Bundesliga Fanatic

You would think the indignity of a large club being relegated would signal a bottoming-out. Then that same large club spends six of the first seven weeks in the relegation zone, scoring only one goal the first five weeks and remember, “it can always get worse.” Despite knowing that the club had necessarily jettisoned all [...]

In the duel between last year’ relegated teams, Hertha Berlin and Köln split the points on matchday 16′s showpiece game.  The point keeps Hertha Berlin in second place in the standings and still unbeaten at home this season while Köln fall back down to 11th but continue to steady the ship after a disastrous start to the campaign. [...]

A summer-long series of undesireable incidents was apparently not quite enough embarrassment for a few self-described “fans” of 1. FC Köln. The last few months saw visited upon Effzeh nation: 1. FC Köln was relegated to Bundesliga 2 after a horrible season. Poster boy for the club, fan favorite, and the best, by far, player on the [...]

Former St. Pauli player Ian Joy, a defender who played 67 league matches under the tutelage of Holger Stanislawski between 2005 and 2007, shares an insider’s thoughts on Stani’s new position leading the Billy Goats of  1. FC Köln into the 2012/2013 campaign. I was extremely shocked and surprised when Holger Stansilawski left FC St Pauli, [...]

Relegated! Generally, that word would suffice as a summary of any team suffering the burden of having it associated with the results of a season’s work. Yet, it hardly does justice to just how large a disaster the 2011-12 campaign was for 1. FC Köln both on and off the field. Long-time club president Wolfgang [...]

Borussia Dortmund announced today that Shinji Kagawa has made his final decision and will not renew his contract with BvB.  Expectations are that he will be leaving for Manchester United.  Meanwhile, relegated German side 1. FC Köln have signed the manager that they feel will lead them right back to the top flight when they announced [...]

1. FC Köln have to keep looking for a new coach, and Dortmund is not willing to sell Piszcek. Greuther Fürth coach Mike Büskens was the favorite candidate of the Köln board for the vacant coaching position in the cathedral city. However, the former Schalke player has now turned down Köln’s offer, stating that he [...]

Hoffenheim have lost three key players in this transfer window, and look as if their Bundesliga status might be in jeopardy after four short years. TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s rise to the Bundesliga has been an incredible story, and it’s one that has been read with appreciation, envy and sometimes hatred in Germany. Disliked and disrespected [...]

As the January transfer window enters its last week, Bundesliga clubs are scrambling to make signings that will affect not only the Ruckrunde for the title but also influence Germany’s representation in Europe next season.  VfB Stuttgart stated their intention of grabbing one of those European berths by signing longtime Hoffeneheim striker Vedad  Ibišević, while [...]

Author of the Hoffenheim blog Hoffside and co-editor of the excellent blog Four Added On Saurabh Ananth reviews TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s Hinrunde for the fanatic. With the first half of the season done and dusted, let’s have a look back shall we? All the way back to June. The summer started on a real high [...]