Guten morgen! and welcome back to Deutschland, where after a mediocre start to the season, Nick and his RB Leipzig have climbed to the Bundesliga summit, but can they stay there for the rest of the season?…
There are actually three of us on the same number of points and same goal difference, what are the odds of that?! We’re top though, which is all that matters.
We start at Karlsruhe, where new signing Dirk Radlspeck debuts with Ziegner and Hedman suspended and injured respectively. We keep battling away after a drab first half, and it’s a hard-fought victory eventually.
Ironically, the Ice Man is becoming hot property…
We’re slow out of the blocks against Nürnberg, but some early lust gets us in the mood, and our threatening threesome combine to provide a happy ending…
The Thai-phoon gets his first major injury in five seasons, I can’t complain really, but it’s still gutting…
Big Dunc doesn’t have to wait long to make his return from injury at Düsseldorf, as we lose Wedau and Foda, but we’re 2-0 up at half time. Gravesen thrives at left back, scoring twice and getting 10/10 in a dominant away win.
The news isn’t great, but could be worse…
We lead Dortmund at half time, but squander numerous chances as Revault single-handedly keeps them in it. Sure enough though, our wastefulness comes back to bite us, and we’re dealt our first defeat in fourteen games…
We’re two up and cruising against Zwickau in the cup, but completely take our feet off the gas with 20 minutes left. Thankfully, Rose grabs a last-minute winner to send us through to face Dortmund in the semis…
Bayern are seven clear at the top with ten games to go, so we could do with beating them. That said, we come out on the wrong side of five first half goals, and after a toothless and goalless second half, we slip to third place and now trail the b*stards by ten points.
I hate Jens Lehmann at the best of times, both on this game and in real life, and he does nothing but increase that hatred by having a blinder as Schalke beat us yet again to send us fifth after a third defeat in four games.
Speaking of hatred, Bochum are fast becoming my least favourite team on this game. They score the only goal of the game from a free kick and it’s three defeats on the spin.
However, good old Zwickau have been kind ever since I told Jason Bent to get… er, Bent. The Thai-phoon scores on his return, and Ezquerro comes on to score our second and seal a laboured but much-needed win.
Another lacklustre but victorious performance follows at Leverkusen. We’re deservedly behind on the hour, but an inspired double substitution pays dividends as both Rose and Ezquerro score to snatch a win.
And now the Thai-phoon wants to join the twat brigade…
After an early disallowed goal against Berlin, we proceed to waste several chances and it’s goalless at half time. The second half brings no joy either, and it’s a frustrating day all in all. A point is better than nothing I guess…
Cup semi time. I usually relish an away trip to Dortmund, and when the Thai-phoon gives us the lead, I’m hoping for another famous victory, but a double from Gilles De Bilde puts paid to any shock defeats today, and we’re out.
We might be out of the cup, but there’s no stuttering in Stuttgart, as both my full-backs and an own goal get us back on track in the league to consolidate fourth spot…
We lead BMG at half time through the iceman, and have a second goal disallowed during a nervous second half. Their keeper is of course man of the match, and we’re lucky that they fail to register a shot on target…
A win at Bielefeld will guarantee us at least fifth. It’s not the best of starts, but the iceman levels and it’s 1-1 at half time. The nerves settle in the second half, as the iceman and thai-phoon score two each to complete the rout and we climb to third after Bayern beat Dortmund.
It’s a trip to 1860 Munich on the final day. Second place is out of reach, but a win will guarantee third. The first half is a non-event, and we keep chipping away in the second, but it ends goalless. They were the better side, but ironically the board say it’s a good result!
We finish fourth, and get another £2.5m to not spend…
Anyone for player stats? The Thai-phoon retains the average rating award, but has been outscored and out-assisted by the iceman this year, probably due to those six weeks out injured…
I’m straight onto transfers as usual, and Fahrenhorst joins Lyon. There were German teams in for him as well, but I’d rather he went abroad. The “consider” button is a wonderful thing…
Odé returns home to join Guingamp. Cheers, Chris!
The Iceman scoops the writers’ player of the year and Bundesliga top scorer awards, well done lad. On another note, Richard Dunne has been dethroned as European footballer of the year by some bloke called Del Piero…
And just like that, there goes season five! It’s a small step back in the league, but a better run in the cup, so hopefully things are still moving in the right direction, and we’ll get our hands on a trophy soon. Tune in next week to see who I can bring in over the summer. Tschüss!