retired_rainmaker

Well, it was finally time to get the new season on the way and we had the honour or having our first game at home to Union Berlin televised live. The squad that is going to see us through this season is this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * Sportfreunde Siegen - Friday 26th July 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== Squad============================================= ================================================== =No Name Position(s) Nat Born Age Caps Gls Wages Expires Value-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1 Almer, Franz GK AUT 23.9.70 31 - - ¤2.3K 8.6.07 ¤525K 6 Arzu DM RC ESP 17.3.79 23 - - ¤3.5K 2.6.08 ¤2M 2 Bäcker, Sascha D/DM R GER 1.8.79 22 - - ¤3K 2.6.07 ¤600K 45 Balaz, Michal GK SVK 28.8.70 31 - - ¤2.2K 30.6.03 ¤350K 49 Berg, Dennis SW/DM C GER 21.8.84 17 - - ¤700 26.6.05 ¤220K 46 Bleck, Sven-Jörg M RL GER 27.12.74 27 - - ¤1.1K 30.6.03 ¤110K 12 Cirba, Romas D/DM C LTU 4.3.69 33 - - ¤5.5K 30.6.03 ¤180K 15 Custos, Bruno DM RC FRA 29.4.77 25 - - ¤3.9K 30.6.03 ¤1M 5 Dione, Ousseynou D C SEN 25.3.73 29 - - ¤4.6K 2.6.07 ¤575K - Eckhardt, Sven GK GER 22.1.76 26 - - ¤1.2K 30.6.04 ¤180K 10 Gastón Curbelo AM LC URU 8.4.76 26 - - ¤2.3K 8.6.07 ¤675K 13 Gombert, Marcel GK GER 2.10.84 17 - - ¤1.2K 25.6.05 ¤425K 18 Islamoglu, Cem D C TUR 4.9.80 21 - - ¤3.6K 5.6.05 ¤625K 7 Jailliti, Mounir AM RC FRA 24.10.79 22 - - ¤1.1K 9.6.06 ¤600K 17 Klein, Martin M LC GER 22.12.80 21 - - ¤450 2.6.05 ¤325K 20 Koch, Andreas GK GER 13.7.71 31 - - ¤3.1K 9.6.06 ¤475K 14 Kotula, Jozef DM RC SVK 20.9.76 25 - - ¤4.9K 2.6.07 ¤1.4M 44 Kresovic, Slobodan D C YUG 27.8.75 26 - - ¤2.1K 30.6.03 ¤325K 4 Lassissi, Saliou D RC CIV 15.8.76 25 2 - ¤7K 28.6.07 ¤600K 11 Lukin, Eric M LC USA 14.6.79 23 - - ¤2.8K 30.6.04 ¤775K 50 Mehr, Christian D/DM L GER 28.4.81 21 - - ¤775 30.6.03 ¤275K 47 Mujakic, Nihad M R BOS 28.1.77 25 - - ¤2.9K 30.6.03 ¤325K 43 Schlabach, Timo S C GER 5.12.80 21 - - ¤325 30.6.03 ¤200K 19 Schöler, Tobias F LC GER 3.10.81 20 - - ¤2.1K 2.6.06 ¤675K 3 Straub, Matthias D L GER 24.11.80 21 - - ¤2.9K 2.6.07 ¤725K 8 Truckenbrod, Jens AM C GER 18.1.80 22 - - ¤4.3K 2.6.07 ¤1.1M 48 Wurm, Tobias D RC GER 31.3.82 20 - - ¤1.3K 2.6.05 ¤275K 16 Zott, Tobias DM C GER 12.8.77 24 - - ¤4.4K 2.6.04 ¤325K 9 van Buskirk, John S C USA 13.4.72 30 - - ¤6.5K 26.6.04 ¤1.4M </pre>

With all players fit we were ready to welcome the visitors from Union Berlin to our great stadium. As always we were playing our version of the 4-3-3 with wingers and both Almer, Arzu and Curbelo were handed their full debuts.
After just four minutes the 8500 fans got something to cheer about when Jailliti scored our first goal of the season. Lukin had been brought down cutting into the box and the Frenchman stepped up to convert it easily. A little later in the half the lead was doubled. A clearance from Union ended up right in the path of Lassissi who hit it with a firsttimer from 35 yards and saw it pass the keeper whose vision was blocked. Disbelief almost set in when we scored yet again, this time Lukin doing the honours slotting a rebound into the net. Being three goals up it mattered little that they pulled one back in the second half. We had our first win.

We hoped to build on our good start in the tough away game at Duisburg. Sadly Custos had injured himself, but he was replaced by Kotula in the starting XI. It soon became clear though that we were up against a much better team as they had two great chances in the first ten minutes while our first was a long range effort from Arzu after half an hour. Thanks to Alter we managed to keep them from scoring in the first half. I wasn’t too pleased with our midfield, but decided to give them a little more time before making any changes. Our job got harder though when Lassissi got injured. Islamoglu went on instead of him and at the same time Truckenbrod went on for Kutola in an offensive gamble. It did make us more dangerous on the attack and we managed to hit the woodwork three times, though it also weakened us at the rear. Luckily Alter had one of those days and deservedly picked up the MoM as it ended scoreless.

Lassissi would be out for two weeks and this was the final straw that convinced me I needed a man more for defence. There were several interesting players, but not all were available. Some faxes were sent off politely inquiring to their availability. A positive fax returned from Chelsea saying we could be Robert Huth for €3,1m. Quite expensive, but he is only 19 and extremely talented. I decided to offer them the money and see if I could convince him to come to Siegen. Huth refused to trade London for Siegen though and instead we opened negotiations with the Togolese international Erik Akoto from Austria Vienna. He was much more interested and signed a 4–year contract at just €725 per week. The price was also fair at just €775K.

Akoto got his debut as Rostock dropped by. Two out the probably four hardest teams in our first three matches. Quite harsh on a promoted side. We didn’t get the best start when they scored in the eighth minute and doubled their lead on the half hour mark. Frankly, we were completely routed in the first hard by a superior team. Things improved in the second half when they gave us more space, but the single goal from van Buskirk meant nothing as they immediately restored their lead to complete a 3-1 win over us.

retired_rainmaker

After the devastation we suffered against Rostock the last I needed was a visit to Lübeck who had invested so much into new players. I would much rather have played one of the poorer sides. The first few minutes belonged to us and it was pure bad luck when a deflection tricked Alter to put Lübeck ahead. It didn’t take long for van Buskirk to pull us level tohugh, but that goal was only a fluke as it turned out. Soon after Enrico Kern took over and the striker who, so far, had scored four goals in 34 games managed no less than a hattrick against us. Why does that always happen against my team?

Except for Tobias Wurm I was able to field a full-strength side as we travelled to Schalke 04 for our encounter in the first round of the Cup. Nobody expected us to do well and to be frank, neither did I. As I named the starting XI I told the players to just enjoy themselves and do their best. This would be the biggest game of the season for us and I wanted the world to know that Siegen is on the rise. We got off to the worst possible start when we conceded on a penalty after just 6 minutes and within twenty minutes we were trailing by three goals. I was not happy. Our defence looked almost non-existant and that is not the first time this year. Something must happen. I need to find me some better players there. Our wings were also rubbish and I can’t help but wonder if it is just a bad day for us or if our team really is that bad. In the end we lost 0-4 and we could only be happy that we didn’t lose by more.

After a long break due to internationals we are finally back in action, yet again away as we travel to Ahlen. With our away-record in mind I don’t dare to hope for too much though. I have a bit of mixed feelings after the first half. For once we actually manage to keep them from scoring, but the bad news is that we have had almost no chances while they have fired of one shot after the other. Ahlen increases the pace in the second half and quickly scores the first goal. While Lukin did manage to pull one back it was only a short reprieve as we go down yet again. If we don’t get some sort of result in our next game I have to try something new.

The big test for my players and their last chance to convince me that I didn’t need to change a lot of things came as Cottbus gave us a visit. With morale dropping it wouldn’t be easy though. Surprisingly for the first time in weeks we actually scored first as van Buskirk converted a pass from Jailitti. It didn’t last though and was also completely against the run of play. A brace of goals from Rink was enough to see them win and I now know that I need to change some things.

retired_rainmaker

Thanks Mr. Not Ruud. Things are not good at the moment, but I hope they will improve. Things are very close at the bottom and a few wins should see us move up

----------------

It was clear that our wingers were not good enough at this level for their role so they would have to be changed. To give us some more punch up front one of the places would join the attack with the other roaming behind in a free role. With a compact midfield, this should allow us to stand better fast. Problem was that I needed some players for it I just didn’t have.

One of the problems were sold when we bought playmaker Servet Atalan, a German/Turkish player, from Hannover ’96 for €650K. He should be able to solve that little problem. Now, I just needed about two strikers to play up front. One would do for now, but van Buskirk is not getting any younger.

Atalan would be given his debut in the tough match away to Braunschweig. With a new formation and a new player I didn’t expect too much from this game and would be happy with a single point. It almost became a perfect debut when he hit the post after a few minutes and to my delight we were very much in the game at half time. There were still no goals, but it was so even that it could go to either side. As the minutes ticked by it looked like we were going to make it, but then disaster struck. First van Buskirk had to go off with an injury, then we conceded and finally Atalan got sent off for spitting. The rule of threes.

To really rub it in the next casualty was Franz Almer who injured a shoulder in training and would be out for three weeks. A bright spot appeared a few days later though when we successfully agreed terms with Danish striker Peter Graulund who would join us immediately for a fee of €2m. He is pure class and has always scored loads of goals. I hoped he would do so for us too.

With so many players out I had to gamble. Young Gombert took over in goal and Graulund would get a full debut replacing van Buskirk. Jailitti would step in for Atalan. We were lucky though that we had home advantage and that our opponents, RW Essen also have had a poor season so far. It worked a treat. Custos started by testing the keeper after a few minutes and that was the signal for a perfect match. After ten minutes Custos had his first of the match as he pounced on a rebound after a good effort from Graulund. The Dane too scored scored a goal and had one ruled out and as we had two more goals despite those we ended up with a solid 4-0 home win.

During midweek we faced Oberhausen, also at home. They too have had a poor start to the season and with another three points we should get out of the relegation zone. Atalan returned to the squad even though Jailitti did so well. I’m just hoping he’ll control his discipline better this time. That he did and even though we fell behind early on we had enough morale to maintain the pressure and were justly rewarded as Schöler hit a brace to secure us the points. Things are looking up now.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * German Second Division - Wednesday 2nd October 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st St. Pauli 9 5 0 0 13 1 2 0 2 7 7 21 2nd Cottbus 9 3 1 0 7 1 3 0 2 9 6 19 3rd Aachen 9 4 1 0 12 6 2 0 2 6 6 19 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th 1.FC Köln 9 3 0 2 11 7 2 2 0 11 6 17 5th M'gladbach 9 3 0 1 8 6 2 1 2 11 8 16 6th Mainz 9 3 0 1 7 5 2 0 3 8 8 15 7th Ahlen 9 4 0 1 14 8 0 2 2 2 7 14 8th Rostock 9 1 2 1 10 10 3 0 2 10 10 14 9th Greuther Fürth 9 4 0 1 12 7 0 1 3 4 8 13 10th Duisburg 9 2 1 2 6 7 1 1 2 8 9 11 11th Aue 9 2 1 1 7 5 1 1 3 5 10 11 12th SF Siegen 9 3 0 2 11 7 0 1 3 2 7 10 13th Schweinfurt 9 1 3 0 6 4 1 1 3 6 10 10 14th RW Essen 9 2 1 1 10 8 0 3 2 6 12 10 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15th Braunschweig 9 3 1 1 9 7 0 0 4 5 13 10 16th Union Berlin 9 2 1 1 6 5 0 1 4 4 14 8 17th Oberhausen 9 1 1 2 3 4 0 1 4 3 9 5 18th Lübeck 9 1 2 2 8 11 0 0 4 2 10 5 </pre>

retired_rainmaker

Despite his brace of goals in the last game Schöler was pushed out on the bench as van Buskirk reported ready and he would team up with Graulund as we undertook the journey to Mainz for a rough match. It wasn’t so much the fact that we lost that upset me, it was more the way we did it. Nobody played to their potential and Arzu made things even harder for us with an early red card.

The time to get back in gear came a week later as we entertained Aachen. With them in fifth place this wouldn’t be an easy game, but we need to secure at least one point from it as every single point counts. It took them 45 seconds to find the net for the first time, but fortunately it was ruled out for offside and instead we took the lead. We got to enjoy that for all of three minutes before we were level again Naturally we continued to dominate the match, but with our luck they managed to convert 50% of their chances and left us with a 2-3 defeat. We are still too weak defensively.

Negotiations were opened up with a few clubs who had players I judged would do well for us. One of the clubs were the Kaiserslautern amateurs who had a young German left back whom should be better than Straub. We also started talks with the Danish club FC Copenhagen for one of their unwanted players. Terms were quickly agreed with Kaiserslautern and within two days we had signed Nils Döring to take over on the left. We also got him cheap at a cost of just €550K. To my surprise FC Copenhagen accepted our €2,5m bid for Martin Albrechtsen and the player himself was keen to join us. His wage demands were incredibly low and we soon signed him to a 5-year contract. Though best centrally he would initially play on the right,.

He didn’t make it in time for our game against Aue but would watch from the stands. Döring was ready though. The game was, for lack of other words, incredible. The first 30 minutes was completely dominated by Aue and they took a deserved 2-0 lead. Then it turned completely around and we managed to pull level. The second half was a flurry of attacking football from both sides and though it finished 2-2, both sides could easily have scored 4 goals.

With no players injured and suspended and my two new players also available I was really looking forward to the visit from Greuther Fürth and our old loan signing, Thorsten Burkhardt. We get off to a superb start as Arzu sees that the keeper is far from his goal at kickoff and immediately shoots toward goal scoring with a wonderful lob from the halfway line after just a few seconds. Brings back memories of Nayim It proved a close match and they were always threatening. A late brace from Custos sealed it though and with a narrow 3-2 win we’re back in business.

retired_rainmaker

Schweinfurt are directly above us in the table and on even points, but with games in hand and thus a good result here would be vital to keep us from being left behind in the relegation zone. The tradition of early goals in our games was kept as Atalan dribbled straight through the passive defence to give us the lead after a few minutes. Graulund increased this and while Schweinfurt pulled one back a goal from van Buskirk sealed their fate and moved us to the heady heights of eleventh place.

The real test came on Monday the 18th of November as we entertained St. Pauli. We need to be able to beat teams like this if we are serious about promotion in a few years and this game should be a good indication of how far we’ve come. With a fit first team squad there really is no excuses. The first chance comes after seven minutes when Curbelo finds Atalan free in the hole. With plenty of time the young German doesn’t fail and powers a shot in. The northerners did pull level again, but we had things under firm control and two goals in four minutes late in the second half finally cracks St. Pauli and makes their late consolation goal useless. Things are starting to turn our way now. We’re almost halfway through the season and have opened a six-point gap down to the dropzone and are only eight points away from promotion. This is not turning out too bad after all.

Another test came as we had to face Gladbach on the road. They have a strong team and home advantage, but we’re riding high on confidence now and I had a feeling that we might take something home with us. I had never imagined what lay in store though. We completely dominated them from the very start and if their keeper hadn’t stood a blinder they would have lost by eight or more goals. As it was we only scored twice through Grauland and Atalan despite having 18 shots on target. They too were dangerous, but as we kept them down to one goal it gave us a surprising win and our biggest scalp yet.

All good times three. FC Köln was our next opponents and I don’t get the deal with the fixtures. It might just be bad luck, but we’re up against a lot of strong teams in a row. It was a relatively short trip and I was pleased to see a sizable contingent of Siegen fans had made the trip. We opened optimistically testing the Köln keeper a few times, but gradually we lost control. Though we lost it the score was misleading as they were not two goals better than us, but a shaky performance by Alter ensured that we didn’t get anything from it.

After those 3 games it was a pleasure to go up against Union Berlin who are nowhere near as strong. Of course, it shouldn’t surprise me if this actually meant that we would lose that one as well. The trip to Berlin was somewhat longer than the one to Köln, but we were confident of a good result. We started well enough, but when we lost Arzu to injury Berlin managed to score before we could reorganise. Graulund pulled us level again and Curbelo put us in the driving seat before they made sure that it ended with a draw. A good result, but not good enough.


<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * German Second Division - Sunday 8th December 2002********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st 1.FC Köln 18 7 0 2 23 11 5 3 1 23 12 39 2nd Aachen 18 7 1 0 17 8 5 1 4 21 21 38 3rd M'gladbach 18 6 1 3 18 13 3 2 3 18 15 30 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th Mainz 18 6 2 2 20 13 3 1 4 14 14 30 5th St. Pauli 18 6 1 1 20 8 3 1 6 13 21 29 6th Cottbus 18 5 1 2 15 6 4 0 6 16 16 28 7th Ahlen 18 7 0 3 24 15 1 3 4 7 14 27 8th Duisburg 18 4 2 3 16 13 4 1 4 14 15 27 9th Union Berlin 18 6 2 1 17 8 2 1 6 7 18 27 10th Rostock 18 3 2 4 18 19 4 3 2 18 17 26 11th SF SIEGEN 18 5 0 3 19 14 2 3 5 12 20 24 12th Aue 18 5 3 2 22 16 1 1 6 7 18 22 13th Braunschweig 18 5 3 2 20 18 1 1 6 10 20 22 14th Schweinfurt 18 3 5 2 19 17 2 1 5 13 17 21 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15th Greuther Fürth 18 6 0 2 16 9 0 2 8 13 27 20 16th RW Essen 18 3 1 4 15 17 1 4 5 14 21 17 17th Oberhausen 18 4 1 3 10 7 1 1 8 6 19 17 18th Lübeck 18 2 4 4 14 19 1 0 7 5 18 13 </pre>

retired_rainmaker

Our last home fixture before the enforced winter break was against Duisburg who have a rather strong team and are placed a little above us and with three points more. A win here would really do us well. A fluke, deflected shot tricked Almer and gave them an early lead, but as we got into the game we started pulling ourselves together and pulled level thanks to a good strike from Atalan. Van Buskirk weren’t having one of his best games so he was pulled off by Schöler though to no avail. As it ended that score was still 1-1, but we had won 9-1 in the shots on target statistic.

We rounded the first half of the season off with a tough away fixture against Rostock. Against all odds we took the lead when Lassissi headed us in front after a corner in the 9th minute and then doubled through Kotula after 21 minutes. Two second half goals in just three minutes put Rostock back in the game and with a goal just before time they clinched the win and left us with some work to do during the break.

During the long winter I had two immediate concerns: To get rid of some of the deadwood and to find a good partner for Graulund. I was tempted to make a bid for the Brazilian Christian, but at 29 years of age he was not what I was looking for. In the end I resolved to save my money and make a loan offer for Christian Keller from the Danish club Viborg. I considered buying him, but by loaning him I could get a good look at him first. Sadly, the player himself rejected it. As the days went by so did the transfer window and I had to settle for what I already had.

By the end of January it was time to get back on the frozen fields and I was happy that we would start off at home against struggling Lübeck. It is imperative to get off to a good start. Just as planned both strikers scored in the first half, but it was not the idea that Lübeck should score as well. Things got much easier for us when Schröder got sent of for a dangerous tackle and with the numerical advantage we got the vital goal to give us the desired win.

That success was to be followed up at Essen who are much like us… a midtable team. As it was it ended all square even though we had been down by two goals and while a point is acceptable, it is not good enough if we are to push a place in the top half of the table.

I hoped for another win in our next game as taking 7 points out of nine would mean that we had gotten off to a brilliant start. I didn’t expect Ahlen to be pushovers though even though we only lost the away match to them by one goal. Of course, I shouldn’t have been surprised then when we were out-classed and lost 1-3.

retired_vikkylj

Hadn't noticed another German story on the boards. KUTGW

retired_rainmaker

Both Arzu and Custos nursed minor injuries ahead of the clash with Oberhausen weakening our midfield significantly. Staying true to our terrible form we were crushed 5-2 by the struggling team and also lost Döring for a few days.

After the game I let the players know that that kind of performance was simply unacceptable and things would have to change against Braunschweig or someone would start loosing their place in the team. It appeared to have done the job as both van Buskirk and Graulund scored in the first half putting us on the road to victory. Sadly we fell back in our old habits in the second half and allowed them to gain on us before a goal from Kotula made sure that the points were ours.

It was imperative not to lose the new morale that was slowly seeping into the players after the win last week and the best way to build upon it would be by beating Greuther Fürth. I also had the luck that van Buskirk was praised in the papers and by building a bit on that telling them that I had complete confidence in him would assure me of even more goals. We survived some early scares when they hit the post twice in the first ten minutes, but then Curbelo and Atalan scored within 3 minutes of each other and those proved to be the only goals of the game as we went on to getting two wins in a row. On a sadder note we lost Albrechtsen for a few days with a bruised thigh.

However next up was Mainz who have proven to be a real solid side. I also had to give up on the slim hope of promotion as we were now 15 points adrift and relegation was only five points below us. Mainz caused us all sort of trouble in the game and we hadn’t been lucky in them being forced to substitute two players due to injury things wouldn’t have gotten quite ugly. As it was a brace from Graulund was just enough to get us a narrow 2-1 win and I couldn’t help but shake at the thought of what could have happened.

That win left us trailing Cottbus in third place by 12 points, but next up were the easterners and even before kick-off I knew it would be an almost impossible battle. We opened the scoring through van Buskirk in the 41st minute, but the second half was a storm to weather. Several times I had to thank Almer as he produced save after save only capitulating in the 55th. Just as both teams were about to settle for a draw Atalan found Graulund with a precise pass and the Danish striker didn’t waste the chance but scored the winning goal deep into the added time. We are certainly on a roll now.

retired_rainmaker

With our recent successes the spirit was high before the visit from Aue. We’re only just keeping them behind us and a win would certainly be welcome. We would be without both Atalan and Arzu though, so it wouldn’t be that easy. We got off to a terrible start when we went down 0-1 after just a minute, but great goals from Zott and Döring saw us take a lead at half time. In the second half we managed to pull away both 3-1 and 5-2, but in the end a thrilling match ended with a 5-3 win for us and now we actually have a glimmer of hope for a top spot. 5 games left and only seven points behind.

It wouldn’t be easy though. Four of our last 5 opponents were in the top five, so we would need all the luck and skill we could find. Possibly the fact that we’ve met the poorer sides is why we are so high in the table. Well, a full strength side went out to meet St. Pauli who are neck by neck with us. A shot on the bar from Atalan in the second minutes heralded that it would be one of those days where things went our way. Goals from both strikers in the first half set us on the way, but things got tense when St. Pauli pulled one back and Atalan then was dismissed for a punch. I’ll really need a work with him and his aggressions. Sadly Cottbus also won.


Atalan would be missing the match against lowly Schweinfurt thanks to his suspension, but I was hoping that Truckenbrod would do well as his replacement. As I had expected and hoped we ran over them and being 3-0 up at half time we could take it easy and preserve our strength for the vital last games.

We had some mixed news after the game. While it was absolutely stunning that Cottbus had lost 2-3 at Duisburg I was pretty shocked when it was announced that Atalans ban had been extended by 6 games. A seven game ban is almost a fifth of the season. Pretty rough.
Well, things were now almost in our own hands. If we could win the rest of the games….all three… then we should have a good chance. All still depended on Cottbus losing their home game against FC Köln though, a thing that might not happen as Köln have already been crowned champions.

After that win we had another of those terrible away games coming up, this time at Aachen. A win for us would leave us in a good position, while a win for them would see them promoted. Neither team could be happy with a draw though, so it should be interesting. As expected the match was pretty intense with Aachen having the most possession, but our players being the most dangerous. We didn’t get closer than a shot on the upright though and it ended as it had begun. We were helped by Köln though who beat Cottbus. Two games to go and we have to of the top four teams to go.

No matter what happens we will have exceeded even our best expectations and this bodes well for the future. With two home games remaining we still had a decent chance, but it would still require Cottbus to lose and we still had Köln in our last match. Not exactly a dream. For our second last game we faced Gladbach. Having beaten them once already we looked to go for the double and make it go down to the last day of the season. Unfortunately the aggregate scores makes the difference four points so we will have to win and Cottbus must drop points.
Things got off to an incredibly hectic start with six goals in the first half hour, four of them signed Siegen players. Sadly we also learnt that Cottbus were both a goal and a man up in their match. In the end we did our part by winning 4-3, but so did the easterners.

So, this is it. last day of the season and we have the divisional leaders FC Köln guesting us. They have been in a league of their own this year and that makes out job hard. We will need a clear win and hope for a complete Cottbus defeat. Odds against us are at 100-1. More than 14 thousand fans came to cheer us on, hoping for a miracle, but we couldn’t deliver as we lost it 3-4. Still, it was a good showing and next year we’ll be even stronger.

retired_rainmaker

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * German Second Division - Sunday 4th May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Table============================================= ================================================== =Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag Won Drn Lst For Ag Pts--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------1st C 1.FC Köln 34 12 2 3 39 17 12 4 1 44 21 78 2nd P Aachen 34 12 3 2 31 18 7 2 8 34 35 62 3rd P Cottbus 34 12 1 4 34 16 7 2 8 27 24 60 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------4th M'gladbach 34 11 2 4 37 22 6 3 8 35 35 56 5th Duisburg 34 9 4 4 32 22 7 3 7 30 34 55 6th Ahlen 34 12 1 4 37 17 4 5 8 19 29 54 7th Mainz 34 9 4 4 28 19 6 5 6 25 24 54 8th SF SIEGEN 34 11 1 5 44 33 5 5 7 24 32 54 9th Aue 34 11 4 2 43 24 3 4 10 19 34 50 10th St. Pauli 34 10 4 3 39 20 4 1 12 19 41 47 11th Union Berlin 34 10 4 3 32 19 3 2 12 15 38 45 12th Braunschweig 34 12 3 2 37 22 1 2 14 19 42 44 13th Greuther Fürth 34 11 1 5 35 22 0 5 12 22 44 39 14th Schweinfurt 34 7 7 3 35 26 3 2 12 19 40 39 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------15th R Rostock 34 5 4 8 29 36 5 4 8 28 39 38 16th R RW Essen 34 7 4 6 35 29 1 6 10 20 34 34 17th R Lübeck 34 4 8 5 25 28 2 1 14 13 38 27 18th R Oberhausen 34 6 1 10 24 29 1 2 14 7 32 24 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* ************************************************** * German Second Division - Sunday 4th May 2003********************************************** ************************************************** ================================================== ============================================== 2002/3 Average Rating============================================ ================================================== ==Pos Player Club Apps Av R-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Arie van Lent M'gladbach 30 8.10 2nd Matthias Scherz 1.FC Köln 34 8.09 3rd Archil Arveladze 1.FC Köln 30 8.07 4th Peter Graulund SF Siegen 27 7.96 5th John van Buskirk SF Siegen 30 7.93 6th Moti Kakoon Aachen 31 (2) 7.91 7th Bernd Korzynietz M'gladbach 33 (1) 7.88 8th Zsolt Lõw Cottbus 29 7.86 9th Léider Preciado Ahlen 34 7.85 10th Markus Kurth Duisburg 34 7.79 </pre>

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">============================================= ================================================== = 2002/3 Goals============================================= ================================================== =Pos Player Club Apps Gls-------------------------------------------------------------------------1st Archil Arveladze 1.FC Köln 30 24 2nd Moti Kakoon Aachen 31 (2) 24 3rd Benjamin Auer Mainz 27 (2) 20 4th Ilia Grujev Duisburg 24 (8) 19 5th Arie van Lent M'gladbach 30 19 6th Léider Preciado Ahlen 34 18 7th John van Buskirk SF Siegen 30 18 8th Rostislav Broum Aue 33 (1) 18 9th Marcão St. Pauli 34 17 10th Xie Hui Greuther Fürth 34 16 14th Peter Graulund SF Siegen 27 13 </pre>