retired_blondie_524

Wednesday 27th July 2005

Saint Etienne v BVB Dortmund
UEFA Intertoto Cup Semi-Final, 1st Leg

We've travelled to the Stade Geoffroy Guichard for this first leg game with the same squad as we are still constrained by my predecessors’ choice of European squad.
St Etienne had the ball in the net in the first few minutes when Meier was all at sea with a high swirling cross and Mazure forced it home but the linesman's flag was up for offside. BVB hit back and Dédé fired a long ball up there in the seventh minute, Smolarek nodded it on and Koller drilled it past the keeper. Within 10 minutes the Yellow and Blacks had doubled their lead, Rosicky played a short corner to Ricken who sent it in towards the near post. Dédé flicked it across the goal and with the French keeper Janot struggling to get across, Smolarek headed in at the far post. St Etienne were getting some good shots in but somehow there was always someone in the way and BVB caught them on the break in the last minute of the half. Degen's long ball caught the defense pushed up square and Smolarek burst through to collect; as he advanced Janot came out to narrow the angles but he made a right hash of it and Smolarek fired the ball low past him into the near bottom corner of the net.
The Frenchmen were fading now and Dortmund finished them off barely 10 minutes into the second half. Rosicky flicked it into the path of Koller who had stolen a march on his marker and he deftly lobbed it over the advancing Janot. Credit to the home side they hung in there and when Meier dropped a stinging free kick halfway through the second half Frederic Piquionne was first to react and stab the ball home. It gave the home fans something to cheer but will have little bearing on the second leg at the Westfalenstadion.
St Etienne 1-4 Dortmund
St Etienne scorers: Piquionne 67
Dortmund scorers: Koller 7, 52, Smolarek 14, 45
Att: 17,939

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 30th July 2005

There's several players in their last year of contracts, most I think I'll let stew until I've seen them in Bundesliga action but I've offered new contracts to Jan Koller, Lars Ricken and David Odonkor. Koller straight away rang back and said he didn't want to discuss a new contract now but might when he's considered his options. I told him don't dally too long, there's other younger strikers arriving and there might not be a spot for you.
Youngster David Odonkor has two U21 caps and is beginning to fulfil his potential so I'm glad when he puts pen to a 4-year contract worth £3m.

SV Waldorf Mannheim v BVB Dortmund
Pre-Season friendly

We head to the Carl-Benz Stadion to give some of our Euro ineligible players a game. Weidenfeller starts in goal, Kehl plays right back with Flamini replacing him at Defensive Midfielder, Brzenska comes in for Wörns, Issa Issa replaced Ricken, Ciullo played AMC and Cabañas partnered Koller.
Mannheim were seriously overmatched here, Dortmund piled on the pressure but had to wait until the 19th minute before a powerful 15 yard drive by Dédé opened the scoring. The home side still kept BVB out and even carved out an equaliser when they caught us not marking up at a free kick and slipped the ball to Reis who slotted it past the dive of Weidenfeller.
Koller added BVB's second just after the break but again the home side levelled on the hour as Kehl was penalised for handball in the area, Donkov blasted the penalty home. Ciullo then had the travelling fans chanting his name as he fired in two scorching efforts in five minutes to seal the win
Mannheim 2-4 Dortmund
(Dédé 19, Koller 49, Ciullo 61, 66)

Lars Ricken has signed his new three year deal stating how much he loved the club and he was looking to establish himself as a permanent fixture this season.

Wednesday 3rd August 2005

FC Bayern have predictably been made 2/1 favourites to win the Bundesliga, Schalke 04 are second at 8/1 with Werder Bremen at 12/1. Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin are both at 25/1 while we trail in with Leverkusen at 40/1.
Two goals from Roque Santa Cruz and one from Ismaël give Bayern a comfortable 3-0 win over Schalke in the Liga-Pokal final.
Leeds fans would say it wouldn't be much of a miss as Leverkusen fans worry about Roque Júnior's torn hamstring which could keep him out three months.

retired_shaye3303

Woot, Dortmund, the German Dark Horses - good luck with this one :thup:

retired_puly1364

Read the updates through. Well, I'm waiting for league time!

retired_blondie_524

Thanks Tanel & Sammy

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Wednesday 3rd August 2005

BVB Dortmund v Saint Etienne
UEFA Intertoto Cup Semi-Final, 2nd leg

Philipp Degen hasn't recovered fully from a bruised thigh so young Marc Heitmeier gets his first start while Issa Issa who impressed in the Mannheim friendly replaces Gambino on the bench.
Give the visitors their due, despite being 4-1 down they came out firing and forced a lacklustre BVB side back for long periods of the first half but Meier was having his best game this season and kept the barrage out. Issa got his chance early on as Ricken limped off after 25 minutes.
St Etienne finally breached the rearguard with 18 minutes left, Piquionne's deep cross was met by Lamine Sakho who had pulled off Heitmeier and squeezed home. Three minutes later Meier dropped the ball from a corner and Yahia poked it home. The Frenchmen suddenly could see a way through but the BVB defense locked shut and when substitute Buckley's 89th minute shot was only parried by Janot, Koller was on hand to tap it in from two yards to confirm the Yellow & Blacks appearance in the final. Not a very good effort, 4 shots against 29 but the desired end product was reached.
Dortmund 1-2 St Etienne
Dortmund scorers: Koller 89
St Etienne scorers: Sakho 72, Yahia 75
Att: 60,107
(Dortmund win 5-3 on aggregate)

Lars Ricken has damaged his foot and could miss a month.

Thursday 4th August 2005

The draw for the three UEFA Intertoto Cup finals was today and we will play fellow Bundesliga side Hamberger SV with the first leg at Westfalenstadion next Wednesday.
The other two finals will be Athletic Bilbao v Wolfsburg and Valencia v Newcastle.

retired_blondie_524

Friday 5th August 2005

With just over £6m left in the transfer kitty I'm sitting in my office trying to work out where it can be used to best advantage.

Keepers

I did have 24-year old Roman Weidenfeller pencilled in as my No.1, he's played 54 games since coming over from Kaiserslautern in 02/03 but he's been ineligible for the Intertoto Cup and Bernd Meier has had to fill in. 33-year old Meier has grabbed the chance with both hands, keeping two clean sheets in five appearances, he has just joined the club on a free from Ahlen. Third choice due to his eccentric behaviour is 29 year old Dutchman Dennis Gentenaar who's just arrived on a free from NEC Breda.

Defenders

33 year old central defender Christian Wörns has 64 caps for Germany and 176 appearances for Dortmund but is he getting past it? His central partner, 24-year old Christoph Metzelder has 16 German caps and is in his sixth season at BVB. Their backup is 21 year old German U21 international Markus Brzenska who has made 28 Bundesliga appearances in his two years at Dortmund. Left back is the experienced 27-year old Brazilian playmaker Dédé who likes to link the defense to the attack, he's played 198 times for BVB scoring 10 times. Over on the right is 22-year old Swiss international Philipp Degen who has just joined on a free from FC Basel. Their replacements are 25-year old Uwe Seggewiß and 20-year old Marc Heitmeier both just up from Dortmund II and I have my doubts as to their ability. This will be one area that will require investment.

Midfielders

First choice defensive midfielder is 25-year old Sebastian Kehl who has 24 caps and three goals for Germany. He's made 98 Bundesliga appearances in four seasons for BVB scoring 6 times. Also competing for that spot is 21-year old Frenchman Mathieu Flamini here on a seasons loan from Arsenal and 34-year old Dutchman Jean-Paul de Jong who I bought for £600K from Utrecht. My wingers will be 21-year old David Odonkor on the left, he has bounced between Dortmund sides but has explosive pace and has shown in the Intertoto that he could be ready to make an impact. On the right will be 29-year old German international Lars Ricken who has 278 appearances for us and 47 goals. Competing with them is a mixed bag, 21-year old Salvatore Gambino , 26-year old Dutchman Cedric van der Gun just arrived from Ajax although he's spent the last two seasons on loan at Den Haag, 27-year old South African Delron Buckley signed for £300K for Armenia Bielefeld and 24-year old Polish international Ebi Smolarek signed from Feyenoord for £525K after a successful loan spell, most of these can also play as strikers as well. My attacking midfielder will be 24 year old Thomas Rosicky who has 48 caps and 13 goals for the Czech Republic already and is in his sixth season at BVB. Pushing him will be 22-year old Florian Kringe who is ready to break through after a good showing in two seasons on loan at Köln and new free signing, 25-year old Francesco Ciullo who can also play as a striker.

Strikers

Automatic No.1 here has been 32-year old Czech international Jan Koller . He has 63 caps scoring 39 times as well as 129 appearances for BVB scoring 55 times but he doesn't seem too keen on renewing his contract and I might have to cash in on him rather than let him go on a free. I've signed two new strikers, 25-year old Paraguayan Salvador Cabañas who cost £2m from Mexican side Jaguares and 23 year old Argentinean Roberto Colautti who came from M. Haifa for £1m.

I'm quite pleased with my first choices but would like some experienced full back cover and wouldn't moan if a young hot shot striker dropped into my lap.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 6th August 2005

BVB Dortmund v Hamburger SV
Bundesliga

By one of those strange quirks of fate we open our Bundesliga campaign against our Intertoto opponents. Despite my intentions to start Weidenfeller in goal Meier has earned his shot so he starts and Weidenfeller is on the bench. The back four is Dédé, Metzelde, Wörns and Degen. Kehl is the defensive midfielder, Odonkor and Ciullo on the wings with Rosicky in the AMC slot. Salvador Cabañas partners Koller up front. The outfield players on the bench are Brzenska, Flamini, Buckley, Kringe, Smolarek and Colautti.
HSV came right at us from the start but suffered a blow when Emile Mpenza limped off after only four minutes. The visitors kept up the pressure and were only kept at bay by a superb performance by Meier. BVB roared on by a near capacity crowd began to venture forward and some lovely one touch passing by Rosicky, Koller and Cabañas opened the defense for Cabañas to side-step the last defender and arrow a vicious shot past the keeper's despairing dive into the far corner of the net.
HSV were noticeably subdued in the second half and were on the back foot as BVB came out strongly. It was still wide open at 1-0 though until Dortmund put the Hamburgers to bed with just over 20 minutes left. Odonkor and substitute Colautti worked the ball down the flank and although the keeper kept out Cabañas firm header from Colautti's cross he could do nothing as Cabañas headed his own rebound into the opposite corner.
Dortmund 2-0 Hamburg
Dortmund scorers: Cabañas 30, 67
Hamburg scorers: none
Att: 82,153

Leverkusen led the first table after a fine win in Nürnberg, Bayern were surprisingly held goalless by Mainz and their was a thriller in Duisburg. The home side had led 2-0 with six minutes left before Stuttgart scored two in two minutes. It was to no avail as Ahanfouf pinched the Duisburg winner with two minutes left.

Results:

Biefield 0-1 Wolfsburg
Duisburg 3-2 Stuttgart
FC Bayern 0-0 Mainz
Frankfurt 0-0 W. Bremen
B. M'Gladbach 2-1 Hannover
Nürnberg 0-3 Leverkusen

retired_blondie_524

Sunday 7th August 2005

Although Cabañas had a magnificent debut with two goals the talk in the newspapers and website forums was of Francesco Ciullo and how he could be a real star.

In the two TV games Hertha Berlin comfortably beat Kaiserslautern 3-1 and a goal in each half gave Köln a 2-0 win over Schalke 04.

The FA Community Shield went goal crazy with nine first half goals and none in the second. A Thierry Henry hat-trick wasn't enough to give Arsenal a win as four goals from Drogba eventually gave Chelsea a 5-4 win.

Wednesday 10th August 2005

BVB Dortmund v Hamburger SV
Intertoto Cup Final, 1st leg

We have to beat HSV for the second time in a week but this time without my new signings. Gambino comes in at right wing for the injured Ricken and Smolarek partners Koller up front.
When the BVB defense backed off Lauth early on he took full advantage by firing home the opening goal after 14 minutes. Most of the visitors shots after that were high and wide but the damage had been done; HSV had a precious away goal.
After a half time tongue lashing Dortmund did at least look a bit more committed but with just under 20 minutes left with no equaliser in sight, I threw on Buckley, Kringe and van der Gun. Within three minutes van der Gun had slipped the ball to Koller outside the area, his pass found Buckley just ahead of his marker and he lashed it home. All square but it will be hard in Hamburg.
Dortmund 1-1 Hamburg
Dortmund scorers: Buckley 77
Hamburg scorers: Lauth 14
Att: 82,655

The other two Final first legs finished 0-0 at Valencia v Newcastle while two Mike Hanke goals gave Wolfsburg a two goal advantage at Bilbao.

Saturday 13th August 2005

Bayer 04 Leverkusen v BVB Dortmund
Bundesliga
We travel the short distance south to Leverkusen to face the Reds. Ciullo, Cabañas and Colautti come back into the squad.
A fast start saw the home side carve straight through the BVB defense and Andriy Voronin scored in the first minute. Leverkusen kept pressing but gradually Dortmund subdued their attempts and kept the score to one at half time.
I pushed Ciullo up front and withdrew Koller, bringing on Smolarek as the right wing. We still couldn't get the equaliser until the hour mark when Kehl won the ball on halfway. He slid it forward to Cabañas who deked the defender, drew the keeper and rounded him to calmly slot into the open net.
Leverkusen 1-1 Dortmund
Leverkusen scorers: Voronin 1
Dortmund scorers: Cabañas 58
Att: 22,478

Wolfsburg took advantage of Leverkusen dropping points to take top spot. Schalke hit four as did Werder Bremen but HSV failed to score for the second time in two Bundesliga matches.

Results:

HSV 0-0 Köln
Hannover 0-1 Nürnberg
Schalke 4-1 Duisburg
Stuttgart 2-0 Bielefeld
W. Bremen 4-2 B. M'Gladbach
Wolfsburg 2-1 Hertha BSC

Sunday 14th August 2005

Bayern come up scoreless for the second week running as they drew 0-0 at Kaiserslautern while the other TV game sees Frankfurt win 4-1 at Mainz.

I've signed some defensive cover in the form of 26-year old Swede Emil Jensen for an initial fee of £1m from Halmstad. He can play left or right full back and has made 81 appearances over six seasons in Sweden.

retired_blondie_524

i] Wednesday 17th August 2005 [/i]

David Odonkor showed his improving talent when he scored both German goals as the German U21's lost 3-2 in Holland.

Saturday 20th August 2005

FC Energie Cottbus v BVB Dortmund
DFB-Pokal 1st Round

I make several changes for the visit to struggling 2.Bundesliga side Cottbus. Weidenfeller starts in goal, Jensen makes his debut giving Dédé a rest and Flamini is the defensive midfielder. Smolarek is at right wing, Buckley at AMC and Ciullo partners Cabañas.
Dortmund were content to let Cottbus have most of the possession confident that they wouldn't do anything with it. BVB opened the scoring after 14 minutes; Degen's long throw into the area was volleyed home by Ciullo for his first competitive goal for the club. Odonkor set up the second with three minutes left before the break with a wicked cross stuffed home by Delron Buckley whose run hadn't been tracked by the Cottbus defense. On the stroke of halftime it was all over as Cabañas caught the home defense flat-footed and raced clear, the home keeper was in two minds what to do and in the end he was left stranded as Cabañas passed to Ciullo to side foot home his second.
Cottbus did actually score seven minutes into the second half when the defense were left appealing in vain for offside as Kioyo ran on unchallenged to head home. Emil Jensen was commanding on his debut and picked up the MoM as Dortmund advanced to the next round.
Cottbus 1-3 Dortmund
Cottbus scorers: Kioyo 52
Dortmund scorers: Ciullo 14, 45, Buckley 42
Att: 15,921

We will have a harder time of it in the second round as we have been drawn away at Schalke 04.

Tuesday 23rd August 2005

Liverpool come through the Champions League 3rd Qualifier with a 10-0 aggregate win over the Hungarian side Debrecen, 5-0 in each leg.

Wednesday 24th August 2005

Hamburger SV v BVB Dortmund
Intertoto Cup Final, 2nd leg
'
Lars Ricken is fit enough to start at right wing, Buckley partners Koller as the European squad goes to work.
It's a lively start to the match but the finishing on both sides’ leaves a lot to be desired. The breakthrough comes on the half-hour and it goes to BVB, Buckley swung out wide towards the corner and slipped it into the area for Odonkor who curled it into the far corner of the net from a tight angle; Dortmund lead 2-1 on aggregate! The occasion got to some of the players and with a minute of the first half left a long ball by Lauth caught everyone pushing up looking for a second, Sergej Barbarez beat Meier to the ball and chipped him from the corner of the area, 1-1 on the night and we're heading for extra time.
HSV were working up a head of steam and Meier had to be on top form to keep it level. With 24 minutes left it was Rosicky's turn to feed the long ball out of defense which the generally disappointing Koller ran onto and in a carbon copy of HSV's goal chipped the stranded home keeper. 2-1 on the night, 3-2 on aggregate and HSV need to score twice now. The AOL Arena was rocking now but they were ultimately disappointed as Degen's through ball in the 90th minute found Buckley with a step on his marker which was all he needed to fire the ball home to set the flares burning in the away end. Moments later the referee blew for full time and BVB had won the Intertoto Cup!
Hamburg 1-3 Dortmund
Hamburg scorers: Barbarez 44
Dortmund scorers: Odonkor 27, Koller 66, Buckley 90
Att: 55,490
(Dortmund win 4-2 on aggregate)

Newcastle scored late on to secure a 2-2 draw with Valencia but the Spanish side won on away goals. The third final went to Athletic Bilbao on the night as they won 3-0 at Wolfsburg and also 3-2 on aggregate to the Spaniards.
We collected £100,000 for winning the UEFA Intertoto Cup but the main prize was the place in the UEFA Cup proper.

retired_blondie_524

Saturday 27th August 2005

This morning's UEFA Cup 1st round draw gave us a tie against Greek side AO Skoda Xanthi. The first leg will be at Westfalenstadion on September 15th, if we get past them we'll be guaranteed five more matches in the group stage.

BVB Dortmund v Hannover 96
Bundesliga

Hannover had to stand and watch as a large Westfalenstadion crowd saluted the parading of the UEFA Intertoto Cup. Hannover haven't had the best of starts, losing their first two league games and being knocked out of the cup by regional side St Pauli, this delay won't have helped their nerves.
Ciullo and Cabañas are the strike force selected, Koller drops to the bench which also seats Buckley, Smolarek, Flamini and Colautti.
Dortmund had their heads in the clouds a bit at the start but still managed to open the scoring after 12 minutes. Dédé threaded the ball through to Ciullo in the area and he whipped a telling ball across to Cabañas who crashed the ball home. BVB are certainly suffering a bit with having to play different squads for the European games and several players are short of match fitness. Hannover couldn't take advantage of this but were probably a bit unfortunate to still be one down at the break.
With my words of encouragement still ringing in their ears BVB came out for the second half firing, Odonkor ran rings round the full back, slipped the ball to Dédé whose cross was powered home by Ricken arriving late at the far post just 22 seconds after the restart. Hannover's heads dropped and Dortmund were in control. Ciullo was tiring and on the hour he was withdrawn along with Rosicky for Koller and Buckley. The change paid immediate dividends as Degen's ball into the box four minutes later was powered home from 12 yards by Buckley. Ten minutes on and BVB's domination was complete, Cabañas got the ball to Koller in the area and although his shot was pushed out Buckley was on hand to crash home the rebound from just outside the area. Meier lost his clean sheet in injury time when Delura slipped past Dédé as though he wasn't there and drilled it in low underneath Meier.
Dortmund 4-1 Hannover
Dortmund scorers: Cabañas 12, Ricken 46, Buckley 64, 74
Att: 70,294

Leverkusen hammered HSV to go top again but our win took us level on points with them.

Results:

Duisburg 1-1 Köln
Frankfurt 1-2 Kaiserslautern
Hertha BSC 2-2 Stuttgart
Leverkusen 3-0 Hamburg
Nürnberg 1-1 W. Bremen

Meier has suffered a sprained wrist in the Hannover game which could let Weidenfeller in to reclaim the No.1 spot.

Sunday 28th August 2005

Three games in the Bundesliga today, Schalke's Ebbe Sand scored in the 50th minute to give his side a 1-0 win at Bielefeld and lift them into third spot. Wolfsburg, looking to go top, go 1-0 up after seven minutes at Bayern Munich but the home side hit back with three goals to record their first win of the season. The final game saw Mainz grind out a 1-1 draw at Borussia Mõnchengladbach.