retired_sharonnabailey

The cup win was nice and very satisfactory, but not something to dwell too long on. Just four days after, we are going into that lion’s den of German football, the place where small clubs go to be eaten alive. Away to Bayern München.

FC Bayern München v FC St. Pauli
Allianz-Arena, 18.4.09
A semi-tired XI takes to the field against the without question best football team in Germany, and probably one of the top 10-15 teams in the world. I know we held them to a draw at Millerntor earlier in the season, but I think, subconsciously, I’m hoping FM2005 isn’t so stupid as to give me a win in this match. I can tell from the objective facts there’s not a chance in hell for us here.

The little chance we do have is to steal a point through blatant time-wasting and shameless catenaccio defending, so that’s what we set out to do. It doesn’t quite work the way I hoped for as, following Torsten Frings’ opening goal on six minutes, we find ourselves 3-0 down just ten minutes later. We’re not playing against a team of humans, but superhumans. They’re all over us. We’re actually defending quite well, but there is just. No. Chance.

As if determined by mathematical laws however, my fabulous Italian gets yet another goal for us anyway when he beats Lùcio in the air just before the half hour. Turns out his goal is just a freak occurance though, as it constitutes a full 50% of the shots we had on goal throughout the match!

I’m not about to dwell any more on this – Landon Donovan gets his second goal just before half time to settle the score to 4-1. Bayern might have some compassion anyway as they calm down after the break, creating a stackload of chances but not bothering to come at us full-blast. Hence, we go back to Hamburg without losing too much of our dignity. We do drop three places in the table, however.
Bayern München – St. Pauli 4-1 (4-1)
1-0 Frings (6)
2-0 Pizarro (9)
3-0 Donovan (16)
3-1 Calaiò (29)
4-1 Donovan (45)
Att. 56,602. Shots (on target) 34-2 (15-2)
St. Pauli 30 10-9-11 32-33 39pts (12th)

retired_sharonnabailey

Bochum comes to visit us. Them having won the other semi final, we have a dress rehearsal of the cup final.
FC St. Pauli v Bochum
Millerntor, 25.4.09
Predictably we’re back to our schizophrenic self, and win the match comfortably. Bochum are supposed to be fifth in the table, but are rubbish. A brace from the unstoppable Italian and a lovely effort from the young Brazilian winger Celsinho gives us a comprehensive, delightful and confidence-boosting win. Calaiò has played 18 league games (16+2) and scored 15 goals. These are stats worthy of a chance of Azzurri glory, but I suspect he won’t get anywhere near the Italian national team until he’s at a bigger club. What can I say, such is life.
St. Pauli – Bochum 3-0 (2-0)
1-0 Calaiò (8)
2-0 Celsinho (34)
3-0 Calaiò (90+2)
Att. 21,343. Shots (on target) 9-12 (7-4)
St. Pauli 31 11-9-11 35-33 42pts (11th).

Iulian Filipescu’s performances have taken a dramatic nose-dive recently. The Rumanian, who retires at the end of the season, is substituted with a mark of 5, for the third time in a row. My Brazilian hardman Nascimento is nearing a place in the starting lineup if this keeps up. Also, Stèfan Gislason, my only ever-present besides goalie Marc Ziegler, suffers a calf strain to break his record of 76 consecutive league matches for Pauli. We’re suffering even more as el Hamdaoui, too, picks up an injury in this one. Luckily, he’s only out for about a week.

With three matches remaining, it seems definite that the season has been an overwhelming success no matter what happens between now and the end of the season. If we finish 11th we will have done ourselves proud.

retired_sharonnabailey

We have a good chance of improving our league position still – relegation strugglers Hannover, Bielefeld and Wolfsburg await in the final three matches. Nine points there and we might finish four or even five places higher. Hannover’s first up.

Hannover 96 v St. Pauli
AWD-Arena, 2.5.09
Two consecutive wins, what do you know! In a really quite dense and equally-matched ninety minutes we come out on top, even after going behind to an early penalty goal. The man of the day is, yet again, Emanuele Calaiò, on this occasion notching up a hattrick. Two counter-attacks prove decisive in turning the match in our favour. With this, the Italian has scored 20 goals from his 22 appearances this season. And he didn’t cost a penny, think about that for a minute!

The question is, how long will we be able to keep him? If he keeps this up, he’ll certainly be gone by the start of next season, that’s for sure!
Hannover – St. Pauli 1-3 (1-1)
1-0 Stajner (4, pen)
1-1 Calaiò (42)
1-2 Calaiò (73)
1-3 Calaiò (77)
Att. 17,890. Shots (on target) 16-10 (6-7)
St. Pauli 32 12-9-11 38-34 45pts (9th)

We’re back in the familiar ninth position, but looking at the table we still have a tiny chance of securing sixth place if we win both the remaining games. At this stage though, only the cup final really matters to us, and making an executive decision, I decide that the key players, such as Gardner, McShane, Gravesen, Geißler and Calaiò will be rested in the last match.

Before that though we need to overcome Bielefeld. They’re 16th, needing every point they can get hold of and will certainly be doing anything in their power to climb on the right side of the dotted line.

St. Pauli v Arminia Bielefeld
Millerntor, 9.5.09
And although dominating quite heavily throughout most of the match, we never quite manage to break them down, defending desperately as they are. Calaiò comes ever so close on three occasions – hitting the bar on one occasion – but in the end, the points are shared.

Not that that does Bielefeld too much good. However, they defend well, we run out of ideas, and our fans go home somewhat disappointed.

Filipescu again fails to deliver, picking up a 5 this time, and is nearing a less than gracious end to his time with the club. The match also marks Calaiò’s 50th for us. With 36 starts and 14 substitute appearances, he has scored an unfathomable 47 goals. And to think I only thought of him as a backup solution when he first arrived a year and a bit ago.

Either way, this draw means that the cup final will be the only thing on our minds now; the final match against Wolfsburg is now rather meaningless and will be played with a depleted XI.

St. Pauli – Bielefeld 0-0
Att. 19,171. Shots (on target) 14-9 (6-1)
St. Pauli 33 12-10-11 38-34 46pts (10th)

retired_sharonnabailey

The results on the penultimate day of the season mean that Hannover will be joining Frankfurt in relegation. We are playing Wolfsburg – who will need a win to be sure of survival with Bielefeld threatening from behind - at their place in the last match.

Meanwhile erstwhile playmaker-to-be Mark Fotheringham files a transfer request. The English midfielder has seen precious little first-team action over the season. With the kind of wages he’s on, two things are certain – one, he’ll be offloaded as soon as possible and two, he will go down in history as one huge flop. Fotheringham is quite possibly my most expensive mistake to date.

Now then, to Volkswagen Arena for a match that means practically nothing to us, but will be the difference between life and death to our hosts.

Wolfsburg v St. Pauli
Volkswagen Arena, 16.5.09
At least you’d have thought that the home team, fighting for survival and trying to avoid a relegation which certainly will be economical suicide as well, would try and mash us to a pulp by any means necessary. I know that’s what I’d have my team doing if we were in their position.

Instead it’s a boring, German standoff, with very few real chances. We are uninterested and Wolfsburg do not seem to have the ability. The match finishes goalless, and while it’s sad that we end an otherwise exciting and thrilling season with two crÃ*p performances, at least we didn’t lose. Wolfsburg however **** it all away as Bielefeld do the business, passing them in the table in the 12th hour and sending them down. So much for cowardly tactics. Then again they only mustered 18 goals over the entire season, so maybe it was just a plain lack of ability that sent them down, what do I care. Cheerio then!
Wolfsburg – St. Pauli 0-0
Att. 17,810. Shots (on target) 11-9 (3-4)
St. Pauli final standings: 34 12-11-11 38-34 47pts (11th)

The table, then, as we conclude our returning year in the Erster Bundesliga:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">| Pos | Inf | Team | | Pld | Won | Drn | Lst | For | Ag | G.D. | Pts | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 1st | C | FC Bayern | | 34 | 27 | 5 | 2 | 65 | 13 | +52 | 86 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 2nd | | Dortmund | | 34 | 20 | 6 | 8 | 55 | 28 | +27 | 66 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 3rd | | SC Freiburg | | 34 | 19 | 5 | 10 | 49 | 36 | +13 | 62 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 4th | | Werder Bremen | | 34 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 51 | 30 | +21 | 60 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 5th | | Gladbach | | 34 | 13 | 11 | 10 | 39 | 35 | +4 | 50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 6th | | Bochum | | 34 | 14 | 8 | 12 | 44 | 44 | 0 | 50 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 7th | | HSV | | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 31 | 23 | +8 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 8th | | Hertha BSC | | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 43 | 40 | +3 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 9th | | Schalke 04 | | 34 | 13 | 10 | 11 | 45 | 44 | +1 | 49 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 10th | | 1.FC Köln | | 34 | 13 | 8 | 13 | 47 | 40 | +7 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 11th | | St. Pauli | | 34 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 38 | 34 | +4 | 47 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 12th | | VfB Stuttgart | | 34 | 11 | 10 | 13 | 48 | 54 | -6 | 43 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 13th | | Rostock | | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 38 | 47 | -9 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 14th | | Leverkusen | | 34 | 9 | 8 | 17 | 32 | 43 | -11 | 35 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 15th | | Bielefeld | | 34 | 7 | 11 | 16 | 34 | 58 | -24 | 32 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 16th | R | Wolfsburg | | 34 | 7 | 10 | 17 | 18 | 41 | -23 | 31 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 17th | R | Hannover 96 | | 34 | 7 | 5 | 22 | 30 | 60 | -30 | 26 | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | 18th | R | Frankfurt | | 34 | 5 | 8 | 21 | 14 | 51 | -37 | 23 | </pre>

Bayern, as everybody have known since September, successfully defend their title without any bother whatsoever. 13 goals conceded in 34 games is pretty neat, as the yanks would say. Freiburg will be delighted at having finished third for the second year in succession, whilst at the other end of the table, Leverkusen must be thoroughly disgusted with their effort; 14th certainly is nothing to be proud of.

Notice how, with 721 goals scored over a total of 306 matches, the goal average is a mere 2,35 goals per match.

The league is history, though: We have a cup final to win before I send the boys off on holidays.

retired_liew wai kheng

Nice work trigz,

I also have a soft spot for FC St.Pauli, so its great to see someone else taking on the challenge and suceeding

good luck in the cup final

retired_silverhamm327

It's being a great story...Congratulations!
It's actually inspired me to start a game with St Pauli (quite useful - my FM-hating girlfriend is from Hamburg and loves St Pauli, that's one short german monkey off my back!).

Could you answer just a couple of questions:

-How did young Gunesh (spelling?) turn out for you? He's the one rock in my leaking defence...

-Did you get any decent regens along the way?

Sorry 'bout the questions, I know it's the wrong place, but just couldn't help myself...

KUTGW :thup:

retired_sharonnabailey

Thanks to both of you. Meat boy, I'm flattered that I've inspired you to start off playing with Pauli

Ralf Gunesch never made it into the team, I think I sold him off or gave him away during the first season. Regens have been hard to come by, although young Steffen Zimmermann (defender) and Mark(?) Arnold (striker) are coming through the ranks now.

I'll post an update soon, maybe tomorrow Say a great big tschööö to your girlfriend!

retired_jgirl87

Great work, Trigz. I especially like it since you have gone to "real-time" writing. KUTGW

retired_embartl

good season, here's to a great one in the final :thup:

retired_sharonnabailey

(thanks boys)

Cup final day in Berlin, and the Olympiastadion is full. For us, it’s the club’s most important day in recent history as we are ninety minutes away from winning our first ever trophy. The cup may be regarded as less important in Germany than in, say, England, but a trophy is a trophy. And of course, winning the match will mean European football at Millerntor, something of an unlikely prospect both in real life and in this very game of FM2005 only three seasons ago. Actually, make that one year ago.

GERMAN CUP FINAL
FC St. Pauli v Bochum
Olympiastadion, Berlin. 23.5.09

Our usual line-up starts the match, with the exception of Iulian Filipescu, whose lackadaisical appearances late in the season sees him dropped from the team in favour of the team’s original hard man, Brazilian central defender Nascimento. This means less finesse and short passing, but a whole lot more muscle and man-marking ability in my penultimate line of defence. Also, Tom Geißler switches to left flank and Celsinho comes in on the right, giving us a lot of creativity and flair on either side.

We of course already have something of a mental advantage over Bochum, having beaten them comprehensively in the league only weeks previously. It seems to show in that they are visibly cautious and leave a lot of bodies back to cover when they try to break through along the sides. We enjoy the lion’s share of possession early on and, as Tom Geißler breaks onto a superb chipped pass from Mounir el Hamdaoui and whips in a cross from the byline midway through the first half, That Man is on hand, yet again, getting the last touch on the ball about four yards out and we go in front.

Not for very long though. The footballing rule that a goal often follows a goal rings through as, on the very first attack after they kick off, a beautifully touched running ball curls into the lap of Maltritz, who buries it beyond Marc Ziegler for the equaliser.

Some minutes of hesitant uncertainty follow and we’re a bit disorganised at the back. And from another set piece, the big Icelandic Guðjonssen heads Bochum into the lead soon after. In the space of six minutes, then, we have seen three goals.

Bochum pull back a little, no doubt looking to protecting their lead until the break and calm things down. There seems to be quite a nervous atmosphere out there, as both teams make a host of elementary mistakes, with the passing notably suffering from imprecision.

As the minutes until half time tick down however we have a lot of possession, but with our opponents lounging in or around their own box, we have very little space in which to manoeuvre. Thomas Gravesen however steps forward and takes responsibility; in injury time of the first half his horse kick from 20-odd yards crashes into the net for a quite spectacular equaliser. The first half ends 2-2. We have largely speaking dominated the proceedings, but are facing a potent adversary.

Celsinho picks up his game notably after the break, possibly as a result of having been given instructions to stay further upfield and focus on the attacking side of his game. Behind him I have complete faith in the ability of Anthony Gardner, arguably my best defender and a class act.

The young Brazilian nearly slips el Hamdaoui through ten minutes into the half, and is directly involved as we take the lead on 62 minutes. Latching onto a pass from the Dutchman, Celsinho skims two opponents before tapping the ball beautifully into the path of Emanuele Calaiò. From ten yards out there was never any doubt – and we go ahead.

Bochum are stopped comprehensively by my defence, and as the second half wears on space starts to open up. We dominate visibly with my wingers, el Hamdaoui and Calaiò up front giving outstanding performances. When the Italian nets a fantastic hat trick 21 minutes from time it is both completely deserved and more or less expected.

At 4-2 up, Bochum resign a little. On comes Filipescu and Martin Oslislo in place of Nascimento and Thomas Gravesen, and the last quarter of an hour is a mere cakewalk with three or four good opportunities to add to our lead.

The whistle blows. We have won the cup final. FC St. Pauli are going to Europe!

[b]St. Pauli – Bochum 4-2 (2-2)
1-0 Calaiò, 26
1-1 Maltritz, 28
1-2 Guðjonsson, 32
2-2 Gravesen, 45
3-2 Calaiò, 62
4-2 Calaiò, 69
Att. 76,041. Shots (on target) 17-8 (10-3)