Hannover 96 3 1.FC Nürnberg 1

                                               









Funny old game, this one. I wasn't really looking forward to it as there was not much at stake for either teams. If Mainz failed to win, Hannover would claim 4th spot. Nürnberg had already nailed the 6th spot but could not go any higher. But as soon as I was in the stadium, there was a party atmosphere.
 I took to my seat as usual, whereby I was tapped on the shoulder. I turned round to find a man with a cigar in his mouth, waving his ticket in my face. "What do you want?", I politely asked in German. He continued to wave his ticket and point at my seat. I must admit....I lost my rag. When people show me no respect, I show them none in return. This also includes me bothering to converse in their own language, so I hit him with this witty reposte - 

"Take that stogie out of your north, stop flapping about like a pregnant seagull and liven yourself up".

  He looked bemused and moved on. Obviously he had the wrong row of seating. Tip: Learn to read before tapping me on the shoulder and wanting me to move.

Before the game kicked off, we bade farewell to three players. Mikael Forssell, who in truth was never going to have a future with Hannover, especially after the signings of Ya Konan and Abdelloue. Shame, he could still do a job and we have shared some good banter on Twitter.
  Goalkeeper Florian Fromlowitz, who I am sad to see leaving. Not only is he an excellent keeper, the way he handled himself after the death of Robert Enke last season, showed a maturity beyond his years. In Zieler, we do have a great young keeper, and "Flo" obviously needs to be playing first team football. I wish him all the best.
 Lastly, Constant Djapka. Another good player, he was on loan from Leverkusen and used to do a somersault whenever we scored. 

Nürnberg fans tribute to Mintal

                The Nürnberg fans said goodbye to their striker Marek Mintal, who after 8 years is leaving the club. They had a terrific chant to the tune of The Flintstones for him. 

The game was quite open, both teams playing some good football. Mehmet Ekici was running the midfield for "The Club" and Hannover although posing no real threat, were showboating a bit.

After 25 minutes, the ball was played through to Wießmeier, with Zieler rushing out to close him down, he expertly lobbed him to put Nürnberg 1-0 up.
 Five minutes later, a corner from Rausch, and Karim Haggui tapped in from 5 yards to level the scores.
 1-1 going into the half time break. 

In the second half, Jan Schlaudraff was playing like a man pocessed, wriggling here and there, neat turns, beating defenders. It was no surprise when he fed Konstantin Rausch in the area, the youngster taking one touch and curling a beauty beyond Schäfer in the visitors goal for his 5th of the season. Cue a mass bundle on the touchline, and Ya Konan emerging minus his shorts.

Jan Schaudraff

                      In the 78th minute it was than man Schaudraff again, who wriggled his way worm like into the box, only to be felled. Clear penalty and up stepped top scorer Didier Ya Konan to make it 3-1 to Hannover, getting booked for throwing his shirt to the crowd afterwards.
   Results elsewhere were indicating that Wolfsburg were down. This was an invite for the whole stadium to rejoice in their downfall. I don't particularly hold sway in seeing our local rivals get relegated. After all, it is a very easy away trip.

  So that was it. We clinch 4th place and the delights of the Europa league await. Eintracht Frankfurt join St. Pauli in the 2 Liga, whilst Hertha Berlin and FC Augsburg join us in the Bundesliga. Wolfsburg are safe but Borussia Möchengladbach must play off against 2 liga VfL Bochum. 

SSG Halvestorf-Herkendorf 1 VfL Bückeburg 1

A lovely Sunday afternoon, and quite a local derby, with the village of Herkendorf only being 32.4kms from Bückeburg. I drove to this one for a change, and was listening to the Guardian Football Weekly Extraaaaaaaaa (that may mean something to some of you) podcast.
 The game between the two sides earlier in the season produced a 1-1 draw, and the way the hosts started, we would be lucky to come out of this one with a draw. 
 In fact, SSG (as I shall refer to them throughout this blog) should have gone into the break at least two goals up. We created nothing and Fritsche picked up a needless yellow card for whinging. Shortly after, goalkeeper Tim Engler also recieved a yellow and I am going to quote Arsene Wenger on this one: "I didn't see it".

The entry ticket

                                                               Before the kick off, a man came up to me and started to chat. He was a Preussen Hameln fan, and since the folding of his club, followed this lot. Remarkable how I get on with the "away" fans better than our own. May have to work on that one in future.

 The second half was in total contrast with the first, with Bückeburg taking the game to the hosts. Jonas Abram was a lot tighter to his man, the forward partnership of Bremer and Fritsche started to cut through the SSG defence at will. Dennis Peter was pulling the strings in midfield, and it was only a question of if and not when we would score. The only low point for me was Bastian Könemann, who is a very talented player but has an annoying habit of throwing himself to the ground and squealing when anybody touches him. Please stop it...!

The main stand

 
                               In the 62nd minute, Niklas Fritsche did brilliant to hold off three players and square the ball for the unmarked "Bubi" Bremer, who finished with aplomb. 1-0 and thouroughly deserved.
 The next 15 minutes was the Niklas Fritsche show, where the young striker had at least 3 one on ones and fluffed them all. This is a real shame, as if he could work on his first touch a bit more, and sharpen up his finishing could easily play in a couple of leagues higher. However, he did get the assist, so not complaining. And he's a nice geezer (even though he is going to be a cozzer)!

Niklas Fritsche

                                                      
As long as it remained 1-0, it was never safe and sure enough, Tim Engler pulled off a blinding save to keep us ahead. But it wasn't to last. In the 88th minute, a peach of a volley had the home fans in raptures, and we still couldn't beat SSG.
 All in all a fair result. The league leaders 1.FC Wunstorf could only a draw, so we still have a game in hand but 4 points behind. It can still be done, next stop TSV Stelingen away on Tuesday night. 

RATINGS

Ground:          5
Weather:   10
Toilets:    7
Bratwurst:  Not tested
Home fans:  4


PLAYER RATINGS


1. Tim Engler       7
2. Pascal Könemann  6
3. Jonas Abram      7
4. Dennis Peter     8 
7. Jean-Paul Thom   6
9. Alexander Bremer 7
10. Niklas Fritsche 7
13. Bastian Schmalkoch 6
14. Nils Rinne      6
18. Jan Steiniger   5
20. Bastian Könemann 7

SUBS


19. Jan-Eike Raschke 7
11. Nico Gutzeit    6

Hanover 96 0 Borussia Mönchengladbach 1

As usual I got the train from Bückeburg. Although I have a ticket for first class, I couldn't get to it as it was blocked with racaus Möchengladbach fans.

  There were many fans on the train. The Hannover fans were all wearing Hannover shirts. The Möchengladbach fans were all wearing Möchengladbach shirts and singing songs, mostly containing the words, "Borussia" and "Möchengladbach". And yet the woman opposite me on the train asked someone if Hannover were playing at home. When he replied in the affirmative she then asked "Against who?". Some people!!

As I took my place in the stadium, the sun was beating down, the Gladbach fans were in good voice.

 The game was poor, well, from a Hannover point of view. Gladbach played the ball around very nicely, the front two of Mike Hanke (ex Hannover) and Mo Idrissou causing problems. 

  Pinto picked up a silly yellow card after 35 minutes. The Hannover midfield were apalling, giving the ball away far too easily through Jan Schlaudraff and the usuall reliable Sergio Pinto.

                       The usually reliable Pinto

It was only thanks to our keeper, Zieler, that we went in 0-0 at the break. From Manchester United reserve to Bundesliga regular in a few months is impressive. Probaly why Schalke are sniffing around as a replacement for Manuel Neuer when he leaves for Bayern (or Manchester United if you believe the tabloids).

In the 76th minute, Marco Reus waltzed throught the non-existent Hannover defence and hit a screamer from 30 yards that left Zieler with no chance. A deserved lead and a few minutes later, man mountain Idrissou hit the bar with a towering header.

  The final whistle was a relief, as it was painful to see Hannover play so badly. Two games left, Stuttgart away and Nürnberg at home. Bayern beat Schalke 4-1 to retain 3rd place and I think it will be hard to knock them off of their perch now. Still, Europa League guaranteed for us next season, and after a final day survival to stay in the Bundesliga last season, no one could have predicted such a season.

Congratulations to Borussia Dortmund who won the Bundesliga for the 7th time in their history and to QPR who return to the Premier League.

                  One of the sucess stories of the season, goalie

                                                                     Ron-Robert Zieler

                                                                                        

   My other teams didn't fare too well either, Orient going down 0-3 at home to Tranmere and Romford losing at home by the same margin to Thamesmead Town.