For that, I apologize.

Lets move past my failings (and the fact that I’ve not blogged in n months, ahem) and onto this season.

Look! The Billygoats are flying!

Look! 3rd! Champions league spots! Admittedly, the deep rooted pessimism in me is ingrained enough to say that there is still plenty of time to slip 15 places down the table.

Last year was...not good.

The difference this season is immense. Gladbach have 26 points from 13 games this year. Compare that to 36 points total from the whole 34 games. At the mid winter break, Borussia had a grand total of 18 points last year, we had that within 8 games this year. I’m flabbergasted at the turnaround(flabbergasted is a word that needs to be used more often in the English language, I think.)

Should Gladbach proceed at this pace and qualify for the Champions League next season, I cant see the domestic season doing anything other than suffering until the inevitable knock-out in 4th from the group. Or, the miracle that is the Europa League parachute spot.

I’ll try to be back sooner than 6 months later, but I promise nothing.

I’ve been in Oslo since Wednesday for by:larm (hey kids, remember me?) and I return to find this on BBC news

Whats that? Victory? Snatched from the jaws of defeat? God bless Lucien Favre

SUCCESS! Finally, the ball can get rolling. I’ve done some mathematics, but I’ve already covered that, so we’ll gloss over it. The long and short is that this season has been reclaimed from the write-off pile and the first half of the year shall be put down to a minor 4 month hiccup should Favre pull off a heroic act.

Lets talk about the players for a brief moment. All too often this season we’ve seen 2 things happen, once following swiftly after the other. The pourous defence ships a goal, which leads to the entire teams heads dropping and the fight being sucked lifelessly from the bodies of the players.

This was different. A goal down after the 2nd minute(obviously a bit of work to be done there, eh, Lucien?) and the players didnt sit down and try to take the ball home because they werent playing anymore. A mere 10 minutes later and Gladbach were level. I’m sure that the one-man-and-his-dog support crowd at Borussia Park were elated, but apprehensive and ready for the next Schalke goal. I know I was. Instead, there was another 10 minute slot until the next goal. Fear the worst, dear reader, but be disappointed not, for it was a Borussia goal. Borussia Monchengladbach were ahead at Borussia Park. A situation even rarer than hens teeth this season, and one which I have no doubt caused all of the home fans to bite their finger nails down to the bone with nerves.

Rumour has it, the home side played like men possessed which merely added to the lack lustre 2nd half performance from Schalke, who really ought to have done better, being as they are a champions league side. At various points after the 2nd Gladbach goal, Schalke had 0 effort from the team. I suspect a set of heavy legs to blame on their part. Die Fohlen may even have been able to stick a slightly higher number on the scoreboard, were there not some inaccuracy from the front line. Baby steps, lads. One thing at a time.

Just 4 points are keeping Gladbach from casting off their ball and chains that are shackling them to the bottom of the table. Obviously, there is much work to be done save the season from disaster. Shoring up that suspect backline is key. Get them playing with more discipline, and more confidence in their own ability and the clean sheets will begin to rack up soon enough.

All in all, confidence in themselves, and confidence in the manager is going to get the team into a minimum of 15th place. They have the talent, not everyone can make it to the top level of German football, so why not show it off? Turn the stadium into FORTRESS BORUSSIA as I’ve been almost demanding in nearly every post since I started doing this, maybe we’ll all start to get along better. Who knows, next year, I may be able to post happier musings of a European spot challenge.

Also, there is the possibility of Gladbach defender Paul Stalteri answering a few questions I’ve emailed to him. Watch this space for further details on that front. I make no promises of huge exclusives, but hey, you dont get to the top without being at the bottom first, no?

"Micheal, we need to talk"

"Are you breaking up with me?"

Obviously, its always terrible when a manager loses his job, and I honestly hope that Micheal Frontzeck has all the success he deserves in future. Losing to St. Pauli was obviously the straw that broke the camel’s back in the boardroom, and they opted to tighten the noose on Sunday, before replacing him with Lucien Favre on Sunday.

I’m slightly sceptical about this appointment. Wasnt Lucien Favre let go by previous club Hertha Berlin in September 2009 because they were struggling? This same Hertha Berlin that are now flying high in 2. bundesliga and likely to take Gladbach’s place in the top tier?

Favre has a decent managerial record, having won a few cups and league titles in Switzerland before attempting to take the Bundesliga with Hertha BSC. Partial success with Berlin was unfortunatley undone when a trio of the squads better players left for pastures new and it was following this, and the difficulties of a tiny budget, that led to his downfall at the club.

It seems that Gladbach have total faith in him, giving him a contract until 2013 as well as a bonus for keeping the team in the top set, rumoured to be something like 250,000 Euro. Not too bad, in my opinion. There is well documented cases of “The New Manager Effect” that bouys a team a little and a fresh outlook breathes optimism into the squad. Favre is known for playing attacking, exciting football and being a highly skilled tactician. Possibly a little bit like a cut-price Mourinho, perhaps?

Favre is in a win-win situation at the minute. If Gladbach are relegated, he holds his hands up, says he did his best, and starts life in the next league claiming that he didnt quite have the time to develop his philosophies with the team. A valid point. Should the Miracle Of Monchengladbach happen, he can claim to be a tactical genius, that the team are good enough to compete in the top tier, that he’s the right manager to launch a good challenge next year, all the while pocketing a nice bit of money at the same time.

He has the opportunity to become a hero to the fans, lets hope that the next few games the team start to follow his attacking principles, and get a bit more organized at the back, and hopefully chalk up a few more wins before the end of the season.

The Great Gladbach Rebirth begins here.

With this man

One thing remains to be said; a couple of weeks ago, I asked if it was time for Micheal Frontzeck to leave his post. Not long after, there is a new manager.

Listen to your bloggers, folks, occasionally we make a good call.

A loose back pass from a St Pauli player was pounced upon by Hanke, who managed to cut back for De Camargo who burst a lung to get on the end of it and had enough composure to put the ball in the back of the net. So far so good.

Swiftly followed was an attack from St Pauli that was heroically defended by a normally dubious defence/goalkeeper combination. The ball stayed out. So far, so good.

A stonewall penalty appeal turned down. So far, not so good, but crucially still attacking.

Our goalscoring hero feels that he has been tackled in an ungentlemanly manner, and opts to remunstrate with his would-be-assailant. Sadly, he forgets to take the upper hand, and connects with a head-butt upon the St. Pauli player. Naturally, the powers that be will take a dim view of this, but before that, a straight red was handed out from the fella in the middle.

To recap: 21 minutes into the game, Gladbach are 1-0 up and 1 man down. Can they hold on to their slim lead with 70 minutes to play as a 10 man shaky defensive unit? Find out in 3…2…1…

As it was, no, they couldn’t. 7 minutes before the break, Borussia gave up the inevitable goal to Kruse(watching the highlights, it was actually a decent volley from 17yards out) and went into the interval 1 goal apiece and honours even.

Some sloppy defending after the half shows Gladbach to be lucky. A goalmouth scramble ends when a St. Pauli player blasts the ball into Row Z, not of Millerntor-Stadion, but of the Allianz ArenA it was so high.

More shocking, schoolboy errors at the back lead to Gerald Asamoah giving St. Pauli the lead after 52 minutes. As we know as followers of Die Fohlen, there is not coming back from a single goal deficit, but that happens everywhere in football, doesnt it? Does it? Any Arsenal fans help me out with this one? Or West Brom?

Yet more disgraceful defending has left Lehmann free on the left for St. Pauli in about 400 miles of space to slot home from 12 yards out. 58 minutes into the game and thats it, time to go home for Gladbach fans.

Sadly, thats where my highlights I was using died. So I cant describe the remaining 30 minutes of FAIL partaken in the usual fashion by Gladbach. Possibly a better thing to happen than not, given the previous hours worth of capitulation.

And with that, I sign off for the evening. I bid you farewell and hope to have better news next weekend.

Ooh, speaking of next weekend, I’m travelling, so Monday night will be the earliest I could post. I bid you adieu.

(Highlights were used courtesy of 101greatgoals.com –> http://www.101greatgoals.com/videodisplay/pauli-borussia-monchengladbach-8483479/ )

2-0 up at half time is quite difficult to over come, as Die Fohlen know from experience, so how they managed to lose 3-2 after 90 minutes is beyond me. Playing well for 45 minutes is ok, provided its the 2nd half and you’re already winning, but its crucial to try and play well for the full amount.

It is recommended in sports that to win, you have to give it your best efforts for the entire length of the competition. Somewhere along the lines, Borussia Monchengladbach missed that memo, steadfastly refusing to do anything beyond 45 minutes work per week.

I had hope, last week, that there was light at the end of the tunnel. For the rest of the season, Bob Bradley’s nepotism project has become Aston Villa’s problem, and I had begun to think that without that particular gibbon getting in the way, Gladbach may make a bit of a push.

Readers of my previous post will notice how it had suddenly become mathematically possible to not play in the 2. Bundesliga. Obviously, Frontzeck isnt interested in my calculations, and seems to be determined to prove he is a good 2nd division manager, rather than a poor top flight one. Its always nice to now your level.

It was a simple run in, against teams not in the top half of the table, so theoretically, it was completely possible to crawl up the table. Especially without Mr. Nepotism running around the grass.

Actually, hang on. I think I’ve figured it out.

die Fohlen are obviously, cunningly, determined to go down, and are intent on fooling everyone with it.

Being 2-0 up at the half shows there is a quality there. Hidden though it may be, its reared its ugly head a few times to keep Frontzeck in the office for another week at least. Once half time showed up, they remembered that their job this year is to the official 1. Bundesliga Whipping Boys(tm) and so had to drop 3 goals through their lace curtain defence. Its impressive, and takes a lot of talent to be able to hide your actual abilities. Even without He Who Went To Villa To Suck For Houllier.

I put it to you, ladies and gentlemen of the internet, that Borussia Monchengladbach have drawn the short straw for the season and have been cast as the Wooden Spoon recipients for this year.

Next year, we win 2. Bundesliga at a canter, come a close 2nd, or scrape through into 3rd and then lose the play off and spend the next 7 years in 2. Bundesliga.

Oh well, next time’s the charm.

Next game up is against Stuttgart who lie above Gladbach in the table on goal difference alone. 16 points, FC Koeln are on 19. A win next weekend could draw Gladbach level. St. Pauli and Bremen both lie on 22 points, and both have tough games with Hamburg and Mainz to face them respectively. Should both teams lose to the higher opposition, Gladbach will only be 3 points behind, and crucially, still within touching distance of the pack.

Knowing Gladbach, even in the few fleeting weeks since I took this post up, has been a rollercoaster. With what could be described by Alan Hansen as an “easy run-in” failure to capitalise on the coming weeks would be utterly distastrous for Borussia Monchengladbach. This is the time to really push, make the effort and get the points on the board. With Schalke not playing as they should, the only massive test I can see would be Wolfsburg.

Saying all this is well and good, but that first step begins on Saturday at Fortress Borussia-Park against VfB Stuttgart with a hard-fought and completely dramatic 1-0 win from Frontzeck’s men. And I say men in the hope that the men who beat Nuremburg and Frankfurt play more often than the boys who sat down and let Leverkusen dance all around them to the tune of 3-1.

So, to recap:

Step 1; Beat Stuttgart on Saturday

Step 2; Beat St. Pauli

Step 3; Beat Schalke 04 (though a draw would also be acceptable, if not desireable)

Step 4;  Beat Wolfsburg (though a draw would also be acceptable, if not desireable)

February is the key month this season. March kicks off against Hoffenheim. Lets wait to see how we do this month before getting too excited.

Transfer news tomorrow when the window shuts and we know properly who’s in and who’s out for good.

14th August 2010, FC Erzgebirge 1-3 Borussia Monchengladbach

Round 1 complete, advance to round 2.

27th October 2010, Borussia Monchengladbach 1-1 Bayer Leverkusen (0-0 after 90 minutes, 1-1 after extra time, Borussia win 5-4 on penalties)

Round 2 complete, advance to round 3.

21st December 2010 FC Hoffenheim 2-0 Borussia Monchengladbach

Round 3 complete, advance to Quart…hang on. Lets take another look. 2-0? What happened, Die Fohlen? It was all going so well. I understand that in the league you’ve chosen to play in the 2. Bundesliga next year, but you could at least go out all guns blazing, surely? You did so well to beat Leverkusen, a team who beat you less than a week ago. Where did it all go wrong?

Indeed, avid readers, time for another round of the DFB-Pokal, a competition a mere 6 rounds long spread over the course of the season. One which, even for a group of men as intent on not really doing much for a year as Gladbach, is fairly easy to win.

FC Hoffenheim, who seemingly found a way through the “rock-solid” Borussia defences twice, have tonight been defeated by a single goal by Energie Cottbus. I know that I’m new to German football, but I suspect that my local team(AFC Wimbledon for those who are interested in stalking me) could have put up a half decent fight against a team who sound more like some kind of hybrid mode of transport.

2 wins in the first two rounds is impressive. Obviously, its the same as every other team who made it as far as round 3, but for the team curretly clutching the wooden spoon and refusing to give it up, it really doesnt bode well.

So, 2 wins in the cup, 5 wins in total in this season, and only 1 of those coming at home is not very good. I’m playing an old version of Football Manager at the minute(for those interested, its the 08 version. A fine vintage, I’m sure you’ll agree) and the Gladbach team I’m playing as are currently in the 2011-2012 season as the current holders of the Bundesliga. Due to this, I’ve decided that I’m more than qualified to take over from Micheal Frontzeck as the first team coach. I may not speak German, but I’m sure the club would be willing to pay for a translator.

I’ve decided that next season, I’m going to play a Gladbach team concurrently with the actual games going on and compare the fortunes of the computer against those of the squad in the 2. Bundesliga, which I’m already resigned to happening.

Until I’m chosen by the board to bring in good fortunes for the team, I think I’ll prefer the fantasy, but I’ll still be following reality with a heavy heart and a sad look on my face.

Ah well, maybe in reality, Martin Jol will take over and get those magical 12 points to haul us away from the 2 Bundesliga.

Borussia Monchengladbach

Once again, Borussia Monchengladbach have opted for the “lets-make-the-opposition-look-better-than-us” way of playing football. For reasons known only to the players, management, and backroom staff, they chose not to listen to my requests to turn Borussia Park into a fortress and a ground that is feared. Nice one, lads.After Leverkusen had what I’m going to call “difficulties” last week against Dortmund, and Gladbach had one of games where they scored more than the other team(I want to say a “victory” but I dont want to excite myself) there should have been an air of confidence and a thought that maybe, just maybe, another win was possible.

Apparently, though, no-one told Leverkusen.

Being 1-0 down at half time is hard enough for any team, but one with all of the life sapped out of it would be facing a Herculean task. Needless to say, Gladbach were 2-0 down at the break, because there is nothing that Micheal Frontzeck enjoys more than a harrowing half-time team talk to really get his underperforming players motivated. I have images of him sitting in a corner of the dressing room, staring at the wall opposite with that “thousand yard stare” that war veterans have, but thats beside the point.

After graciously allowing both Kadlec(37) and Castro(45) score before the interval, Gladbach put up a fight, pulling one back through the genius of Stranzl in the 65th. Former Cuban dictator Castro got his 2nd of the game in the 73rd minute to finally kill off the hopes of a Gladbach fightback and the capitulation was complete.

Despite his facial hair, this man may be a genius

Thanks to the irritating nature of my day job(I’m a chef, so I work when all sports are on and I havn’t seen a live game in over 3 years for any team) I managed to miss the game. I am told that Borussia actually played really well, exploiting various weaknesses in the Leverkusen defences, but lacking that crucial finishing product at the important moments. I have watched the highlights available from Scott on the Leverkusen section of The Offside, and frankly, Leverkusen outplayed Borussia. A big thanks to Scott for the footage and a big thanks to YouTube for not pulling it down before I had the chance to see it.

To sum up the weekends game, Stranzl is a genius, and a great buy, the defence is about as water-tight as a piece of paper, and Leverkusen are many places above Gladbach for a reason. Maybe next time out there will be a bit of backbone and bit of fight against whomever has the lucky draw of facing Gladbach, the team with the determination to improve the image of the rest of the Bundesliga.

Building on the success of the Nuremberg win, die Fohlen could use it as a stepping stone to spur themselves off the foot of the table and make some progress in the right direction.

How hard can it be to turn Borussia-Park into a defensive fortress that teams will not enjoy playing at? Surely the supporters can create an atmosphere where the team goes onto the field and enjoys themselves and is not under pressure to win? At such a stage, will the results not come? Wont the team relish the opportunity to get out of the tunnel and face down any teams that dare to cross the white line against them?

So many questions, and none that I can answer. I’m just an outsider looking in on all of this, but what I’m seeing after doing as much research as I can, is a team that should be doing so much better than it is. Is Micheal Frontzeck the right man for the job? I’m not saying kick him out, but 12th last season is a benchmark to improve on, not something to hope for. When did it become acceptable to place lower in the league than teams that come up from 2. Bundesliga? A team with as storied and glory-filled as Gladbach should be in the top 5 every year, and attracting the kind of players that can win the championship by themselves without barely breaking a sweat.

I’m not an expert at the Bundesliga. I dont speak or read a huge amount of German. What I do know is that the Leverkusen game needs to be used by the team as an excersise in fortress building in an attempt to not be languishing in the lower leagues come next September.

Borussia Monchengladbach

Rooted squarely to the bottom of the league table in a proud 18th place (someone has to be there, why not M’Gladbach?), Borussia Monchengladbach have recorded only their third away win of the season. Somewhat tragically, it was also the third win of the season due to an abysmal record at Borussia-Park.

13 points in 18 games is a terrible record at any level, let alone the 1. Bundesliga. 3 wins and 4 draws does not a championship winning season make. 3 points in a tight lower half of the league will be vital, and its only a few points to safety. Can M’Gladbach start to turn things around at last? 18th spot to 12th place is covered by 9 points, in a table as unpredictable as the Bundesliga, surely safety can be achieved. Throw together a run of 4 or 5 more wins before the end of the season and not only will the points be there, but the squad will start to lift and that morale boost will help to create better results.

Taking the scalp of Nuremberg, thanks to an 8th minute goal from Roman Neustadter, could potentially be the catalyst for a turn around and a minor miracle to escape relegation. As it is now, only 4 points stand between Borussia and the safety of avoiding the play-off for relegation. This can only be a good thing. The way that I’m told the team have been playing this year(and the tables speak for themselves) making 15th would be a godsend and scraping through might galvanise the players into performing a little bit better next year.

Nobody wants a West Brom situation where the same team yo-yos between the divisions year after year. It gets dull, makes for an uninteresting game and slowly starts to put people off. All I’m asking from the team is to pull their socks up, get some heart and stop under-achieving. Start winning and make it to the promised land in 15th place, or better. Its not that hard. They’ve all played the game before, its nothing new to them, and frankly, they get paid an obscene amount of money to do something that they should enjoy. Why not make it something enjoyable to watch too? I’m sure the fans that turn up at Borussia-Park for each game are sick of seeing their team capitulate time, and time again.