to increase the wage budget so that I could bring some decent new players in in January, and as we approached the half way mark in the season I was already aware that a number of players needed to be moved out if we were seriously going to compete at this level.

The board and fans remained in full support of my endeavours, but as ever I was leaning on myself to deliver more than was expected.

Villa were going into the Christmas month with 14pts from 15 games and in 17th place, out of the drop zone on goal difference. Small world indeed!

[jim65]

December 2006

I left the training ground and headed home. It was always unpleasant to tell players that they were not wanted, or maybe it was harder for me because when I had been told this it had destroyed my life. I wasn’t sure. In any event, I had told strikers Goschik and Hobel, goalkeeper Muller and right winger Kurpiel, that they were surplus and transfer listed, and had taken a sheaf of scout reports home to peruse over a glass of wine.

Early in the month Everton sacked manager Moyes, and Nessos returned to training after injury.

Paderborn came to town in a game that saw Captain Krys restored to the starting line up after injury, and a return to playing with two front men. 1400 fans saw Rahn open the scoring on 41 minutes with a rasping shot from just outside the box. I warned them not to get careless after the break, and they didn’t. Guscinas added a second on 53, Rahn had one disallowed (wrongly once again) for offside before making sure with a fine solo effort on 77. Substitute Yildiz cracked the fourth on 85 and it was all over. 4-0. The following day’s newspapers made a pleasant change!

Tieku had picked up a knock more serious than at first thought, and it would put paid to his participation in events for about three weeks.

For the trip to Aue I decided to stick with two up front when I had previously been planning on using the 4-5-1 for caution, but the competence of the Paderborn result had swayed me. We went to the Erzgebirgsstadion full of confidence and in front of over 13,000 simply disintegrated. Langen scored an own goal on 10, a Drews error gave them a second on 12, and a Melnikov error gave them another for a 3-0 lead on 38. I couldn’t even force myself to smile at their outrageous lilac strip! Guscinas pulled one back for us on 66 but they well and truly killed in with a fourth three minutes later. A 4-1 defeat, bitterly disappointing, bitterly cold!

Even Klaus bemoaned the fact that the good work done in terms of the goal difference in the previous game had been reversed without effort at all!

It was raining for our final pre-break game at home to Munster. Just under 2000 braved the elements and were immediately warmed by a fine Langen strike after some wonderful wing play from Kujala in the opening minute. Munster went down to ten men inside half an hour after a card happy referee showed a red for a cynical foul some 35 yards away from goal. Somewhat harsh in my eyes. Langen wasn’t so bothered though and swept in our second on 41 from just outside the box. As a contest it was over then. We effectively toyed with them until the referee decided to even things out by showing the placid Kolinger a red card for a seemingly innocuous challenge just after the hour. Rahn responded by scoring the goal of the game on 71 and they pinched a cheeky consolation five minutes later. 3-1.

Langen picked up the man of the match award, Kolinger picked up a one game ban. I appealed the ban, lost, and the powers that be made it a three game ban just to spite us! No explanation, other perhaps that we were Koblenz and most everyone had a downer on us!

Tieku resumed training after injury.

We finished the Christmas month without snow, but with figures of P18 W5 D6 L7 GF25 GA27 GD-2 and 21PTS. We were in 12th place, three points above the drop zone and only three points off 8th place, so there was cause for cautious optimism.

Christmas itself came and went without much fuss on my part, and I returned to work straight after to see what could be achieved in the transfer market.

My first deal was scuppered by the player asking for ridiculous wages, the second was hijacked by a number clubs with the player in the end joining Cottbus and the third never got started at all as the selling club messed about so much trying to screw money out of us that I withdrew from negotiations.

New Year’s Eve found me alone at my flat with an excellent Cabernet Sauvignon. I lit a cigarette and leaned back in the armchair to watch the smoke ring rising up to the ceiling, slowly losing shape until it flattened out on the white artex. Villa were now 19th in the league back home with 2 points from 21 games and well in the relegation mire. I toyed with the fantasy of managing my old club for a brief while, yet even I knew that my chances of getting the job were miniscule, even if Ellis regrew his balls and sacked Dreary O’Leary!

Turning my mind back to more realistsic things, we had finished for the break in good shape and had put a little distance between ourselves and the relegation places, but a bad result or two would soon have us back there. We very much needed to bring in a few fresh faces to spur us on, but there was no point in bringing bodies in for the sake of it, they had to better than what we already had. And therein appeared to lie my problem, getting better players to the club! I refilled my glass and resolved to get back to it as soon as all this new year crap was out of the way, meantime I lit another cigarette and turned on the stereo.

[jim65]

January 2007

With the trip to Erfurt rapidly approaching, I sat in my office at the Oberwerth and considered what had been a fairly busy time in the transfer market.

Goalkeeper Muller departed for Waldgirmes, but before there was too much time to consider this 22 year old Norwegian midfielder Christian Gauseth joined for GBP 2,000 from Groruddalen and was assigned to the under 23 squad, though I didn’t think he would be there for too long. The youngster has class! On the same day, 30 year old Polish defensive midfielder Radoslaw Becalik arrived on a free transfer from Sandvikens. Playing both my defensive midfielders regularly now I needed cover, especially taking into account Kolinger’s impending ban.

Nessos requested a transfer due to lack of first team football, and I accepted this request. Summer signing Lundevall was showing good form in the under 23’s and was able to provide more than adequate cover in the right back berth. Oliver Goschik departed with our best wished for BGP 3,000 to Engers.

I]A few players had niggling colds and were sent home, and all were expected to be back in training before the season resumed. 1860 Munchen finally lost patience with manager Toppmoller and dispensed with his services, replacing him with eduard Geyer.[/i]

24 year old Swedish striker Olof Guterstam was captured for GBP 20,000 from Brommapojkarna, and was rapidly followed through the door by 20 year old Brazilian centre back Rodrigo Defendi, a record GBP 525,000 buy from Tottenham. 22 year old Italian goalkeeper Andrea Guatelli soon followed, having taken a significant pay cut to join us from Groningen for GBP 65,000. Kurpiel, a summer free signing that hadn’t worked out, joined Lechia Gdansk for GBP 3,000.

Elsewhere, Werder Bremen and Saarbruchen parted company with their managers with the Stuttgart boss favoured to be next for the boot by the media. Werder Bremen swiftly appointed Van Gaal as their new supremo.

Transfer listed Rainer Hobel’s hamstring went in training putting him out contention for a month or so, and quite possibly ending any chance of moving on during the current window.

Portugese left winger Guti joined us from Abrantes for GBP 5,000 and has the ability to push himself into the first team very quickly, but first needs to get a grip of the language and regain his match fitness, with Polish winger Sobolewski the obvious casualty.

We boarded the bus for the trip to Erfurt’s Steigerwaldstadion, without the suspended Kolinger and Evers, in high spirits to take on the team currently in 17th place, just a few places and points below us. On the way, I decided to go for it and go with two strikers.

Over 11000 saw us gift two early goals and never recover. We changed back to the more cautious 4-5-1 and whilst not conceding any more failed to create a single clear chance for ourselves which was both disappointing and frustrating. 2-0 defeat. Becalik and Defendi had good debuts for us, and Guterstam made a brief appearance towards the end. Langen picked up an injury to sideline him for three weeks.

Elsewhere, Offenbach hired Mohlman as their new manager, Stutgart boss Trappatoni was coming under renewed pressure, and back home Manchester City sacked Stuart Pearce.

[jim65]

February 2007

Manchester City proved that they were not going to be managerless for as long as Everton had been by acting swiftly to put Claudio Ranieri in charge. Meanwhile the physio told me that new signing Guti was ‘jaded and in need of a rest’, and with him not being in my immediate first team plans I authorised a two week leave of absence for him.

If March last year had been a bad month, then February this year could well prove to be worse with a tough set of fixtures ahead. I would need the players to be focused and on top of their game to stay out of the bottom four, and a little overdue favour from Lady Luck was not going to hurt either if she was willing.

1852 fans braved a cold and wet afternoon for the visit of surprise league leaders Mainz, the first game of 2007 at the Oberwerth. They started like the hare on a greyhound track and were ahead in just 3 minutes, but we doggedly kept at it and were rewarded with a peach of a goal from Melnikov before the half hour, cracking the ball full on the volley into the top corner from fully 30 yards. We couldn’t build on it though, and after much huffing and puffing by both sides the game came to a close at 1-1 with both managers ruing missed chances and the loss of points.

Stuttgart finally lost patience with manager Trappatoni and parted company with him, and Ziehl was sent home with a virus expected to keep him away from football for at least a fortnight.

It was a cold, dry afternoon that we visited new league leaders Rostock at the Ostseestadion where over 17500 fans gathered to watch. Tieku came in for the missing Ziehl, but once again we were behind early and were two down before the half hour. Guscinas squandered chance after chance, and despite switching to a more attacking formation second half they defended resolutely, we continued to miss the chances we did create and went down to a 2-0 defeat. Stahl got a knock that would keep him out for two weeks.

Phillip Langen resumed training alongside newly refreshed Guti, and both were in the squad for the visit of 5th placed Karlsruhe to the Oberwerth in front of 1580 very cold supporters. We were two down inside twenty minutes as they really came after us, and in truth started very poorly indeed. Guti came on at half time, got booked within a minute and scored an own goal ten minutes later to make possibly the worst debut in history. Rahn scored a consolation goal for us just after the hour, but once again a series of missed chances had been our ultimate undoing. 3-1 defeat.

Bayern sacked Ruud Gullit, who they felt had lost the plot, and Saarbrucken appointed Kopke to be their new boss.

The final fixture saw us travel to second placed Kaiserslautern and there were nearly 30000 inside the Fritz Walter stadion to cheer them on. Andrea Guatelli started in goal for us in one of many changes I made to try and force a change of fortune. They scored a superbly worked goal just before the half hour but we were competing for everything and deservedly equalised through a neat Melnikov strike on the stroke of half time. Following a positive team talk at the break, we started the second half well only to be caught on the counter on 65 and thereafter our heads went down and the further missed chances we created serve to lower confidence more. 2-1 defeat.

Melnikov’s goal against Mainz was amongst the top three in the league for the month, and Ziehl returned to training having recovered from his virus. Thoams Schaaf replaced Ruud Gullit at Bayern.

With five games without a win we finished right back firmly in the drop zone in 15th place with figures of P23 W5 D7 L11 GF28 GA37 GD-9 and 22PTS.

I sat in my flat dejected. Once again it seemed that no matter what formation, tactic or personnel employed, Lady Luck was simply having at a laugh at our expense. We had, in my opinion, done enough to get more points from the month’s fixtures than achieved and it was seriously disappointing to have secured only a single one.

Added to that, there had been an incident with the press at the end of the month which had left me fuming. A local reporter had been casually chatting to me about the English Premier League, and following on the news that O’Leary had finally received the dreaded ‘vote of confidence’ from the Villa board, had asked if managing Villa was of interest to me. Of course I had told him that it was, with my life long support and playing connections at the club. The headlines ‘Sichstefeiff wants Villa job’ were splattered across the back of his paper the following day, and provoked a huge reaction from Koblenz fans who bombarded the local radio station with calls pleading with me to stay. Needless to say that reporter won’t be getting any quotes any more! If that hadn’t been enough, the English papers the very next day carried the headline ‘Aston Villa laugh off interest from Sichstefeiff’.

As for Villa, they were 16th with 29 points from 28 games.

Rudi had been hysterical about the whole thing, laughing so hard he lost the power of speech and physical movement for a full ten minutes. I had felt humiliated for myself, and disappointed for Bruno and the fans. I had also wondered where all these phone in fans got to on match days as home attendances were well down on the previous year despite being in a higher division.

I uncorked a Shiraz and lit a cigarette. There were ten games left of the season and three of them were in March before another International break. We needed some good luck to kick in, or we would be down and out very soon!

[jim65]

March 2007

Having promised myself not to get drawn into the media’s seedy games again, I proceeded to do just that. Braunschweig manager Michal Kruger had at a pop at us in the press and so, being in a bad mood, I had a pop right back. He came back for more and so did I, until by the afternoon of the game there was tension aplenty. His side were one place below us but level on points and it really was a must win match for both of us.

There had been mixed reaction amongst the players too. Some of them were digging their heels in not to be outdone by them, whilst a couple of others started to believe, it seemed, that we were already down. I may have privately agreed with the latter, knowing that my relationship with Lady Luck was at best strained, but really tried to fire them up before the match and sent out an attacking formation with instructions to go for the throats!

After all the pre-match hype in the press, not even 750 came to see the game. As it turned it out, it was something of a non-event anyway. Rahn fired us in front after only 12 minutes, but our chins had barely gone up when their equaliser on 14 sent them firmly back down. Both teams then played out a stale and boring game to take a point each with in truth benefited neither team that much. 1-1. Guatelli picked up a facial injury that will keep him out for a fortnight.

The trip to 7th placed Saarbrucken, themselves on the back of six straight wins, saw them take the lead on 5 minutes. Most of the 10000 fans at the Ludwigsparkstadion and all of the players knew that the scorer had been at least two yards offside, but sadly the officials thought otherwise. We battled bravely but conceded a second 5 minutes into the second half. With twenty minutes to go, Melnikov had a penalty saved and we knew it wasn’t going to be our night. 2-0 was the final score.

Paderborn sacked their manager Jos Luhukay the following morning, and by the afternoon employed Jorg Berger in his place.

It was a dry Friday night that 3rd placed Frankfurt came to the Oberwerth, bringing most of the 2600 crowd with them. They went ahead inside twenty minutes, and we went down to ten men inside thirty. Johannes Rahn foolishly kicked out, more in frustration than anything else, at a defender and was rightly red carded. Gurski then tried to dribble past two of their strikers, presenting them with an open goal in the process and a 2-0 half time lead. We never looked like getting back into it, and finished the game with nine men as Melnikov hobbled off injured seconds after I’d used my last substitute! A 3-0 defeat, and eight games without a win.

Melnikov would be out for a week or so, Rahn got a three match suspension!

I awoke with the mother of all hangovers, and guzzled a whole pint of milk whilst waiting for the kettle to boil for coffee. I then took my coffee into the lounge and lit a cigarette.

We had finished March with figures of P26 W5 D8 L13 GF29 GA43 GD-14 and 23PTS. We were 17th in the league, just one place off the bottom, and 3 points adrift of the safety of 14th. We had eight games left, 5 in April and 3 in May, and could mathematically still finish 4th, but I’d happily trade my soul to the devil right now for 14th! Despite this, Bruno and the board remained ‘delighted with’ and the fans ‘in full support of’ me. God knows why? I drew in deeply on the cigarette. Anywhere else, certainly in England, I’d have been sacked long since! The really desperate thing about it was no matter what I did, nothing paid dividends. The last two games alone had shown up our utter lack of fortune. I just didn’t know what to do. The word ‘resign’ came into mind, but I rejected it. Not while there was still a chance, no matter how slim and even if only mathematical!

Villa were only just about doing better, having 35 points from their 31 games and were 3 points above the drop zone. I couldn’t believe old Deadly was being as charitable as Bruno!

I looked at the clock. Nearly eleven in the morning. There was no training today, so I twisted the cap off a bottle of lager and lit another cigarette.

[jim65]

April 2007

April Fool’s day took us to the Allianz Arena where nearly 17000 had paid to watch 1860 Munchen give us a clinical lesson in pass and move football. Goals on 23, 51 and 65 minutes had given them complete control before Guscinas nicked one for us on 71. In truth, they were simply too good for us, and we were the fools.

Cottbus visited the Oberwerth but less than 300 bothered to turn out on a fine afternoon. Kujala returned to the side after injury. Melnikov opened the scoring inside the first minute with a wonderful strike from just inside the box, but we surrendered the lead inside 10 minutes and went behind on the stroke of half time. Despite matching them for endeavour for most of the game, a defensive error between Defendi and Ziehl presented them with their third on 64 and they rounded off an easy win with their 4th from a brilliant free kick on 78.

The newspaper headlines the following day simply read ‘Lady Luck shines on Cottbus’. There was certainly irony in that for me, but it was then I think that I accepted the painful truth that Koblenz were going back to the Regional Division, and even if I hadn’t, I would have done after our next game on Friday 13th.

We travelled to the Tivoli Stadion, home of Aachen, in poor spirits and it was clear where the luck wasn’t right away. Nearly 19000 saw Yildiz miss an open goal and have a legitimate one disallowed all in the space of the first five minutes. It seemed that the officials didn’t understand that when the ball comes from or off a defender, the player cannot be offside, but once again Lady Luck was having a laugh at our expense. To make matters worse, they finally got their first attempt at goal in on the quarter hour and scored, but we didn’t give up and Melnikov finished a brilliant move by cracking the ball into the net from 20 or so yards to equalise on 25.

1-1 at halftime, I was all positive and encouraging at the break and we really pushed on in the second half. It was in the 66th minute when Aachen went ahead that we seemed to give up. Gurski saved a 78th minute penalty, and that was the most positive thing of the evening. We ended defeated at 2-1, but lost Kujala, Melnikov, Langen and Guscinas to injury during the game, finishing with 10 men tired and deflated.

Kujala would be out for 4 weeks and Langen for 3 weeks but we could expect Guscinas and Melnikov to be available for the next match.

In the news the following day, Striker Yildiz complained bitterly about my half time team talk, stating that a different approach was necessary. Apparently, being positive and encouraging upset him. I couldn’t take this lack of professionalism and warned the player for his behaviour, which went and upset some of the other players, and left me wondering if I could ever do anything right.

It was a breezy afternoon at the Oberwerth, and over 350 souls had turned up for the match. An even and hard fought first half ended goalless, but the game was to turn in the space of 60 seconds early in the second. Dresden scored with a well worked header on 50, and we scored straight from the restart only for the officials to once again incorrectly rule it out for offside! Our heads dropped big time and they ran in three more goals to take a 4-0 win, but how different it could have been.

Schalke retained the first division title, and Paderborn’s relegation from the second division was confirmed. Langen and Nessos resumed training, but neither would be fir enough to make the trip to old enemy Stuttgarter K.

The rain drove down across the Gazi Stadion auf der Waldau and over 2200 fans huddled together in an attempt to keep dry. The game was played at a good pace and two evenly matched teams cancelled each other out for a 0-0 at the interval. I felt we’d had the better of the chances and told the lads to keep going into the second half. They did and were rewarded with two goals from Guterstam on 67 and 77, and saw out the win with some solid defending and great teamwork.

Klingmann picked up a knock that would keep him out for a week, but there was still a great sense of relief that we had finally picked up some points, albeit quite probably too late.

Back home, Man Utd retained the Premier League title, but with one game to play Villa were still not assured of their top flight status being only 3 points above the drop with 40 points from their 37 games.

The win gave us all a boost, but looking at the figures at the end of the month made dismal reading indeed. Stuck in 17th place we were still 7 points from the safety of 14th and had only three games remaining. We had P31 W6 D8 L17 GF34 GA56 GD-22 and 26PTS.

At a full squad and staff meeting at the end of the month, I told everyone that as far as I was concerned survival was now out of the question, and to concentrate on going down with pride, and to maybe give the loyal fans something more to cheer before the inevitable happened. I hoped that the pressure on the players especially would be eased by this.

[jim65]

May 2007

Hot on the heels of that meeting, Captain Krys did an interview with the local papers that appeared on the morning of the match under the banner headline ‘Kazimierczak rallies the troops’ and went on to urge the players to give everything to win our next match.

Meanwhile, Ahlen had secured promotion to the second division and Kujala had returned to training after his latest injury. He wasn’t going into the squad for the match though as I had already decided to name an unchanged line up for the visit of Unterhaching.

250 people came to see the visit of Unterhaching on a cold and breezy Sunday afternoon. They went ahead after 17 minutes and remained in front until just after half time when Guterstam equalised for us with a header from an impossible angle. We pressed and pressed but couldn’t get through for the winner. Edholm was red carded on 92 even though two other defenders were between him and the goalkeeper. Another worryingly poor decision from the officials, and one that would now cost us the player’s services for the next match.

The 1-1 draw signalled the end of the second division road for Koblenz as it finally became mathematically impossible to survive. I gave a journalist an interview when leaving the ground to the effect that I was disappointed to be relegated, that with a bit of luck we could have easily survived and that I was confident we would bounce straight back.

The next morning, slightly hung over after spending the evening with Rudi, Klaus advised me that the players were all upset by what I’d said and that morale had never been lower. When I showed him the paper, which had accurately reproduced my comments, we were both baffled as to why the entire squad had reacted so badly.

Elsewhere, Villa survived the drop on goal difference, finishing with 40 points from 38 games and only three teams below them. Those three, Everton, Cardiff and Fulham were duly relegated.

Also relegated, but from the German first division were our near neighbours Koln, whilst Frankfurt were promoted to take their place. Bayern beat Arsenal in a close fought Euro Cup Final 1-0, and Tottenham triumphed over relegated Everton in the FA Cup back home on penalties after finishing 2-2 in normal time. Pfullendorf were promoted to take our place in division two.

The final two games seemed utterly pointless to me now, and my thinking was already turning towards rebuilding and planning for another promotion. However, they had to be played so we went through the motions.

Paderborn’s Hermann Lons Stadion welcomed just under 1400 to see the league’s bottom two teams scrap it out on a dry and surprisingly cool Sunday afternoon. They would all have been pleased with a very entertaining match. The home team went in front after 17 minutes and added a penalty to double the lead just before half time, but despite that it had been a close fought half and I’d told the lads to stick with it. Rahn had yet another goal chalked off incorrectly for offside on the hour, leaving me to wonder just how different our season might have been if all the goals we’d scored had been allowed to stand. The players seemed to dig in even more though, and on 72 Guterstam scored before substitute Cozza cracked an equaliser in from 25 yards on 81. 2-2 the end result. Cozza would miss the rest of the season through injury.

Rostock were second division champions and therefore promoted, whilst Braunschweig and Erfurt joined us in relegation. Union Berlin and Aalen won promotion to the second division, and Duisburg and Freiburg would join them after relegation from the first.

Elsewhere, Everton finally appointed a new manager with Sam Allardyce taking the job, and Juventus beat Inter in a penalty shoot out to lift the European Champions Cup.

In planning for the new season in the Regional Division, I realised that the ruling of having seven German players under the age of 24 in match day squads would mean the breaking up of a team that I’d thought would do very well in that division. However with the younger players I’d signed being mostly non-German, this team would have to be well and truly broken up, and that depressed me deeply, and made me rethink things very hard.

Aue came to the Oberwerth for the final game of the season on a warm, breezy Sunday afternoon in front of nearly 900 fans. Kujala returned to the starting line up after injury, and Edholm was recalled after suspension.

They scored on the break almost as soon as the game started, but once again we dug in and refused to be bullied. Guterstam got the equaliser after 17 minutes and we went in level at the break. Immediately after the restart, Gurski misjudged a cross and it dropped agonisingly slowly over the line for their second goal. We never gave up though, and kept pressing. We were then awarded another badly ruled out goal in our season of rubbish offside decisions, and a minute later on 92 hit the post. The game ended in a very unfair result of 2-1 to Aue, but summed up our entire season!

Karlsruhe secured promotion to the first division, and Aalen poached coach Nenenko off us for which we got compensation of GBP 2,000. I’d rather have kept him personally, but he declined a good contract offer from us and chose to leave. Cozza resumed training, and Schalke beat Mainz 2-0 to win the German Cup and complete the double.

We had finished with only one team below us, Paderborn, and were 8 points ahead of them but sadly 9 points away from safety, or three wins to put it another way. Despite all the horrendous bad luck and idiotic decisions against, just three wins would have saved us!

We ended our one season in division two with figures of P34 W6 D10 L18 GF38 GA61 GD-23 and 28PTS.

Bruno came to see me after the match and told me that the board were pleased with the spirited performances that the team had put in during the season, and that it was a testimony to my managerial ability that I had kept them motivated. He was pleased also that the fans, despite not turning up in their thousands, were still behind me.

Whilst pleased with this, there was no escaping the fact that we had been relegated and therefore I had failed, and driving home later that day, really started to consider my position and thought about maybe moving on elsewhere for the first time. I shared a beer with Rudi before going home, and he picked up on my mood and asked me if I was leaving. I gave him the only honest answer that I could, which was that I didn’t know. He gave me his personal support in whatever I decided but really wanted me to stay.

At home, very much later that evening, I sat on the balcony with a truly excellent Shiraz and a cigarette, still undecided, and very much torn.

[jim65]

June 2007

During the first few days of June I had told no fewer than ten players to get their agents to work finding them a new club. These included six players that I had inherited from the previous manager and four of my own signings who had not worked out.

I knew already the starting eleven that I would favour in the new season, together with no fewer than seven of the squaddies, and had clearly identified the need for five replacements, the majority of which would need to be Germans under the age of 24. I had sent scouts Timo and Daniel off to see what talent they could unearth.

Meanwhile, I busied myself with looking to see what gems I could find myself, and kept a wary eye on the job market at the same time. I had decided that if something realistically good came up then I would apply, otherwise I would stay and try and get Koblenz back into the second division.

The job market was very quiet with very little movement. I did chance my arm with a cheeky application for the Stuttgart job, but got my rejection on the day they announced Ruud Gullit as their new boss. Well, fair enough!

The Koblenz under 19’s won their league which was great news, and Semion Melnikov was confirmed as the fans player of the year. It was hard to see who else could have won it really.

I had had some success in the transfer market, securing the services of three young Germans on Bosman free transfers. Both the strikers came from Mainz. 22 year old Jeton Arifi and 23 year old Tobias Damm, both with excellent goalscoring pedigrees, would arrive in July, as would Goalkeeper Sebastian Bach, a 21 year old joining from Erfurt.

Only two players agreed moves away from the Oberwerth during June. Guti would be joining Plauen in July for a fee of GBP 10,000 (+20% of next sale) and defender Nessos would join FSV Frankfurt for GBP 12,000. Peter Auer’s contract had expired and he had moved on as a free agent. Whilst there had been interest in, and acceptable offers for, some of the others I’d listed, they had rejected moves due to the higher standard of training facilities at Koblenz.

Bruno and I had shared dinner to discuss the forthcoming season. He was content with a respectable league position this season, but my eyes were firmly set on bouncing straight back up. He confirmed that the transfer budget would be GBP 80,000 plus whatever I made from the sale of players, and I had a generous wage budget of GBP 21,500 per week to work with. He was still very happy with me as manager.

Klaus had been busy arranging five pre-season friendlies, the first of which would be on Friday 13th July. Did the man not know my troubled relationship with Lady Luck? The first league game of the new season would be on August 4th at the Oberwerth, when Mannheim would be the visitors.

We were still looking for a coach to replace the recently departed Nenenko, and also still needed two more players to complete the squad. We still had seven to move out too!

So there had been no time for rest or holiday for me, however I had stopped smoking which was a real positive, and the alcohol consumption was down too, so progress had been made in all respects during the month.

[jim65]

July 2007

Sven-Goran Eriksson resigned his job as England manager, and the FA moved quickly to appoint Stuart Pearce to the role. As my interest in leaving Koblenz was diminishing with each day of pre-season I barely registered it as a news item, and certainly didn’t consider even the cheekiest of applications.

Two 31 year old Russian coaches arrived to supplement the training. Andrey Vershinin and Ivan Yarkin joined an ever growing Eastern European coaching staff at Koblenz, and between us all we created a new training regime to really try and push the players on. German right back Johannes Meier joined on a free transfer from Ulm. The 22 year old could also play at left back, which may prove useful in the long term.

Sven Drews reported back out of condition due to an injury picked up on holiday so I gave him an extra fortnight off to get over this, and scout Daniel Reimann departed to take up a contract offer from Aalen, much to my disappointment. Better news was that scout Timo Simon elected to stay, agreeing a new three year deal. I decided not to replace Daniel immediately with most of our summer transfer work already done.

It had been good to get back into the dug out again, especially with the ‘no pressure’ atmosphere of friendlies. These games were about fitness first and foremost, and tactical fine tuning secondly. I always enjoyed the pre-season games.

On a warm, dry evening over 600 had come to see our visit, and would no doubt have been shocked at the racing start we made. Melnikov converted a penalty inside the first minute and we continued to pile on the pressure, so much so that one of their young defenders lost their head and got a silly red card before the half hour. I practically changed the whole line up for the second half, but there was no dip in performance. Tobias Damm fired the second and though we could have scored more, the 2-0 result was very satisfactory in what had been a dominant and solid performance.

After the trip to Trier, Kietu left for GBP 1,000 to join Sandhausen and Yildiz left to sign up with Osterfeld in a deal that brought us no cash in immediately but was heavily laden with clauses that could net us in excess of GBP 40,000 for the player.

We drew Duisburg in the first round of the German Cup, to be played at the Oberwerth on August 18th, and Brenny Evers injured a hip that would keep him out for up to three months and quite probably scupper a summertime move for him. Next we travelled to Emden.

Very few had come out on a beautiful summer evening for our visit to the Dr. Helmut Riedl Stadion. Rahn scored twice in the first ten minutes and we simply outclassed our hosts from then on, changing almost the whole line up again at half time before Melnikov hit a trademark strike from 25 yards to round off an easy 3-0 victory.

Goretskyi joined Union Berlin the following day for GBP 1,000.

Dusseldorf came to the Oberwerth for the only pre-season home fixture and on a steaming hot afternoon, temperatures in the high nineties, played a full part in a competitive match in front of but a handful of fans. Guterstam opened the scoring early and they hit back with an equaliser five minutes later and a real battle ensued with the ball moving from end to end. Guterstam got his and our second before the half hour. Changing nearly all the squad again at half time, fresh legs for both teams kept the contest going apace, until substitute Ziehl made a mistake and let them in for a late equaliser. No qualms about the 2-2 result though, and a very entertaining match all round.

The following morning Guscinas joined Pribram on a free transfer.

Our trip to the Auestadion to play Kassel on a warm dry evening saw a simply brilliant display of pass and move football from ourselves that totally destroyed the much weaker non-league opposition. Gutersham rattled in a hatrick inside the first five minutes, to which Kujala, Arifi and Meier added further goals for a 6-0 rout. Shame only 200 or so had seen it, it had been a joy to watch.

Hobel left to join FSV Frankfurt on a free transfer after that game, leaving only the injured Evers still at the club of the ten players listed at the start of the summer break. I’d also started a number of negotiations to renew current players’ contracts.Hobel left to join FSV Frankfurt on a free transfer after that game, leaving only the injured Evers still at the club of the ten players listed at the start of the summer break. I’d also started a number of negotiations to renew current players’ contracts.

Our final pre-season game took us to Reutlingen’s Stadion Kreuzeiche on a refreshingly cool afternoon. Again the opposition was much weaker, and once again the 150 or so spectators were treated to an almost exhibition like display of football in which we destroyed, possibly even humiliated, the opposition. Rahn finished with four goals, Guterstam and Damm with the one apiece and an own goal rounded it off. 7-1 the result and we went home to prepare for the season proper in buoyant mood.

Schalke, also in destructive mood, beat Hamburg 3-0 to win the German League Cup, and young goalkeeper Bach was hurt in training and would miss a month as a result.

Before the end of the month, Stahl, Langen, Gurski, Rahn, Kazimierczak, Lundevall and Melnikov had all agreed new deals which was very satisfying indeed, and 24 year old German left back Christian Eichner completed the squad by joining from Karlsruhe II for GBP 2,000. All this left me with GBP 95,000 left in the transfer kitty, and still under the wage budget by GBP 6,250.

I was extremely pleased with the whole of our pre-season preparations, and shared the squad’s confidence and optimism for the new season. Bruno had told them that a respectable league position was expected, I had not told them that promotion was certainly possible in my view. I decided quite deliberately to keep that pressure off their shoulders.

[Wimb The Barman]

unlucky with the relegation, still finances should still be good here's hoping you can bounceback!

[jim65]

Thanks Wimb will certainly try!

[jim65]

August 2007

The last few days before our opening fixture were quiet and relatively uneventful. I had been able to enjoy a day out with Rudi and Maria, and treated them to lunch in a fine restaurant in the centre of Koln. It was a rare privilidge for them to get time off together from their busy business and we’d all made the most of the day, though I had a feeling that Maria had gone into match-making mode, with the names of several of her single female friends being touted as possibles to accompany us if were to go out again! I wasn’t sure that I had room in my life for that distraction and had remained neutral on the subject. Rudi just found it all very amusing, as usual.

Scout Szalak reported that Mannheim were a first rate side and would be a good early test for us, and the bookies had us as slight favourites for the game, based more on home advantage than anything else.

Bruno was excited about the new season. We had shared a bottle of Shiraz at my place when he made an unexpected visit on the eve of the game. I had voiced my concerns about the attendances at the Oberwerth but he had brushed them off telling me not to worry about it. For a born worrier like me, that is very much easier said than done however. Also, I was more or less convinced that the lack of support had played its part in the previous season’s outcome.

The Saturday morning arrived, cool and dry, and I took my coffee on the balcony with the scent of the Rhine strong in the air and the feeling of hope in my heart, much as it had been two years previously when I had anticipated my first league game as a manager. A few passers by waved at me and gave a cheer for Koblenz, which I happily responded to. It was nice to have been accepted like this, and once again I translated that into ‘don’t let them down Jim’. With that, I left for the stadium and a new season.

There was a mood of confidence in the dressing room before the game, founded no doubt on a good pre-season that had left morale high. I’d reminded them that football, like life, was not a ‘turn-up-and-take’ affair, and that what you got out was very much dependant on what you put in. Having cautioned them against complacency, I told them that they had nothing to fear, that they were to a man and as a team capable of great things, and sent them out for the win.

A disappointing 500 or so turned up to watch the game, and an even first half ended goalless, but we’d had the better of the latter stages and I’d told them to go out and build on that. It was therefore very disappointing to have conceded within a minute of the restart, and the subsequent injuries to both my strikers, Rahn and Guterstam, left us playing with two attacking midfielders and a lone striker. As we pushed for the equaliser, they’d caught us on the break and went away with a 2-0 win and left me telling the players that they hadn’t been good enough.

Sunday morning’s ‘Lady Luck shines on Mannheim’ headlines did little to make me feel better, neither did the physio report that Guterstam would be out for a fortnight. Still it was early days yet.

Man Utd were too strong for Tottenham in the Community Shield, winning by a comfortable 3-1 margin.

We hadn’t dwelt on the opening day’s result, but it had hammered home my point on complacency. We took a few days to work on set pieces before the trip to 1860 Munchen II. Tobias Damm replaced the injured Guterstam in the starting eleven, and Jeton Arifi took his place on the bench. Damm wasted no time at all to reinforce his case for a regular start, hitting us in front inside five minutes in front of no more than 400 fans, and then doubling the score just after the quarter hour. With Melnikov’s penalty comfortably converted on the half hour we were cruising at 3-0 at half time. Reminding them about complacency at the break, we continued to dominate and Damm completed his hat-trick before the hour. Substitute Arifi took his chance too with the fifth, and should have made it six but blazed over. The 5-0 away win was a deserved victory, and the margin could have been even more embarrassing for Munchen than it was.

I had been looking forward to the following day’s headlines, imagining such as ‘Too Damm Good’ and ‘Damm Fine Finishing’, so was not impressed by the offered ‘Damm in top form’ that actually appeared, but he’d got Man of the Match, even if the German banner writers were less imaginative than their English counterparts.

With barely time to rest, Regensburg came to the Oberwerth, along with 300 or so fans, for our third game in the week and were fancied to beat us. I sent out an unchanged team, and once again was rewarded with an early Damm goal. We dominated nearly all the first half but it took until just before the break for Rahn to add our second. After the break, the confidence in our side was clear as we stroked the ball around creating chance after chance. Melnikov hit the third just after the hour, Arifi, again off the bench, made it 4 with ten minutes to go and Rahn added his second to wrap it all up at 5-0. With two goals and two great assists Rahn took the plaudits and the Man of the Match award, and got a headline of his own the following day with the imaginative and original ‘Rahn in top form’ instead of the dull ‘Rahn Ragged’ that I had foreseen. However, two great wins, both with clean sheets, and we were up and running.

In the week leading up to our German Cup 1st Round tie with second division Duisburg, both Melnikov and Gurski became the subject of transfer speculation resulting in me refusing good bids for both players. To their credit, neither reacted adversely and we went into the potentially difficult cup tie in good spirits.

Not even the visit of Second Division Duisburg for a cup tie could lift the supporter apathy at Koblenz, and only 300 or so turned up for the match. Maybe they just knew something I didn’t. Their very defensive line up took us to task early on and we went behind in the 10th minute. Both teams battled to half time without further scoring. I replaced the tired looking Damm with fit again Guterstam for the second half, but injuries to Edholm and Defendi (both our centre backs) made it an uphill struggle. Despite this, we saw an equaliser ruled out in stoppage time for offside and the referee let Duisburg get away with some criminal time wasting before calling a halt to proceedings after some 94 minutes. Out of the cup 1-0, and the headlines, for me, said it all the next morning ‘Koblenz fans left cursing their team’s bad luck’.

Defendi will miss a fortnight, and Edholm will miss a month. A high price to pay indeed. Menawhile Juventus beat Bayern in the Super Cup by 2-1 after extra time, and back home a poor start had put David O’Leary’s position open to speculation. Offers for Melnikov, Captain Krys and Phillip Langen were all rejected before the trip to Offenbach.

Nearly 9500 turned up for this one at the Stadion Bieberer Berg. Meier took over at right back so that Lundevall could fill in in the centre, and Ziehl was called into the starting eleven. The home team went a goal up on the half hour from a harsh penalty. Rahn equalised on the break on 49 but then our makeshift defence conceded again on 53 and so it stayed until full time for a 2-1 defeat.

With no more games, due to an International break, until September, we finished our month with P4 W2 D0 L2 GF11 GA4 GD+7 and 6PTS, good enough for 7th place and only 4 points off the top. We were, of course, out of the Cup.

On transfer deadline day we secured the services of 21 year old German Markus Steinwarth from Kiel for GBP 16,000. Signed to replace the soon to be out of contract Kolinger, Steinwarth was a defensive midfielder who could also play as a centre back.

Captain Krys won the league Player of the Month award, which was most satisfying.

At home, Villa were in 13th place with 4 points from 4 games, and the bafflingly inept O’Leary was still employed somehow!

I spent the last few days of the month trying to avoid a night out with Rudi and Maria and a female friend of theirs, and as soon as the transfer deadline deal had been done I escaped for a few days to the coast leaving Rudi in fits of laughter to explain my sudden departure to a bemused Maria.

[jim65]

September 2007

Only our flying Finn Jussi Kujala had been the only one of our squad away for the Internationals, and he returned in good shape for the visit to the gloriously named Stadion am Bornheiner Hang. Only 500 or so souls had braved the cold, wet weather for our match against FSV Frankfurt. We were never in trouble in this match. Rahn scored after fifteen minutes with a far post header from a Langen cross, and Damm doubled the lead within ten minutes. Melnikov’s neatly converted penalty just after the half hour killed the game off. New signing Steinwarth made his debut, coming on for Becalik at half time, and had a solid second half. Damm scored the fourth just before the hour. The 4-0 away win was richly deserved.

Kujala took the Man of the Match award for a fine old fashioned display on the wing. Oskar Edholm returned to training the following day. The day before our next game, at home to Furth, my 42nd birthday passed without fuss.

Pleasingly, over 1200 turned out on a cool, dry afternoon for the match that saw me name an unchanged side, and as it happened a very similar game. Furth were simply no match for us at all. Centre back Rodrigo Defendi showed his Brazilian roots with a spectacular thirty yarder to open the scoring inside twenty minutes, and then Rahn’s fifth of the season just before the break pretty much killed any chance of a recovery for them. If that didn’t, his second of the game just after half time certainly did, and substitute Guterstam cracked in the fourth on 74. Another 4-0 win!

Langen took the Man of the Match this time, but also took a knock late on that could keep him out for three weeks.

Sobolewski came back into the side for the injured Langen, and I restored Guterstam to the starting line up in place of the tired Damm for the visit to Eschborn’s Heinrich Graf Stadion. Once again we were the dominant force, Melnikov getting a six yard tap in after great work from Sobolewski just after the half hour. We really could have scored more but for the rusty performance from Guterstam and a misfiring Rahn. As it was, we completely controlled the game but had to wait for substitute Damm to confirm it just before the end. A 2-0 win, our third victory on the bounce. Our inspirational Russian midfielder, Melnikov, took the Man of the Match award.

Kadir Mumumi of our under 23 squad, who had been pushing for first team football, failed to turn up for training and was given an official warning, which he accepted, but was also transfer listed for his trouble, which was a shame as he had the ability to become a very good player indeed. As it was, I really didn’t want anyone disruptive in the camp.

Home attendances seemed to be back on the up with over 1800 inside the Oberwerth for the visit of managerless Karlsruhe II. Damm went back into the starting eleven, but it was Rahn who caught their defender napping on 38 and blasted the ball into the net leaving their goalkeeper without a chance in the world of stopping it. We settled down, played some neat football and continued to press, but a lapse of concentration let them equalise just after the hour. Heads didn’t drop though, and after laying siege to their goal, we finally broke through for the winner five minutes from time which was headed in by Kujala from a pinpoint cross by Man of the Match Sobolewski. The only thing disappointing about the game, in fact about the month as a whole, was conceding the goal which was the only one against all month while twelve had gone in at the other end.

Kujala came runner up in the Player of the Month awards, and Rahn’s effort against FSV Frankfurt was deemed Goal of the Month for September.Kujala came runner up in the Player of the Month awards, and Rahn’s effort against FSV Frankfurt was deemed Goal of the Month for September.

We had finished the month in 2nd place, just one point behind leaders Bayern II with figures of P8 W6 D0 L2 GF23 GA5 GD+18 and 18PTS. And now had another two week International break where Kujala jetted off to join his Finnish team mates for Euro 2008 qualifying.

At home, Villa had 9 points from 8 games and were 14th, and there were reports that their hopeless manager was under pressure. Also feeling the heat back home, according to the press, were Man City boss Ranieri and Newcastle’s Graeme Souness. In the Championship, Chris Coleman appeared to be under fire at Fulham, and here in Germany second division Aachen were said to be leaning on their manager, Werner Lorant, quite heavily.

[Spav]

Excellent story, jim65. You can be proud of your first contribution to this forum.

[jim65]

That's kind of you Spav, thank you!

[jim65]

October 2007

I’d gone to Rudi’s for dinner with him and Maria one evening, and had arrived to Rudi’s usual bear hug. He’d whispered in my ear something like ‘she’s got you this time’ before ushering me into the living room, where a beaming Maria introduced me to her friend Anni, who looked just as bemused as me, another unwitting participant in Maria’s personal version of Blind Date.

Anni was 38, with long red hair and emerald green eyes and the sort of figure that would make any man turn their head to watch her walk down the street. She wasn’t all about looks though, the recently divorced Anni was a qualified lawyer and ran her own thriving practise in the city.

After we’d established a hesitant friendship, the evening went well and was a very relaxed and enjoyable affair. It had been nice to be amongst friends again, to feel that sense of belonging. It had been a long time.

I’d walked Anni home, at Maria’s suggestion, on a cool but dry night. The sky was clear and the roads were lit in silver by the stars and moon. There’d been a clumsy moment at her front door, neither of us really knowing what to do, but we laughed it off and settled on a kiss of the cheek. She gave me her card, and invited me to call her.

I did get to see her again before the restart of the football. We went to lunch together at a very plush restaurant out of town. She told me that her main objective now that her divorce was finalised was to get the business up to speed and expand into Koln where there was a growing market for legal services. My priorities were clearly TuS Koblenz, but a firm and warm friendship was made.

n other circumstances I’m sure that Anni and I could perhaps be more than friends. There was certainly a mutual attraction there but our priorities were diverse and there would be little time for the niceties of forming a relationship. So we took the adult approach, and I had at least to thank Maria for bringing me a new friend. Lord knows I had too few of those.

After my brief sojourn into ‘normal’ life, I returned to the world of football, my world, one I understood and was at home in.

Aachen used the International break to sack manager Lorant, but this wasn’t a position that had any interest for me and I continued to prepare the team for the trip to Elversberg’s Walstadion an der Kaiserlinde, the first of three fixtures in a month that would finish with a visit to current league leaders Bayern II. It was important that we continued our good form going into that big game.

A small crowd of under 400 saw us dominate the first half, and were treated to a spectacular overhead kick from Melnikov to open the scoring inside ten minutes. Rahn continued to misfire, his dip in form a growing concern to me, though we had restricted them to a few long range pot shots and were very much in control at the interval. I told them at half time not to get careless, but that’s exactly what they did. In fact, capitulate would be a better word. They ran in three second half goals on 47, 57 and 76 to take the points. I was bitterly disappointed at the 3-1 defeat and told the players afterwards just that.

Aachen installed Toppmoller as their new boss a few days before Siegen came to the Oberwerth. Over 2300 came to the match as our attendances continued to grow, but they witnessed an abject performance from us ending in a 1-0 defeat that could have been more. The visitors had had one ruled off incorrectly for offside and we’d had precious few chances of our own, Rahn squandering the best of them! I had left the post match chat to Klaus, there was no way I could trust myself to speak to them after that!

So from a slick and confident footballing machine in September we had become a hopeless mess in October, for no apparent reason at all! Morale in the camp had gone from superb to low in the space of two defeats, and we went to Bayern II’s Stadion an der Grunwalde Strasse hoping to avoid defeat instead of up there putting pressure on them. Just one point behind them at the end of September, we were now seven points adrift and quite frankly looked beaten before we started.

I had agonised over the formation for days before the match, and had considered many changes to team selection too, but the truth was there was no obvious reason for the dip other than Lady Luck taking the p*ss again! I also had scouts looking at no less than six of my first choice players too.

I rang the changes for the line up for the Bayern II match. Out went Gurski, Edholm and Rahn, replaced by Guatelli, Ziehl and Guterstam. I didn’t change the formation though, maybe I should have.

We held our own for twenty five minutes and should have taken the lead on two occasions, both wasted by poor finishing. Then we conceded a silly penalty and were a goal down against the run of play, but all the hard work went out of the window as heads dropped and two more goals went in against us in the next ten minutes. 3-0 down at half time, I could but encourage them to give more and showed my faith in them by making no changes. We competed evenly with them for most of the second half, but they ran in their 4th just before the end to inflict a devastating 4-0 defeat on us. Boy did I lose it with them afterwards, probably another mistake but I just couldn’t figure how a team winning everything in one month could lose everything the next! Player laziness, apathy, complacency all came to mind. It couldn’t all be plain bad luck!

We finished the month with morale on the floor and having slipped down to 4th in the league. Bayern II had a 10 point lead on us and there was a 4 point gap between us and 2nd placed Offenbach. I wasn’t sure if our season could recover from a simply horrendous month, which we finished with figures of P11 W6 D0 L5 GF24 GA13 GD+11 and 18PTS.

At home, Villa were 12th with 15 points from their 11 games. Still not good enough for a club like Villa, but seemingly good enough for O’Leary’s employment prospects as he was no longer under pressure. Souness and Ranieri were still feeling the heat though, as was Coleman at Fulham.

On Halloween I took Anni out for a meal and a show in Koln, and her lively company was a welcome change from my own growing moroseness. She had found offices in Koln and was in the process of completing the lease which would expand her empire. We had a great time and I enjoyed myself, but after dropping her off at home my mood changed back and by the early hours I was into my second bottle of Shiraz.