POSTSEASON 2009 / PRESEASON 2010
After the excitement of the season is starting to wear off and our heart-rate is getting back to a survivable level, the team and myself took a well deserved break.
As was expected, we finished the season with a slight profit and were granted the license for the Regionalliga Sued. A new sponsorship deal was announced and preliminary season ticket sales have increased around 20% over last year.
This year we will also be seeded for the DFB Pokal, the only national cup tournament.
Having seen what some South-American flair can do to our play in the shape of our top signing Lucas Winck, I decided to use my vacation to secretly scout for potential additions to our squad in Brazil.
As you might remember, there is no work permit required for us to sign players, we are merely limited to no more than three Non-EU players in our squad. With Philip Obhafuoso already being a vital part of my next squad and Serge Kouadio leaving early July I have two spots remaining that I intend to make count.
I have once again asked the board to find a suitable parent-club that can help us compete.
The coming season will certainly be a challenge - we will have to compete with no less than seven B-Squads of Bundesliga and 2.Bundesliga clubs.
Leading up to the news season there were rumors about several high-profile clubs being interested in appointing me at their clubs, with FC Porto and Tottenham amidst the big names, but I respectfully asked them to not make an official offer as I very much intend to continue what I started here in my hometown.
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JULY 2010
Before our first match of the season towards the end of the month - a friendly home fixture against Hertha BSC Berlin - there were a lot of things happening off the pitch.
First with two very delightful news items:
First, we are now officially a professional football club. This will certainly help attract better talent to the "Altstadt".
I signed a number of new coaches and scouts, and experienced former Schalke player and Bochum manager Bernard Dietz has agreed to join us as my assistant.
The second news item is arguably even better:
More great news for our team. We found a
Bundesliga outfit as our parent club. Although having just escaped relegation in the previous season, being linked with
Nurnberg is a great move for us - I am not sure if I share the enthusiasm from their side, but for us it is magnificent.
I am a little bit surprised that they have agreed in light of the fact that we will be sharing the league with their very own B-squad,
Nurnberg II, but I certainly won't complain.
With the step up to professional football and the adjusted contracts of my players I am already close to my new wage budget (one I am actually intending to stick to), and even with allocating all of the roughly forty thousand Euros I was given for transfers towards the wages, I am left with little room.
So, no surprise, following the announcement I sent
Dietz straight over there to compile a loan report for me.
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Leading up to the first friendly outings of the new season, the media sees us with little to no chance at all to stay in the league and predicts a dire last place for us.
I am more confident than that, and I believe that I managed to find a few fantastic new additions to the squad, but only time will tell.
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Authors Note:
Transfer updates and pre-season wrap-up will follow in just a little while.
Micky
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PRESEASON 2010 TRANSFER UPDATES
Starting during the last few months and up until now, my scouts and me spend countless hours securing the signatures of quite a few hot new additions to our line up.
We let go a few of our previous squad and even managed to make some money on actual transfers, but I am delighted with the talent that we were able to sign up, for a staggering total of only 55 Euro.
The top signings were no doubt the Brazilian attacking duo of Fabio Lemes and Rodriguinho, Bulgarian veteran Daniel Georgiev and - what could prove one of the best captures to date - sixteen year old Leonardo Bacci, whose market value jumped to two hundred thousand Euros before the ink on his contract had dried.
Two highly rated loan players from Nurnberg are sure to make for a formidable squad.
Here's the early seasons transfers at a glance:
There are a few more players that were signed during the closing stages of the previous season that cannot be found in the list. Most were signed as backups to the new signings, except two equally skilled German goalkeepers,
Philip Pentke and
Jan Schlosser.
And here is an in-depth look at some of the most exciting signings
Daniel has very good all-round skills for this level and I can see him forming a formidable partnership with Philip Obhafuoso in the middle of the pitch.
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A perfect poacher prospect for the coming season. My scouts tell me he has serious problems putting them away, but we all agree his great pace should make him a very dangerous striker.
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A strong striker that I intend to use in rotation with highly injury-prone
Lucas Winck.
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Honestly, I still cannot believe we were able to sign this guy for free. His physical abilities are unbelievable for someone this young, and I am confident that regular first-team appearances will serve him well to develop the mental skills required to become a rock in the back.
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The pre-season friendlies were a mixed bag, but a great opportunity to evaluate my players. We played admirably against some much stronger opponents like
Hertha BSC Berlin,
1860 Munchen and
Nurnberg and recorded a solid victory over
Aalen, a team in our own league predicted to finish in the top third of the table.
Testing a squad of all new signings and back-ups saw us go down to lower league outfit
Hauenstein, but it gave me a chance to determine which players can be counted on to step up to the plate when we needed them.
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DFB POKAL 2010
Facing off against
Bundesliga powerhouse
Bayer Leverkusen I am honestly surprised at the result. Over long stretches it was a very even game against a side fielding no less than six players from this years wold-cup winning Germany national squad.
The first half was a great battle between both teams, with
Philip Pentke shining over and over again, despite being credited for an own goal.
More than thirteen thousand spectators saw us emerging from the half-time break revitalized and motivated, testing Rene Adler in goal time and time again, however to no avail. A deadly counter ended all hopes of an upset close to the final whistle, but we have certainly shown that we came here to compete.
I am pleased to see the new signings blending in well with the squad, and the very small pitch size we opted for this year might very well be a great factor in our home performances in the coming season - it is a perfect fit for our tactics.
Along with the defeat, the biggest let-down is an injury to
Fevzi Kahraman, our rock in the back.
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July gave us all a chance to get a better look at our squad. We faced some tough opposition, and the performances I was able to witness leave me hopeful for the coming season.
I believe we have a very ambitious group of players this year.
This was evidenced in particular by the last press conference, where I went out on a limb and boldly proclaimed that I consider us favorites to win the league.
While the media seems to see it as a joke, my team appeared motivated by my showing of confidence.
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Regionalliga Süd 2010/2011
With the kick-off time to the new season just around the corner I am confident we have what it takes to make an impact. No one outside the club seems to share my optimism, but the dream has to start somewhere, and if I don't show faith I can't in good conscience expect anyone else to believe in us.
August will see us face some tough opposition, most notable hot favorites to win the league
Stuttgarter Kickers.
My players are all fit, motivated and ready to be registered for the new season.
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AUGUST 2010
A tough match to start the season, and a very good showing from my guys. Against the B-Squad of
2. Bundesliga outfit
Karlsruhe, we allowed only two shots all game, and only one even reaching the grateful hands of
Pentke in goal.
On the other side, we played some beautiful passing game and created lots of chances, but missed the target too often with our attempts.
Being denied three times by the woodwork, I would consider us unlucky to not have won, but proving all the pundits wrong that predicted us loosing heavily was well worth dropping two points.
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Boy, did we ever turn the style **** to eleven in this match.
High possession, great pass completion and immense pressure on the opposition saw us running out victorious.
Despite going down one goal in the first half it never seemed likely that we wouldn't emerge victorious. We played on as if nothing had happened and equalized when new signing
Max Watzka launched a rocket from the edge of the area.
Immense pressure caused an error by
SV Waldorf Mannheims defense that allowed
Obhafuoso to score from the spot before last years top goal scorer
Lucas Winck finished an excellent move for the final result.
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At even odds we were expecting a close game, but it turned out anything but that.
We were once again able to dominate the game for almost the entire duration, our defense being able to prevent all but one shot to even reach our own goal.
At the other end we were constantly testing the keeper and finishing the game with four goals to our side. New signing
Georgiev scored his first goal, along with loan player
Stiefler before
Lucas Winck once again showed class by scoring two more.
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League favorites
Stuttgarter Kickers were expected to heavily dominate this match, but in reality it was almost an exact replica of the season opener with us showing a rock-solid defense but being unable to direct a majority of our own shots at target.
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A tough month has ended, and it was a more than spectacular showing from my team.
Our first few outings as a professional team have seen us remain undefeated where we were expected to wither and we can be found at the top of table.
With four games played there isn't any real showing yet as to what team to beat with draws and defeats even by highly rated teams.
I am more than satisfied with how we presented ourselves so far, and with a little bit of luck we just might keep this run going a little while longer.
You guessed it,
Lucas Winck will once again receive the accolade of my
player of the month award.
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SEPTEMBER 2010
Our second encounter with a
2.Bundesliga B-Squad was certainly not one for the purists.
Too many fouls never allowed for a flowing game, but our increased pressure in the oppositions box led to mistakes that allowed
Obhafuoso to score twice from the spot
Fabio Lemes capped a nice move with his first goal in a
Bayreuth jersey.
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In all honesty, I did not see this one coming. And I really expected the link between our two teams being capped after this match and their loan players being recalled.
Only 52 seconds after the kick-off
Fabio Lemes showed his Brazilian flair by burying the ball in the top corner.
Georgiev scored only minutes later from an impossible angle after a weak clearance following a corner kick found his waiting boot to increase our lead.
Stiefler added one more against his own club just before halftime.
In a bizarre fashion,
Philip Obhafuoso finished the rout with a shot that hit both goal posts before rolling in after striking the ball with such force that he pulled a hamstring and needed to come off, following his celebration.
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Stiefler pulled all the strings in this match, filling the playmaker role left vacant by injured
Obhafuoso. After being a vital part in the build-up that let
Rodriguinho score his first two goals of the season he earned himself a goal all of his own.
Rodriguinho failed to record his hat-trick after he missed from the spot, but at this point the match was all but over.
Even the consolation goal by
Darmstadt did little to diminish a fantastic result.
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Two month in the season, with seven out of thirty-four games played I couldn't be any more satisfied with where we are at.
Everybody is playing beyond what I expected to see, the back-up players are solid as can be when called upon, and we dominated many games to an extend that allowed me to give my hottest prospect
Leonardo Bacci some valuable first-team playing time.
Although there are many players that are deserving of my man of the month award, after what I have seen happening these last few games, I will do a first and nominate non-player
JP Woody without whose tactics these results might very well have looked a whole lot different.
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OCTOBER 2010
A fantastic showing against our neighbors from
Bamberg saw us once again dominate almost every aspect of the game in front of over three thousand expectant fans.
Despite scoring with their only shot on goal,
Bamberg was never a real threatand a goal by
Fabio Lemes followed by a magnificent hat-trick courtesy of
Manuel Stiefler had us record our forth victory in a row.
The most heart-warming moment was undoubtedly seeing loan player
Stiefler kissing the Bayreuth badge on his shirt after his third strike found the net.
With performances like this I will have some serious considerations to make to explore the possibility of making his move permanent.
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Coming off a high, not taking this game as well was kind of a let-down.
The performance and the numbers showed us as the slightly better team, but great a great defensive display by
Aalen meant this game ended in a draw.
As far as goalless games go, this was one of the better ones.
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The final score belies what really happened on the pitch, and off all the games so far this season, this result flattered us the most.
Rodriguinho scored from our only real chance while at the other end
Pentke stopped no less than twelve shots in the first half alone.
Shots were raining in from all angles and he was ever present to tip balls wide that he had no right of getting to.
We played more composed and organized in the second half, but in the light of things the late equalizer by
Aschaffenburg was no less than a fair reflection of the game.
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After being on the back-foot for much of last weeks game, we were back in our dominating selves, but sadly with the same result. It seems to me that
Fevzi Kahraman has developed telekinetic skills by bringing down an opponent in the box without even being close to him, but
Rodriguinho evened the score in the second half.
Despite huffing and puffing we were unable to break
1860 Munchens defense down for a match winner, and so were left slightly disappointed.
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Eleven matches played since the start of the season, and we remain unbeaten in the league.
It becomes more clear now that there is no clear powerhouse in the
Regionalliga, unlike last years
Grossbardorf who just wouldn't loose any points, and so we are still running strong at the top end of the table.
I think in the big picture, loosing a few points in last couple of pictures is just what we need to avoid complacency to creep into our unit, and I am starting to believe that we might actually in contention until the end of the season.
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Authors Note:
I apologize for the giganto-post, but I'm trying to catch up to game time.
Was kind of hoping I would get a comment or two in between the time it took me to add month after month, but, well, whatcha gotta do, right?
Micky
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OCTOBER 2010
After last months impressive play I am pleased that we improved our performance by actually putting away a large portion of the chances we created.
It seems we are getting more support from the media as we were touted clear favorites for this one, and we more than delivered. Six goals by six different players, each more amazing than the last, tell the story of a rewarding team effort.
All this culminated in this impressive selection for team of the week:
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We saw a return to the times when we couldn't even get half of our shots on target during this encounter with visiting
SpVgg Weiden.
All in all a decent match with lots of great play in midfield but not enough accuracy to put the chances we had away.
I suppose the two weeks since the last match were too long to keep the momentum going.
I might need to look into getting some more friendlies arranged for the coming gaps in the schedule.
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Yet another match against a
2.Bundesliga B-Squad had us return to winning ways.
Philip Obhafuoso scored from the spot after an arguably questionable call by the referee and added yet another in the second half with a booming shot in the top corner.
Once more, we dominated the midfield with quick and precise passes and clinical tackles.
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Another great month, and I am starting to wonder what alien life-form has taken over the bodies of my squad to create performances such as this.
I can't even pick a favorite for man of the month, it was all team all the time.
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NOVEMBER 2010
About fifteen hundred people came out to watch a game that is hard to describe as anything but an attempt by
Ulm to not concede too many goals. The oppositions attacking never looked threatening, and after
Fabio Lemes and
Georgiev had gotten their names on the scoresheet,
Ulm was simply shutting down defensively.
We probably could have scored more, but I decided to ease off the pressure to avoid getting any unnecessary injuries from overzealous defenders.
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Of all the matches in our schedule, this was the one I was tipping as the most likely to be recorded as a defeat.
Hoffenheims B-Squad was fielding a strong line-up, but we came really together and performed like all of us were growing up playing together.
I am particularly pleased that we have shown to be a threat from all angles, as evidenced once again by three different players recording a goal.
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A sizable crowd of just over
four thousand fans came out to witness what turned out to be a rather forgettable game. Most of the action was in the midfield and chances on both sides were often wide or blocked by great defending.
Philip Obhafuonso scored from the spot once again with what was our only shot on goal.
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Last weeks match marked the half-way point of the season, and we are still surprising everybody by being top of the table with an undefeated run of seventeen games.
It's anyones guess if we can continue this run, if the point difference we accumulated is enough and if we can avoid any injury crisis to be able to field a strong line-up.
From what I have seen in this first round of games I truly believe we are among the strongest teams in the league.
We had some luck to get points out of some of the close games and dropped a few points in games we should have won, so on the whole, I think we deserve where we stand.
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We ended the year with this quick friendly to boost finances and fan support. More than twelve thousand spectators saw us fight valiantly against a much stronger opposition.
By chances alone it could have gone either way, but
Schalke showed they know how to capitalize on their opportunities.
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JANUARY 2011
We started in the new year with a match that closely resembled our first encounter with Karlsruhe II at the start of the campaign.
This time, however, luck was not on our side and four thousand supporters were forced to watch our unbeaten run end.
All I can say is that we need to improve our finishing, as we once again were unable to get more than three of our eighteen shots on target.
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After eighteen games played, the start of the new year sees us sitting comfortably on top of the table, despite just having been handed our first defeat of the season.
Sixteen games to go, and all fingers crossed that last weeks match doesn't mark the beginning of our fall from grace.
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Authors Note:
This match marks the official switch to "real-time" mode, meaning no more working from archived save files, and more frequent league tables, news announcements etc as they happen on a month-to-month basis.
Micky
