retired_rainmaker

Things progressed slowly in the market for Bosmans, but we did mange a minor scoop when experienced Austrian goalkeeper Franz Almer. With eight seasons behind him at Grazer AK, he should really prove a valuable addition. We also signed 25 year-old Gastón Curbelo to a contract. The French/Uruguayan player is an offensive midfielder and will increase our options there.

We started the spring season away to Erfurt, one of the teams that had managed to beat us at our own ground. It started well enough when we went 2-1 up, but then they hit 4 for no reply from us sending us home with nothing. Koch had been particularly abysmal and was to fault for at least two of the goals. Well, Fritz should see too that it doesn’t happen again with a little 1 on 1 talk.

After that defeat we truly needed a win to stay top and the visitors from Unterhaching should do nicely. A win should also set them back in their aspirations to push for a top place. As planned we took the lead through Lukin after 12 minutes, but their equaliser on the half hour mark was not part of my plans. Van Buskirk restored our lead in the second half and after they lost two players to injuries our job became easier. All doubt was removed when Buckhardt got his first for the club after coming on as a substitute. Ah, back on track.

Sadly I noticed that we’re really bleeding money and are almost half a million euros in the red. This is not good. I might have to look around for some investors. We’re making decent money from the gates, but the breaks are deadly to our finances.

We seemed to have picked up a form of yo-yo form when we went to Pfullendorf. We were thoroughly outplayed and outclassed throughout the match and only a suberb match from Koch and a fine individual act from Lukin saw us come away with a point. This is worrying as we need to be more consistent in a league as even and close as this one.

A true sixpointer then awaited against third-placed Schweinfurt. A win here would see us more or less leave them behind and perhaps knock out one of our most persistent pursuers. Schöler and Buckhardt gave us a good cushion in an open game that could just have easily have been won by the visitors. As it was we just got the points, mainly thanks to the loud support of our fans who spurred the players on to a solid performance. More importantly it opens a 7 point gap down to third place with nine games remaining.

I make sure the players understand that we need to keep winning as we travel to Stuttgart. It also starts well when Kotula gives us the lead, but then Koch decided to act up again and get himself sent off for the second time of the season. This spells the beginning of the end for us as his replacement apparently forgot his gloves at home and let in every single ball. A miserable performance by all and a round of fines and warnings were handed out afterward.

March ended with a visit of FC Bayern amateurs and for once we got off to a good start with two goals in the opening ten minutes. We kept up the pace in the second half to secure a comfortable win, but I’m starting to worry about the goal-drought from Schöler. Perhaps it’s time to go with van Buskirk again.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">24.2.02 Erfurt A Regional Division South 2:5 2509 Lukin, Schöler27.2.02 Unterhaching H Regional Division South 3:1 8591 Lukin, van Buskirk, Burkhardt3.3.02 Pfullendorf A Regional Division South 1:1 8928 Lukin10.3.02 Schweinfurt H Regional Division South 2:1 8385 Schöler, Burkhardt17.3.02 Stuttgarter K. A Regional Division South 1:4 3367 Kotula31.3.02 FC Bayern (A) H Regional Division South 3:1 7076 Kotula, Burkhardt, Truckenbrod </pre>

retired_rainmaker

Our dubious awayform looked set to continue when we went behind twice against Neunkirchen. Both times our blushes were saved though thanks to goals from van Buskirk and an own goal. However, we still have tough opposition to face in the last six games and if we don’t get our act together now, then it will be all for naught.

Secondplaced Hoffenheim would be a real test, but by winning we would leave them eight points behind and could stop worrying about them. At least I hoped so. I started superbly when van Buskirk converted a cross from Lukin in the first minute before their defence found there footing and when Truckenbrod added a second after half and hour we were firmly in control. We fought hard for the decisive third goal, but didn’t get any closer than hitting the post. In the end it didn’t matter as we kept Hoffenheim away to soar clear. With Elversberg only drawing it meant that we were eight points clear to the pursuing quartet with five games remaining.

The next game was away to Augsburg who was ten points behind us, but only two points from second place so it would be another hard game. For the first hour we were under hard pressure and only luck kept them down to a single goal. Once we entered the last part of the game we finally got our act together and then a lucky 30-yard cracker from Truckenbrod proved enough for us to go home with a single point.

No rest for the wicked as our visitors from Elversburg were in second place, but if we could do the double over them they would effectively be out of the running to catch us. It started well enough when Kuci deflected a ball into his own net, but we were unable to hold on and conceded late to reduce our lead to just four points.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">7.4.02 Neunkirchen A Regional Division South 2:2 2443 van Buskirk, Eiden og14.4.02 Hoffenheim H Regional Division South 2:0 8185 van Buskirk, Truckenbrod21.4.02 Augsburg A Regional Division South 1:1 2585 Truckenbrod28.4.02 Elversberg H Regional Division South 1:1 7798 Kuci og </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">SouthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st SF Siegen 31 13 1 2 39 17 4 7 4 27 30 59 2nd Schweinfurt 31 10 1 5 32 20 7 3 5 26 24 55 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Elversberg 31 13 1 1 41 17 2 7 7 26 31 53 4th Hoffenheim 31 12 1 2 37 20 5 1 10 22 37 53 5th Regensburg 31 10 1 4 37 21 5 4 7 27 30 50 6th Saarbrücken 31 11 2 3 37 17 4 2 9 26 30 49 7th Unterhaching 31 8 6 2 31 24 6 1 8 30 28 49 8th Augsburg 31 9 4 2 32 18 5 3 8 22 28 49 </pre>

retired_rainmaker

The string of difficult games continued away to Regensburg. For the first half hour we had complete control only for them to score on their first chance. When they added a second I felt our hopes evaporate as we just couldn’t pass their keeper. While we did get a consolation goal it was a very underserved defeat, but nothing we did could get past their MoM-winning keeper. Luckily results went our way and now we just need one point in our last two games to be sure of promotion. Now we just have to win and keep Schweinfurt behind us to go up as champions.

A disappointing crowd of just over 7000 came to support us in our final homegame of the season where we hoped to clinch promotion against lowly Wehen. A brace from van Buskirk and a single from Custos proved enough to edge out a 3-2 win and we were now certain of going up. All that remained was to check the other results and see if it was as champions. As it was Schweinfurt had scored in injury time meaning that we weren’t sure of taking the top spot just yet.

The final game would decide who ended up top and as we only drew we had to hope for the best…sadly it wasn’t to be and on the very last day of the season we dropped to second place, but were still going up. What a rush. The awayform in spring has been a cause for concern, but let’s see what we can do about it next year.

However… not everything was as it seemed and things were about to change… drastically.

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">5.5.02 Regensburg A Regional Division South 1:2 3450 Burkhardt12.5.02 Wehen H Regional Division South 3:2 7071 van Buskirk 2, Custos19.5.02 Aalen A Regional Division South 1:1 3540 Truckenbrod </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * German Regional - Sunday 19th May 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Tables============================================ ================================================== ==SouthPos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st P Schweinfurt 34 11 1 5 35 22 9 3 5 32 26 64 2nd P SF Siegen 34 14 1 2 42 19 4 8 5 29 33 63 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------3rd Regensburg 34 12 1 4 42 23 5 4 8 29 33 56 4th Unterhaching 34 9 6 2 35 26 7 2 8 33 30 56 5th Erfurt 34 9 4 4 39 30 7 4 6 24 21 56 6th Hoffenheim 34 13 1 3 41 24 5 1 11 24 41 56 7th Offenbach 34 9 5 3 37 25 6 5 6 32 31 55 8th Elversberg 34 13 1 3 41 23 2 7 8 27 35 53 9th Augsburg 34 9 6 2 35 21 5 3 9 22 29 51 10th Saarbrücken 34 11 2 4 37 18 4 3 10 31 37 50 11th Darmstadt 34 9 6 2 28 15 3 5 9 23 41 47 12th Aalen 34 6 6 5 28 30 6 2 9 29 38 44 13th Stuttgarter K. 34 9 5 3 40 20 2 5 10 26 47 43 14th Wehen 34 6 4 7 42 42 5 3 9 28 41 40 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15th R FC Bayern (A) 34 9 4 4 30 21 0 7 10 16 34 38 16th R Pfullendorf 34 6 6 5 32 30 2 2 13 19 41 32 17th R Neunkirchen 34 3 7 7 26 29 2 1 14 13 38 23 18th R K'lautern (A) 34 5 2 10 28 38 1 3 13 19 42 23 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Sportfreunde Siegen - Sunday 19th May 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2001/2 Senior Club Stats============================================= ================================================== =No Name Apps Gls Con Pens Asts Yel Red MoM Av R--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Bäcker, Sascha 34 0 0 0 5 3 0 0 6.91 - Balaz, Michal - - - - - - - - ---- - Bleck, Sven-Jörg 2 (4) 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 6.50 - Burkhardt, Thorsten 11 (2) 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 6.92 - Cirba, Romas 7 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 7.00 - Custos, Bruno 22 (1) 5 0 0 4 0 0 1 7.17 - Dione, Ousseynou 27 1 0 0 1 6 0 1 7.19 - Eckhardt, Sven 6 (2) 0 13 0 0 0 0 0 6.63 - Islamoglu, Cem 4 (1) 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 7.00 - Jailliti, Mounir 23 (2) 4 0 0 4 0 0 1 6.88 - Klein, Martin 9 (4) 1 0 0 2 0 0 0 6.62 - Koch, Andreas 28 0 39 0 0 0 2 0 7.07 - Kotula, Jozef 32 4 0 0 7 0 0 1 6.97 - Kresovic, Slobodan - - - - - - - - ---- - Lassissi, Saliou 29 4 0 0 3 5 0 3 7.24 - Lukin, Eric 30 5 0 1 (1) 8 1 0 0 7.10 - Maser, Marco - - - - - - - - ---- - Mehr, Christian 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5.50 - Mujakic, Nihad - - - - - - - - ---- - Popp, Sebastian - - - - - - - - ---- - Schlabach, Timo - - - - - - - - ---- - Schöler, Tobias 16 (3) 16 0 0 2 1 0 5 8.11 - Straub, Matthias 32 0 0 0 4 6 0 1 6.84 - Truckenbrod, Jens 25 12 0 0 1 1 0 2 7.16 - Wurm, Tobias 1 (2) 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 6.67 - Zott, Tobias 16 (5) 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 6.71 - van Buskirk, John 18 (1) 12 0 0 2 0 0 3 7.58 </pre>

retired_rainmaker

COURTHOUSE, BONN
June 3rd, 2002

… it is therefore the decision in this court that the claim to ownership of the footballclub SF Siegen by Karl Franz von Mannstein is invalid. The aforementioned person is required to hand over control of the club to the DfB until such time as a new ownership can be established. Until that day the aforementioned person will remain as caretaker manager.
Court dismissed

I was furious. My inheritance stripped away like that after all I had done for the club, bringing them out of the regional division. It just couldn’t be right. I had to find out how to turn this around. An appeal would be the first step in reclaiming it. Feeling a bit defeated I slumped down on a bench to think about my options. Apart from appealing nothing looked to be able to chance the decision of the judge. As I was getting ready to leave a shadow fell over me and I looked up. An elderly gentleman stood there. He wore a long trenchcoat and a pair of small glasses nestled on his hawk-like nose. His most prominent feature though was probably his bushy moustache.

”Herrn von Mannstein?” he asked in a dry voice.

”Yeah, and you are?” I rose to look at him.

”My name is Vilhelm Döenig. I’ve heard of your problems and have a solution that might benefit the two of us.”

”How so? Let me hear.”

I think that maybe we should talk somewhere else. Please come with me Herrn von Mannstein.”

About half an hour later we sat in a luxurious office, both of us with a glass of brandy and a good cigar.

”Now then,” he said, “this is my offer. You have just lost everything and am being forced out. There is no use in going against the court. Believe me, I’ve tried. What I suggest is to take over the club as the new chairman. We will supply the money needed and take control. We will also clear the debt and give you about €9m to help you out and get you started. You will stay on as manager.”

That is very decent of you, but why should I stay on as manager and what is in it for you?”

We think the club is going places. Eventually we see it making a lot of money. We want a part of that. We will help you on the way to rival Münich, Berlin and Dortmund. This is our chance of getting in cheaply. As for you… you will receive stocks, freedom to do as you please, our financial backing… all in all… a lot of money.”

”It sounds good. Better than the alternative. We have a deal Herrn Köenig.”

Back in Siegen it was time to get adapted in my new role. I now knew that I had the backing needed to take this club places even though it wasn’t mine anymore. I also knew though that I didn’t have an unlimited amount of time as he wanted success before he died. All in all I would need to get to the Bundesliga in no more than four years and then get the club into Europe. To assist me in this we had a lot of money now and it was sorely needed as the club had only been days away from being declared bankrupt. It was time to start building for the future.

retired_rainmaker

The first order of business though was to send the players off for a well deserved summer holiday. Sadly there would be less rest for me as I had to go and look at the market and see what I could find. I knew that I wanted about two midfielders, probably a winger and look for someone to strengthen our defence.

The scouts soon found a player by the name of Arzu in the Real Betis reserves and he was desperate for a move. I wasn’t about to splash out the requested €4m on this defensive midfielder though and decided to start talks with the club for a lower fee.
Surprisingly they accepted to sell him for half their asking fee, but with the added clause of another million euros once he got ten caps. Now, I just had to convince him to join us. Arzus demands were quite reasonable, but I decided to try and push him down in wages. He would still earn more than before and I was prepared to offer him first team football. While he wasn’t too pleased about it he decided that first team football would be more important and signed on the dotted line. Arzu is just 23 years old, determined, creative, hard working and with a stunning technique. He will provide a bit of flair to the side I think.

To prepare for life in the 2. Bundesliga the stadium was also expanded to a almost ludicrous level. Almost 29000 seats were installed taking the capacity to almost 50,000. I wonder how many fans they expect to show up (aside… this could be a bug meaning that they chance the terrace to seats, but they expanded the stadium…odd). This announcement came the same day as the fans announced that they had chosen Jens Truckenbrod as their player of the year. It was an award he deserved for his many important goals and he ability to come back after being hit hard by injuries in the opening stages of the season.

The TV money came in as the DFB released the coming fixture list. A nice sum of €2m made its way to Siegen and would be helpful as we looked set to battle relegation in the coming year. We might have saved several hundred thousand though as our youth coach decided that his 17 year-old keeper, Marcel Gombert, would be fit to compete for a first team place. After seeing him in training I had to agree that he looked very promising and with the right coaching he could take over in a few years and solve all problems there for more than a decade.

Looking to make our midfield even stronger and add some more experience we made a cheeky €1m bid for the former Yugoslav international Boris Vaskovic of Red Star. With seven caps to his name he clearly has the experience and he is a solid player who should do well for us if we get him. He is listed at €1,6m, but I’m not going over one million. I might be able to add in a little extra through clauses if necessary. While the offer was accepted the player sadly decided to turn us down due to his fear of the change in lifestyle. Denied!

Meanwhile in the Far East the world cup ended with victory for the Italian team after a 2-1 win over the surprising Danish team. Bronze went to England who beat France on penalties to go home with the consolation prize.
At the same time the draw for the German Cup was made giving us a hard trip to Schalke 04 in the first round.

retired_rainmaker

KICKER MAGAZINE
Preview of the season 2002-3
2. Bundesliga

1. FC Köln
Last season: 17th
Stadium: RheinEnergieStadion, Köln.
Capacity: 42,000. 36,000 seated.
Number of players: 45
Average Age: 23,27 years
Wage bill: €350K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: Stefan Wessels to Kaiserslautern for €9,5m
Expectations: With no new players on the books it will be a hard year for FC Köln. They have decent players in the squad, but with their high wages they will be hard pressed to bring in new players. Most likely a place in the bottom half of the table, but they should stay up.

TSV Alemannia Achen
Last season: 5th
Stadium: Tivoli-Stadion, Achen
Capacity: 22,500. 3,500 seated.
Number of players: 41
Average Age: 25,12 years
Wage bill: €325K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: With a slightly stronger squad Achen will be hoping to challenge for a higher position this year and take one of the promotion spots. With a well founded collective and a group of players who know each other this will not be an impossible feat for the small club.

LR Ahlen
Last season: 4th
Stadium: Wersestadion, Ahlen
Capacity: 11,000. 1870 seated.
Number of players: 38
Average Age: 28,84 years
Wage bill: €300K per week
Major signings: Léider Preciado for €1,1m from Santa Fe.
Major players out: None
Expectations: With the purchase of Preciado Ahlen will be even more dangerous this year and as they managed to keep their squad intact they will be looking to improve one last years 4th place and take one of the three available places in the Bundesliga. They should also have a good shot at this.

retired_rainmaker

FC Erzgebiege Aue
Last season: 1st in Regional, North
Stadium: Erzgebirge-Stadion, Aue
Capacity: 20,000. 10,000 seated
Number of players: 33
Average Age: 24,67 years
Wage bill: €70K
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: Though Aue haven’t lost any players in the close-season and have strengthened their squad with some new arrivals, it is going to be tough for them to stay up. They should have enough class not to go down, but it will doubtless be a struggle for them.

TSV Eintracht Braunschweig
Last season: 6th
Stadium: Stadion Hamburger Straße, Braunschweig
Capacity: 25,000. 9,800 seated.
Number of players: 42
Average Age: 26,05 years
Wage bill: €200K
Major signings: Silvio Adzic for €1m from Lübeck.
Major players out: Michél Mazingu-Dinsey to Leverkusen for €4,5m
Expectations: The loss of Mazingu-Dinsey will hurt this ambitious side in the coming season. While they have spent their money wisely on several new players, most of them don’t appear to be of the proper quality. It is unlikely that they be able to defend their fine position from last season.

FC Energie Cottbus
Last season: 8th
Stadium: Stadion der Freundschaft, Cottbus
Capacity: 20,500. 4,500 seated.
Number of players: 47
Average Age: 25,15 years
Wage bill: €300K
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: With only minor adjustments to their squad Cottbus looks set for another year where they will flirt with the top but end up in the middle.

MSV Duisburg
Last season: 10th
Stadium: Wedaustation, Duisburg
Capacity: 30,128. 9485 seated.
Number of players: 33
Average Age: 26,33 years
Wage bill: €275K
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: Things are not going well in Duisburg as the club economy has halted any attempts of bringing in any decent reinforcements. While only one player has left them, it might be enough to ensure that the club will have a difficult season ahead.

retired_rainmaker

SpVgg Greuther Fürth
Last season: 11th
Stadium: Playmobil-Stadion, Fürth
Capacity: 15,500. 9500 seated.
Number of players: 35
Average Age: 23,09 years
Wage bill: €275K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: As always it looks like another year of mid-table obscurity for Greuther Fürth who have been unable to bring in players to lift them higher.

VfB Lübeck
Last season: 17th
Stadium: Lohmühlen-Stadion, Lübeck
Capacity: 17,889. 5,629 seated.
Number of players: 46
Average Age: 24,87 years
Wage bill: €250K per week
Major signings: Mike Hanke for €3,1m from Schalke 04, Enrico Kern for €1,7m from Mannheim, Marco Sejna for €1,6m from RW Essen
Major players out: Martin Groth for €1,8m to 1860 München.
Expectations: Lübeck has spent big this year, almost €15m has been splashed out on new players in an attempt to take them to the top of the division and into the big league. The major problem in Lübeck this year will be in getting them to gel and keeping everybody happy. If this succeeds, then a big season could be in the works.

Borussia Mönchengladbach
Last season: 18th in the Bundesliga
Stadium: Bökelbergstadion, Mönchengladbach
Capacity: 34,500. 8,700 seated.
Number of players: 49
Average Age: 25,04 years
Wage bill: €375K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: Having held on to most of their squad from last year M’gladbach will be looking for a quick return to the Bundesliga and they possess so much quality that it should be little more than a formality for them.

FSV Mainz 05
Last season: 9th
Stadium: Brugwegstadion, Mainz
Capacity: 15,500. 4,500 seated
Number of players: 44
Average Age: 25,34 years
Wage bill: €350K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: Having mostly relied on free transfers to bring in players Mainz will find it difficult to finish in the top half of the table again. They also bleed a lot of money each month and they are expected to struggle this year.

retired_rainmaker

Rot-Weiß Oberhausen
Last season: 14th
Stadium: Niederrheinstadion, Oberhausen
Capacity: 21,000. 4,000 seated
Number of players: 31
Average Age: 28,76 years
Wage bill: €375K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: With an aging and expensive squad this year is very much make or break for Oberhausen. They need a good season to bring in the money and youth they require, but sadly their squad doesn’t look strong enough for it. They could easily become involved in the relegation battle.

SC Rot-Weiß Essen
Last season: 2nd in Regional, North
Stadium: Georg-Maiches-Stadion, Essen
Capacity: 25,600. 4,300 seated
Number of players: 34
Average Age: 25,41 years
Wage bill: €190K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: Marco Sejna to Lübeck for €1,6M
Expectations: Essen have a rather small squad and have lost several of their players so even though a lot of cheap players have joined them it is not enough to survive. They’re going down again.

FC Hansa Rostock
Last season: 16th in Bundesliga
Stadium: Ostseestadion, Rostock
Capacity: 30,000. 21,000 seated
Number of players: 48
Average Age: 24,50 years
Wage bill: €325K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: Marcus Lantz to Bielefeld for €2,2m
Expectations: Rostock was unlucky to go down last year and with a mainly unchanged squad they are expected to bounce right back up.

Sportfreunde Siegen
Last season: 2nd in Regional, South
Stadium: Leimbachstadion, Siegen
Capacity: 47,892. 25,000 seated
Number of players: 29
Average Age: 24,31 years
Wage bill: €80K per week
Major signings: Arzu from Betis for €2m
Major players out: None
Expectations: SF Siegen was a major surprise last year and even though their squad is stronger now, it is doubtful that they can stay up. The players do know each other well though and their unorthodox tactics might just provide them with enough points to secure another year in the 2. Bundesliga.

retired_rainmaker

1. FC Schweinfurt 05
Last season: 1st in Regiona, South
Stadium: Willy-Sachs-Stadion, Schweinfurt
Capacity: 14,800. 860 seated.
Number of players: 31
Average Age: 23,05 years
Wage bill: €120K per week
Major signings: Stefan Leitl for €1,8m from Unterhaching
Major players out: Steffen Stockmann to Schalke 04 for €2,6m
Expectations: Nobody expected this team to go up last year and while they have done well in the transfer market most peoples bets are on them to go down again, and so is ours.

FC St. Pauli
Last season: 12th
Stadium: Wilhelm-Koch-Stadion, Hamburg
Capacity: 20,551. 5367 seated.
Number of players: 49
Average Age: 24,06 years
Wage bill: €300K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: St. Pauli has been extremely quiet in the market this year, but there ambition, as always, is promotion so they can play their bigger brothers from Hamburger SV. Sadly the squad has as yet failed to live up to this and predictions are another year in the middle of the table.

1. FC Union Berlin
Last season: 13th
Stadium: Stadion Alte Försterei, Berlin
Capacity: 18,100. 2,000 seated.
Number of players: 33
Average Age: 25,33 years
Wage bill: €240K per week
Major signings: None
Major players out: None
Expectations: As always with Union Berlin the year has been good if they fail to go down. This time though we fear that they just won’t cut it and will go down as the last team.