Jahn Regensburg Squad Update

With this post I want to go a bit deeper into Jahn Regensburg Squad, giving you a short view and additional strength my bet.

Regensburg promoted with the lowest budget and was more a big suprise or has ever one think about it before Season 2011/12 started? Biggest key fact was that they work as team and not as soloist or egoist, they had an absolutely phenomenal team spirit.

Regensburg lost some important players from last season, almost all were starters.

DEF Philp 36 matches / 1 goal

DEF Binder 30 matches / 0 goals

MID Alibaz 31 matches / 4 goals

MID Schlauderer 26 matches / 2 goals

STR Schweinsteiger 31 matches / 14 goals

STR Klaus 30 matches / 9 goals

New in the Squad so far

DEF Kotzke from 1860 MunichAmas

MID Haag from Karlsruher SC Amas

MID Müller from FSV Frankfurt Amas

MID Weidlich from RW Erfurt

STR Altinay from Bayern Munich Amas

STR Amacaibou from SpVgg Unterhaching

STR Sembolo from SV Wilhelmhaven

None of them has ever played 2nd Bundesliga, their highest level was 3rd League or Regional League.

These players have already played 2.Bundesliga or higher in his carrer.

Keeper Hofmann played 82x 1.Bundesliga + 80x 2.Bundesliga

DEF Neunaber played 29x 2.Bundesliga for Ingolstadt

MID Dedola played 15x 2.Bundesliga for Ingolstadt

STR Hofmann played 14x 2.Bundesliga for Ingolstadt

All the other players in their squad have never played higher than 3.Bundesliga which is an extreme disadvantage of experience. In addition, the team is very young and have no real leader in his rows so far.

One week before the big opener in Munich by 1860 more and more bad news coming out. Midfielder Oliver Hein got a face injury and is out for 3-4 weeks while Kurz has broken his ankle in trainings camp and missing 8 weeks now. Moreover J.-P. Müller and Tim Erfen are suspended for this match due to their red cards in relegation match against KSC. This means that 4 starters are additional out. With so many changes must be made due to suspended and injured players it is very hard for Coach Corronchano to find the right balance and starting eleven. Some test players are there but nothing special and scary at the moment to be honest.

3.Bundesliga - 2.Round small Update

1.FC Saarbrücken - VfL Osnabrück

Two traditional clubs meet each other here and both miss one striker who scored last weekend. For Saarbrücken imp. Striker Ziemer with injury and for Osnabrück Zollner who got a red card and is suspended now. Also both teams won their opener and both should be in a good mood and motivated enough to do the next step. Which team would have the better result in the end, it's very hard to predict because Osnabrück won not much at Ludwigspark in the past.

Kickers Offenbach - VfB Stuttgart Amas

Season opener for Offenbach's new stadium. Home side played well against newcomer Hallescher FC but lost Hahn with red card and played almost over 60mins. with one men less. They defended well and aloud not many chances to their opponent. Coach van Lent said that the defense did a good job but the offense miss some power. For this he trains a new formation with 4-3-3 this week to get more pressure on the opponent and in addition not to lose defense organization. Also out Hesse, Lamprecht and Mehic.

Amas from Stuttgart lost a bit unlucky at home. But young team has always some ups and downs as well. The defense was well but the offense with plenty of room for improvement. It's a bit of a problem to find the right way to score. Maybe if node bursts they score for free but if not, it's hard to see them winning or get anything. Tough place for them too, never won there. Missings: Rapp, Kiesewetter, Gallert, Geyer and Vecchione.

Alemannia Aachen - Wacker Burghausen

Relegated Aachen started well and did a good job at their season opener in Bielefeld. Sure they were 0-1 down but was the better side and got an deserved qualizer in the end. Key for this was the injury from Bielefeld's Hille who made a lot of trouble on his side and scored also the goal. After that, Aachen was much more awake then. Midfield Motor Streit gave some nice impulse for the game of Aachen and pushed his players as well.

Wacker started very bad but if you take a look at their squad that almost all important players left the club, it's not such a surprise as many think. They lost a lot of their potential and dangerousness with these players. Also with Burghard, Omodiagbe and Müller they miss some additional Kulabas and Aschauer have yet to convince in Burghausen's offense.

TSV 1860 München - Jahn Regensburg

2. Bundesliga / 1.Round

This will be my first bet for new season. It is an early one but abolutely playable.

Match will be played at 04.08.2012 at 13:00 o'clock --> Stadium: Allianz Arena

Neigbour and rival form Bayern München 1860 got their money problems with Sheikh Hasan Ismaik solved and looking ahead to a new better and successfully future. They have done their home work very well and they build up a team which showed their qualitiy already last season. They are able to get involved in promotion race maybe because they lost only two starters so far with striker Volland to 1899 Hoffenheim and midfielder Aigner to Frankfurt. But on the other side they were able to get some talented and motivated players in their squad too. With Stoppelkamp from Hannover as replacement for Aigner and also they strength up their defense with Volz from St. Pauli, Wojtkowiak, Tomasov and Makos very well. Their only construction area should be the open place upfront where Lauth is the only available striker at the moment. They are focused to get a good replacement for Volland maybe from their 2nd team where many talented players find the way up to the 1st team. But it seems that they solved this position as well now because they signed an argentine striker Ismael Blanco who played for AEK and Legia Warschau in the past.

                                                                1860 München - Jahn Regensburg 2010

New promoted team Regensburg with many many problems. Almost the whole team left the club and signed contracts at other clubs. It's not the same team as last season because of many new faces there now. One of the biggest problems should be the inexperience from the young players / squad. All their new signings played last season one league lower as 3rd Bundesliga. The only man who played already 2.Bundesliga and knows the level is keeper and 40 years old man Hofmann.  Also their coach Corrochano is new and come form 2nd team Eintracht Frankfurt which played Regionl South. 

Their budget is with 3 Mio the lowest in this league and they are not able to sign expensive players according this situation they have. All in all they search for 5-6 players more but they need a long breath for it. If time run on it's more or less big surprise if they ready for the 1st round. I don't think like this because they need time ..... but they have none.

Recommend Bet: 1860 München AHC -1 @ 1,90 SBO (3 Units = Flat Stake)

Alemannia Aachen Season Preview

This should be a new start for Alemannia Aachen into a better future because after some great years they were in a huge downtrend in the past and this should be stopped now. Their focuse go ahead but if they are able to play a good role in this league, we have to wait a bit but they should !!

Preview

It’s an absolutely great story about Alemannia Aachen but not with a happy end as in many good cine films. They wrote their own history, especially in the last 10 years where they surprised a lot where they knocked out Bayern Munich from Cup two times and was in Cup Final one time. Also they played international in European League which was a great expierence for the most of their players. They did well for years but their biggest success was the promotion for 1.Bundesliga 2006. They had some great matches and got some good results too but overall they annoyed many Favorites in their Stadium. This was because the old Tivoli was one of the closest stadiums and the atmosphere was phenomenal there. Indeed they played only one year in 1.Bundesliga but were a big asset for the league. Despite of relegation they looked very hopefully into the future but after the new stadium was realized 2009 the downfall has begun. The new Tivoli was bigger and a modern stadium but the atmosphere has suffered a lot. The stronghold of former days was past and the opponents had no fear to play on new Tivoli now. Also the costs for the new Tivoli were huge and they have to pay a lot in the next years what has carry the squad in the past and future years. In order to be survivable they have to save money and hit costs down. 2010 they reinstall inexperienced manager Meijer who was one of the cult players there. His first official act was to sign Peter Hyballa as coach. A young and unknown man which stands for good and offense football. On the other side they build up a very young and talented team which did a good job 2010/2011. For 2011/2012 they lost a lot of important players like Stieber and Höger, also Top Scorer Auer was far away from last year performance. After a long period without any success coach Hyballa was sucked, Funkel came but also without any success while youth coach Aussem was on the line in the end of the season. All together was a big sum up which Aachen involved into relegation battle and was relegated in the end.

The Squad
Through relegation no one of the players and so on had a contract for 3.Bundesliga and new season. It was clear that this will be a big change now for Alemannia although many players gave their word to stick with in the future. Manager Meijer has to leave and new one Scherr was signed. Also many players left like: David Odonkor, Anouar Hadouir, Benjamin Auer, Tobias Feisthammel, Timo Achenbach, Kevin Kratz, David Hohs, Boy Waterman, Bilal Cubkcu, Sergiu Radu, Mirko Casper, Alper Ulidag, Andreas Korte, Kevin Maek, Kim Falkenberg, Manuel Junglas, Bas Sibum, Jonas Strifler, Fabian Bäcker, Shervin Radjabali-Fardi, Reinhold Yabo, Marco Stiepermann.
Additional some players can be convinced to play for Aachen next season above all Sascha Rösler (Fortuna Düsseldorf) and Kai Schwertfeger (Fortuna Düsseldorf) both of them should be one of the better players in this league. Moreover they sigend Sascha Marquet (Alemannia Aachen II), Denis Pozder (Alemannia Aachen II), Mark Flekken (own U19), Dario Schuhmacher (own U19), Robert Leipert (own U19), Fabian Baumgärtel (on loan from SpVgg Greuther Fürth), Sascha Herröder (VfR Aalen), Marcel Heller (VfL Bochum), Timo Brauer (Rot-Weiss Essen), Timmy Thiele (Schalke 04 II), Kristoffer Andersen (FC Ingolstadt II), Michael Melka (Rot-Weiß Oberhausen), Freddy Borg (FC Hansa Rostock).
 

Coach

Aussem comes from the youth team from Alemannia and he took over after Funkel was sucked last season but he made a good job so far and the fans like him. In this case they start with him into new season because he knows the club very well too. His system is not out yet. 

Prediction

Alemannia Aachen’s squad has a tremendous quality in width and the supporters are euphoric about the new season because over 6.000 season tickets are sold so far. Many coaches of the 20 teams predict Alemannia Aachen as one of the top teams in the league and also as one of the promotion candidates. Aachen should be very proud about the trust from other coaches or teams but everyone knows what that means. Additional pressure which can lead to failure, see SV Wehen-Wiesbaden last season. They were top candidate but failed huge. But Alemannia can not afford slip ups, because of the financial burden of the stadium, must be at least a quick return to the second division. All in all they should be ready and able too. Predict: 1.-3. place.

Karlsruher SC Season Preview

After one of the weakest season in KSC history they had to go down in 3.Bundesliga. Maybe this was a big cut now for them but they are absolutely focused to get back according to their management. Are they strong enough in a league where many surprises happen, in order to limit the damage.

Review

After 14 of May Karlsruhe was relegated and this was also their second time that they had to go down in 3rd league. It was deserved because of to many failure from coaches or management as well. They started with Coach Scharinger but after 10 rounds winless he was sucked and new one on the line Jörn Andersen took over but also without any big success. It was never some atmosphere of departure in the club and around their supporters. In March Andersen was sucked too and fromer coach and youth coordinator Kauczinski came. The mood and atmosphere changed a lot then and it was a big solidarity there now. All together now, this was their signal to catch up. They did a great job and finished on 16. place where they had to matches against 3rd league team Regensburg to remain in 2.Bundesliga but they got only 2 draws and were relegated only due to goal rule like European matches. But not the last two matches was the key, the whole season they had some terrible stats and records as well. They lost to many matches with 19 and away from home they were absolutely harmless with collected 6 points beside 27 at home. Also their defense was a disaster and conceded 60 goals. All in all these are numbers for a relegation team.
 

The Squad
One league lower they have to rebuild all and start absolutely new because of many players leaving the club, some are important, some are only squad players and their budget should be not such high as for 2.Bundesliga.
The following players are gone: Elias Charalambous, Luis Robles, Moses Lamidi, Patrick Milchraum, Christian Timm, Klemen Lavric, Simon Zoller, Bogdan Müller, Timo Staffeldt, Alexander Stolz, Thorben Stadler, Guiseppe Aquaro, Marcus Piossek, Delron Buckley, Louis Ngwat-Mahop, Marco Terrazzino, Pascal Groß, Andrei Cristea, Thomas Konrad, Matthias Cuntz, Stefan Müller, Alexander Iashvilli, Ionut Rada, Bakary Soumare, Makhtar Thioune, Boubacar Fofane. Additional some teams are focused to sign midfielder and top talent Chalhanoglu. Werder Bremen is very interested about him and want pay some Mios. It’s not absolutely sure so far but it’s more likely he leaves.
On the other side manager Kreuzer could sign some players as well with Jan Mauersberger (Osnabrück), Phillip Klingmann (Hoffenheim), Christoph Sauter (VfR Aalen), Simon Brandstetter (SC Freiburg), Patrick Dulleck und Kevin Akpoguma (beide eigene U19), Silviano Vernhagen (eigene U23), Selcuk Alibaz (Jahn Regensburg), Elia Soriano (Eintrach Frankfurt II), Karim Benyamina (FSV Frankfurt), Danny Blum (SV Sandhausen), Martin Stoll (Dynamo Dresden), Rouwen Hennings (FC St. Pauli), Daniel Gordon ( FSV Frankfurt), Manuel Bölstler (Hapoel Kfar Saba), Denis Cagara (FSV Frankfurt).
 

Coach
Kauczinski came back as coach last March and although he got relegated with the team he get the confidence to work with the new build team. His favor 4-4-2 where he can play with 2 strikers upfront maybe Benyamina and Hennings both a very quick and should create some danger. Also he knows the club very well and should be able to bring some success back.
 

Prediction
KSC have the biggest budget in 3.Bundesliga with 4 Mio. and their aim is to get straight back into 2.Bundesliga. Promotion is almost a must for them. The quality and strength should be in their new build squad additional. In this case I predict KSC will promote directly.

FC Heidenheim Season Preview

 

Heidenheim should be ready and motivated enough to find a way to surprise a bit above all with their great players what they have in their rows. Their potential should be huge and if they are without any injury problems a top place should be feasiblly.






Preview
FC Heidenheim was one of the favoured promotion candidates. They started very well and had a great run, also in Cup where they made the second round and lost unlucky to Gladbach in penalty shoot out. The support from their fans was also excellent and they had an average from 6.732 in their home matches. They end up at 4th place which is good so far but also a bit unlucky because of their weakness away from home where they got not much and played some terrible matches. But one of the biggest key was the injury problems of some of their important players like Schnatterer, Spann, Schittenhelm, Jabiri and Mayer which are not ready for month. Moreover Sailer, Rühle, Thurk and Klarer had also some light injuries and not able to play sometimes. The offense was hurt a lot and gave them not the strength to promotion.
 
The Squad
All their important players stay at Heidenheim, and they strength their squad only a bit. It looks like that they are more ready and well balanced for the new season to take a great start. These players left: Sandro Kaiser (unknown), Christian Essig (to SV Babelsberg 03), Adam Jabiri (unknown), Tobias Rühle (to Stuttgarter Kickers), Martin Klarer (end of carrer).
On the other side they signed: Marc Endres (SC Freiburg II), Maurizio Scioscia (1. FC Heidenheim II), Marcel Titsch-Rivero (Eintracht Frankfurt II), Nicolai Groß (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim II), Patrick Mayer (FC Augsburg / was on loan last season), Matthias Wittek (FC Ingolstadt 04 / was on loan last season).
Overall a very good mix, all were ready to start together into season preparation. They got some good results out of their friendly matches where they won against Augsburg and made a close match to Stuttgart but both are at the beginning of their preparation. In this case we should not give to much about this results.
 
Coach
Schmidt is for a long time now in Heidenheim and know the business there very well. He knows his team and maybe give some short view about his first eleven. Lehmann should be keeper number one while Feistle, Krebs, Göhlert and Malura build the defense. In midfield Schnatterer and Wittek should be safe while Weil and Bagceci should have an advantage about Titsch-Rivero and Strauß. For the two places in their offense he can choose from a lot of good and experienced players like Mayer, Thurk, Sailer, Heidenfelder, Groß and Frommer. 4 from them are on bench but options are huge.

Prediction

All players start well into preparation and they are all without any injuries. They worked very well and the mood is also excellent. If they are able to get their potential on the pitch and have not such injuriy problems as last season it's more possible that they are one of the teams which play for promotion. But at least they should be able to be close to the top till the end of the season. All possible and surprises are welcome for sure. Predict 2-6

SV Wehen Wiesbaden Season Preview

 Started with many credit last season but one of the biggest downfall from a team with such great players and potential followed. They changed some and looking ahead now but if they are able to find their way back into the top where they want to be, we will see.

 

Preview

One of the top favorites for promotion was SV Wehen Wiesbaden. They started their preparation very well and their new build team with many players from 2nd league and also some of 1st league and expierenced one from 3rd leagues won almost all their friendlies and was in excellent form. In this case and after 4th place one season ago all of the coaches said that Wehen is a sure promotion candidate but what followed was a big big desaster. They started terrible and the team was not able to get back to their form from the friendlies. Many fights inside the team and also around. Coach Letterie was sucked and Vollmann was the new coach then but he had to do a lot and they was in relegation battle till the end. It was more or less a season to forget.

The Squad

For new season many players have to leave the club above all with which one coach Vollmann does not want to work anymore. These are Ledgerwood, Menga, Marianovic, Hjelm, Nagy, Salem, Lanzaat, Smeekes, Hübner, Triadis, Bouhaddouz and Roth. He changed a lot and want to create a team which are able to play his prefered system.

They signed with Gyasi from RWO, Wiemann and Müller from Rostock, Günther own youth, Zieba from Wuppertal, Vunguidica from Köln, Görtler from Nürnberg II and Stroh-Engel from Babelsberg players where they are more convinced.

Coach

The new man on the line Vollmann changed a lot and after he could stop the downfall into Regional League his looking forward to the new and better season. He is very pleased with the work from the team and the moral is very well so far. System and taktic still unknown because Vollmann want to think longer about and integrate the new players first.

Prediction

After the big desaster from last season, Wehen should be able to be on a much more comfortable position this season. The potential is there, the team worked well, moral and mood are well and they have some very good signings as well. From a average midfield place to a top place should be all possible. 

Wacker Burghausen Season Preview

Many ups and downs in the past years for Burghausen, also with some luck sometimes but they are still alive and they want to be this for new season too. How successful they are, it's not certain or at least?

Preview

One of the happiest teams in the past years was Wacker Burghausen. They had so much luck in the past four season and only by a fluke they remained twice although they were normally relegated but because of the huge financial problems of two other clubs they were in again. And not to get in trouble again they signed a lot of quality last season also a very good coach came but left after a half year but his replacement does also a good job and was in touch with 3rd place almost till the end but moved in at 6th place. This was only because of to many draws they had, overall 18 otherwise promotion would be much closer for them.

The Squad

At the summer break they lost 3 imp. players like Glasner (13 goals), Adler (8 goals) and Chaftar and additional Brucia, Zielinsky, Schönhuber and Grübl. It’s  a big blow for them but also an big opportunity for the new players or young once in their rows. New are Kulabas from Trier, Schick from Sandhausen, Freiberger from Bochum II, Aschauer from RBS, Eiban from youth Bayern, Aulbach from youth 1860, Mrwoca from WB youth.

Coaches have to await what the new players are able to bring or if they can replace the 3 above. More or less Schick was a disappointment so far. He came from promotion Team from Sandhausen but played 0 minutes there and maybe he needs a bit if he is on the level again and needs minutes on the field after a lost season for him.

Coach

New coach Donkov replace Stumpf after his resign. But the bulgarian is not new because he is in the club since 2010 and knows the taktic and so on from the other coaches very well. He wants to go on with the same style and this was more a 4-5-1 which are the best for Burghausen and their counter attack.

Prediction

Wacker Burghausen have the potential and quality to avoid relegation, they are more a team for the midfield above all their squad is to strong for lower positions but for some surprises they are always able and in this league is all possible. Most imp. will be how the new guys are integrated and can they bring their level on the pitch. Also imp. players like Cinar, Eberlein and Mokthari are required. Predict 6 – 11.

SV Darmstadt 98 Season Preview

One proverb says: The second year is much more difficult as the first one. What are the team from Darmstadt able to bring? Are they strong enough for some surprise or get they problems? All possible but i expect much more for them above all with their very good work in the transfer window.

Review

SV Darmstadt 98 did their home work for last season and avoid relegation early. They had an average from 6500 supporterts which is not such bad for a team from 3.Bundesliga. The second year is always difficult as many said already. Almost an even record with 12 wins, 13 draws and 13 loses, also their offense worked well with 51 goals scored but also 47 conceded what is not such good. Their aim should be to stay far away from relegation trouble and annoy some favorites.

The Squad

Managment worked very well in the break and they can hold all their imp. players for next season. No imp. man left but some squad players like Kopilas, Brighache, Amstätter, Onwuzuruike, Boele, Wölk, Grüter, Brüdigam, Heckenberger, Heil and Hübner.

On the opposite they signed Zielinsky from Burghausen, Stegmayer from Unterhaching, Behrens from Hamburg II, Schnier from Bor. Dortmund II, da Costa from Offenbach, Albayrak from Eintr. Frankfurt II, Karli from Wilhelmshaven, Maas from Greuther Fürth II, Dujkovic and Martini comes from their U19 team up.

Overall very good work with the signings because some of them knows the league and have shown their potential there and also strength Darmstadt’s team very well.

Coach

Runjaic goes in his 3rd season for Darmstadt as coach and he prefers to play 4-4-2 but with the new players much more options are there now and he can change to 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1. If he wants to play with Baier and da Costa it’s more likely 4-1-4-1 because both of them are more offense midfielder or Baier plays with Danny Latza in midfield defensiv, in this case system move to 4-2-3-1 or the prefered one 4-4-2.  

Prediction

Their first aim should be not to be relegated but i think they have much more potential above all with the new signings and why should not be a surprise possible. All the options and weapons are there for such a great year. For this my announcement is much more risky here and i prefer them under the first ten places. Let’s see what they are able.

SpVgg Unterhaching Season Preview

It's like a big miracle bag as we can expect for the new Season from SpVgg Unterhaching. They are not able to sign players according to their financial problems and for this they are counting on young players form lower leagues or their own youth. Can they avoid relegation?

Review

No one expected that Unterhaching starts so well into Season 2011/12. The only big name was coach Herrlich and his players were more or less unkown. Financial absolutely on the limit although more in danger  as else. They had an excellent run at the beginning and were many weeks on the top of the table but after the winter break their form was gone and the young players are not so fresh as many month ago. They drop a lot and get in trouble for relegation with a lucky end where they catched 15. Place. The only good thing was that they played a very good offense football and had the most goals scored with 63. Very dangerous but on the opposite very prone to concede.

The Squad

All know the situation and the budget plan from Unterhaching. Most of their best players from last season left the club due to financial crisis. With Amachaibou, Avdic, Hefele, Thiel and Zieger are 5 imp. players not available anymore. As i said with low budget they signed only young and unexpierenced players from lower leagues like Vollmann, Hofstetter and Kappelmaier all from 1860 Munich II. Rohracker from Sandhausen while imp. defender Hummels is on the way back after his knee injury and almost a new one too because of missing almost the whole last season.

Coach

New man is Manuel Baum, he is only known for insider and was players in lower leagues and also coach from some teams and youth teams like U19 from 1860 München. He is an excellent man for Haching because with these young players he can work very well.

Prediction

Unterhaching has one of the youngest teams in this league, many players do not know 3.Bundesliga and have never played before there. The situation permit nothing else as counting on young players. It’s a big doubt for sure and if the players get in a hole it is like last season, they drop down and get not much .... it would be a very hard and difficult season for them because if they start not well and the young players get under pressure additionally this would be almost the knock out and to be a synonym to be relegated. I can only wish them good luck and all fingers crossed fort hem.

Hallescher FC Season Preview

An absolutely fresh face promoted from Regional North for 3.Bundesliga. They are more or less a bit unknown and never knows what this team are able to but all in their region and around the club are absolutely euphoric for the new season.

Review

Normally sure promotion candidate was RB Leipzig with big Sponsor Mateschitz owner from Red Bull who build up with Coach Pacult an excellent team and after lost the promotion race last season to Chemnitz they are in a must for promotion but a small team with less budget and only 34km from Leipzig away Hallescher FC made the race and let Kiel and Leipzig behind them. This was a big surprise because no one had Hallescher FC on their list although they made good work in the past years too.

They played a very good round with some nice highlights but their record is amazing and says all why they get promoted. They lost only 3 from 34 matches and in 24 matches with a clean sheet. One of the heros is keeper Horvat, he is 39 years old but in excellent form. Additional they had an incredible good team spirit and they stayed all together in difficult situations.

The Squad

They lost only Striker Dennis Wegner to Werder Bremen II but signed with Zeiger from Plauen, Becken and Pichinot from Carl Zeiss Jena, Sauter from Freiburg. These guys should help them for more potential in their rows and give some deepness in their squad as well.

Their best weapon should be their defense, they stand very well and was additional very hard to crack. Also they play some nice combination football and were on the same level as Leipzig or Kiel last season. Their midfield can create a lot of situations but infront of the goal they are without any cleverness and it’s also a low scoring team. We will how the players react, above all some of them who never played higher than Regional. According to latest years this league is very close and a few facts can give advantage or disadvantage here.

Coach

Since 2007 Sven Köhler is responsible for the team. He has the same credo as Huub Stevens as he won the UEFA-Cup with Schalke many years ago. „Die Null muss stehen“

Called like „Clean sheet“. Köhler is absolutely a calm person but he knows how to create success and with place 4 and 5 seasons ago he surprised all with 1st place and promotion.

Prediction

Hallescher FC should have the potential to avoid relegation but it must be work a bit for them too. If they can be as strong as they are in Regional North in their defense it would be a big advantage. Also the moral and team is should be good as well the only thing what makes it a bit difficult is their scoring weakness. They have to work hard for it and maybe change some. Also their new build and at september 2011 opened Stadium where 15.000 supporters find place should be a help and their supporters too. They never lost in their new Stadium so far. Should be a big fortress .... expected place 14-18 for them.

Stuttgarter Kickers Season Preview

After 3 years in Regional League South Stuttgarter Kickers are back in 3rd Bundesliga.  They collected 78 points and were 9 points better as 2nd team from Sonnenhof-Großaspach. They are deserved champion of Regional South but is the team already strong enough for 3. Bundesliga?

Review

Stuttgarter Kickers played already in 3. Bundesliga and it was Season 2008/09 where the league was started. But in this season they had huge financial problems and ended at the bottom of the table and were relegated. In their first Season after relegation in Regional South they had only some lower league players in their rows but ended on 9th place wich was not such bad with this squad. Again one year later they were disappointing first half of the season but in second they had an excellent run which took them in promotion race till the end but ended on 2nd place while SV Darmstadt celebrated the title. Many things changed and with the only aim to get promoted started Kickers the last season and they did the job with a excellent season.

The Squad

6 players left the club and 7 new players were signed by Kickers so far. With Markus Krauss they got a 3rd keeper who should fight for number 1 with Daniel Wagner till number 1 keeper Günay Güvenc gets back from injury.

Defense got Kai-Bastian Evers for Alessandro Abruscia and Thorben Stadler for Yannis Becker who left already. 22 years old Evers played already 41 matches in 3.Bundesliga and also 7 matches in 2.Bundesliga and one goal scored there.

For the midfield they sigend from Pfullendorf Sandrino Braun and Kevin Dicklhuber as well as Marcos Alvarez from Eintracht Frankfurt II. However Türpitz, Jung and Brandstetter left the club.

For more deepness in the offense came Tobias Rühle, a young player but not always an easy one.

Coach

Dirk Schuster has many options, which system he wants to let play ... 4-5-1 or 4-1-4-1 or 4-4-2 .... all possible. Also he is a hard worker and showed this some years now. He goes in his 4th season with Kickers as coach now.

Prediction

Their only aim for their comeback and first 3rd league season again ... to let 3 teams behind them and avoid relegation. It would be a difficult task but they are able because their players basis is almost the same and they should be strong enough above all their defense worked well in the past seasons and they lost only twice in 2 years. Sure this would not be happen again and they have to learn about it if they have a negative run but they are flexible enough and have the potential to go through this and also they know at least a bit which their rivals are for relegation like Unterhaching, Babelsberg, Hallescher FC and Dortmund II .... in this case they should end up at 15-17 place.

Regional League Bayern

For new season we had a big change in lower leagues like Regional South, West and North. They do not exist longer. DFB created 5 Regional Leagues like North, North/East, West, South/West and Bayern. This was one of the biggest reform for lower leagues in the past years. We will see a lot of new teams and maybe many unknown teams as well.

If we take a deep look into the Regional League Bayern we have some 2nd teams from 1. and 2. Bundesliga which have much more budget or potential as the newcomers. I think the title will be decided only between Bayern II, 1.FC Nürnberg II, 1860 München II, FC Ingolstadt II or Greuther Fürth II. All these teams are U23 with some leaders in their rows but most of their focuse are to form the young players for 1st team. But recent years showed that Fürth, 1860, Ingolstadt can play a good role there and also Bayern sigend some players for their 2nd team like Schweinsteiger from Jahn Regensburg, Altin Lala from Hannover and Stefan Buck from 1860 München. 

The other teams are mostly unknown and fresh faces in Regional League also their players which are almost all not played under professional conditions. Also most of them go to work and should not be on a such excellent fitness level as 2nd teams above. As i read do they train 3 times each week in the evening and under such criterias it would be a huge disadvantage. Some example was always Bayern Alzenau who moved to Regional South/West.

Regional League Bayern open their gates on 20. of July and you should take this in mind if you consider to take any bet here. I'm looking on the shedule maybe if the odds are out and give some advice then what are good or what I prefer.

Transfer Update

Eljerio Elia

For 6,5 Mio Euro, Werder Bremen sigend Eljero Elia from Juventus Turin. The offense players was former player from Hamburger SV and comeback to the other noth club now. He had not much time to show his potential because most of the time he was on bench or out of the squad at italian giant club Juventus. He is a very difficult guy but hope that he can start his career again now.

Andre Schürrle

 

Chelsea's bit for Andre Schürrle without success.
Bayer Leverkusen do not want to transfer Andre Schürrle to Chelsea London. Although they have an offer from 25. Mio for the young offense player. But after some talks with management and player they stayed away.  Leverkusen won't let one of their best players leave the club which would be a huge lose for them and in addition Schürrle doesn't want to leave either.

SC Paderborn present new coach

The biggest surprise last season with SC Paderborn should have a much more difficult season ahead as last one. They lost some imp. players and additional their head coach to Red Bull Salzburg. Some of their players are still in focus from some other clubs like Nik Proschwitz who has some offers from Greuther Fürth or from EPL Clubs. It seems that to many quality is lost over the summer break and they can not replace them or find replacements on the market one to one. They work or buy cheap young players but not every year is such as last where almost all are smashed in like Kara, Proschwitz, Meha and so on.

At least a new coach should be found now and what else as a coach from lower division could give his debut there. The name is still the same with Schmidt but first name is Stephan and he was coach from U19 team VfL Wolfsburg where he won the championship 2011 with. I think the decision is logical and the club from Paderborn goes his way and follow their philosophy which was born last year or maybe earlier.

                                                                               Stephan Schmidt

Best of luck for him, he will need it !! :)

FSV Mainz 05

I think we should take a short look on FSV Mainz 05. The team from coach Tuchel started into preparation without any new signing and in this case they are know each other very well already and this should be a big advantage. They do not have to integrate players .... only Sliskovic was on loan at St. Pauli last season and comes back and one player came from their second team with 19-years old Shawn Parker but he will be a player for the future of Mainz. 

As i read in newspaper today, now they signed a new defender with 28 years old Junior Diaz from Brügge. He was on loan last season and played for Wisla Krakau. He's position should be left wing or maybe central defender as well. He was very pleased to get a contract for 3 years and play for Mainz in 1.Bundesliga.

As i said it would be a surprise for me if Mainz starts not well with this conditions. They showed it already today. They won against a lower division team TSV Langenlonsheim-Laubenheim 13-0 (9-0) with goals from Ujah (4),  Sliskovic (3), Szalai (2), Ivanschitz (2), Kirchhoff and Shawn Parker. 1265 supporters saw an experienced team with a good fitness so far.

Please take in mind, that betting on Mainz at the beginning of the season can be very profitable.

Can Cottbus solve their scoring problems?

Energie Cottbus is trying to build up a new and maybe more successful offense as they had last season. They were one of those teams who are not much dangerous infront of the goal and scored only 31 goals !! This was the weakest performance for them above all if you take a look at season 10/11 where they scored incredible 65 goals and was the 2nd best offense beside Hertha BSC Berlin. Players like Jula and Petersen did an absolutely great job and after them, the offense was almost dead.

For now they have with Fenin, Glasner, Stiepermann and young guns like Kobilansky and Banaskiewicz five stikers in their rows but do they have goals in them? I doubt because all of the are not known for that, ok the young players are sure for the future but the first three. It looks a bit short of options there.

They take the opportunity and signed Boubacar Sanogo former player from Kaiserslautern, Bremen, Hamburg and Hoffenheim. He was without a contract because of a long injury his contract was cancelled with St. Etienne at the beginning of this year.

The next signing for Cottbus for their offense but the next doubt. Is he fit enough and without problems after his long injury? Additional can he solve the problems there and can he score the important goals?

2.Bundesliga Round 1-8 terminated

Round 1

Fr	03.08.	18:00	FC Ingolstadt 04	-	FC Energie Cottbus
Fr	03.08.	18:00	FC Erzgebirge Aue	-	FC St. Pauli
Fr	03.08.	20:30	Hertha BSC	-	SC Paderborn 07
Sa	04.08.	13:00	TSV 1860 München	-	Jahn Regensburg
Sa	04.08.	15:30	VfL Bochum	-	Dynamo Dresden
So	05.08.	13:30	MSV Duisburg	-	VfR Aalen
So	05.08.	13:30	SV 1916 Sandhausen	-	FSV Frankfurt
So	05.08.	15:30	Eintracht Braunschweig	-	1. FC Köln
Mo	06.08.	20:15	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	1. FC Union Berlin

Round 2

Fr	10.08.	18:00	1. FC Köln	-	SV 1916 Sandhausen
Fr	10.08.	18:00	VfR Aalen	-	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Fr	10.08.	20:30	FC Energie Cottbus	-	FC Erzgebirge Aue
Sa	11.08.	13:00	SC Paderborn 07	-	VfL Bochum
Sa	11.08.	15:30	FC St. Pauli	-	FC Ingolstadt 04
So	12.08.	13:30	1. FC Union Berlin	-	Eintracht Braunschweig
So	12.08.	13:30	Jahn Regensburg	-	MSV Duisburg
So	12.08.	15:30	FSV Frankfurt	-	Hertha BSC
Mo	13.08.	20:30	Dynamo Dresden	-	TSV 1860 München

Round 3

Fr	24.08.	18:00	Hertha BSC	-	Jahn Regensburg
Fr	24.08.	18:00	Eintracht Braunschweig	-	SC Paderborn 07
Fr	24.08.	18:00	SV 1916 Sandhausen	-	1. FC Union Berlin
Sa	25.08.	13:00	MSV Duisburg	-	Dynamo Dresden
Sa	25.08.	13:00	FC Energie Cottbus	-	FC St. Pauli
So	26.08.	13:30	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	TSV 1860 München
So	26.08.	13:30	VfL Bochum	-	VfR Aalen
So	26.08.	13:30	FC Ingolstadt 04	-	FSV Frankfurt
Mo	27.08.	20:15	FC Erzgebirge Aue	-	1. FC Köln

Round 4

Fr	31.08.	13:00	TSV 1860 München	-	MSV Duisburg
Fr	31.08.	18:00	1. FC Köln	-	FC Energie Cottbus
Fr	31.08.	18:00	Dynamo Dresden	-	1. FC Kaiserslautern
Sa	01.09.	13:00	FC St. Pauli	-	SV 1916 Sandhausen
Sa	01.09.	13:00	VfR Aalen	-	Eintracht Braunschweig
So	02.09.	13:30	SC Paderborn 07	-	FC Ingolstadt 04
So	02.09.	13:30	FSV Frankfurt	-	FC Erzgebirge Aue
So	02.09.	13:30	Jahn Regensburg	-	VfL Bochum
Mo	03.09.	20:15	1. FC Union Berlin	-	Hertha BSC

Round 5

Fr	14.09.	18:00	VfL Bochum	-	TSV 1860 München
Fr	14.09.	18:00	FC Ingolstadt 04	-	1. FC Union Berlin
Fr	14.09.	18:00	FC Energie Cottbus	-	FSV Frankfurt
Sa	15.09.	13:00	Eintracht Braunschweig	-	Jahn Regensburg
Sa	15.09.	13:00	SV 1916 Sandhausen	-	Dynamo Dresden
So	16.09.	13:30	Hertha BSC	-	VfR Aalen
So	16.09.	13:30	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	MSV Duisburg
So	16.09.	13:30	FC Erzgebirge Aue	-	SC Paderborn 07
Mo	17.09.	20:15	1. FC Köln	-	FC St. Pauli

Round 6

Fr	21.09.	18:00	1. FC Union Berlin	-	1. FC Köln
Fr	21.09.	18:00	FSV Frankfurt	-	FC St. Pauli
Fr	21.09.	18:00	VfR Aalen	-	FC Erzgebirge Aue
Sa	22.09.	13:00	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	Hertha BSC
Sa	22.09.	13:00	SC Paderborn 07	-	SV 1916 Sandhausen
Sa	22.09.	13:00	Jahn Regensburg	-	FC Energie Cottbus
So	23.09.	13:30	TSV 1860 München	-	Eintracht Braunschweig
So	23.09.	13:30	Dynamo Dresden	-	FC Ingolstadt 04
So	23.09.	13:30	MSV Duisburg	-	VfL Bochum

Round 7

Di	25.09.	17:30	Hertha BSC	-	Dynamo Dresden
Di	25.09.	17:30	1. FC Köln	-	FSV Frankfurt
Di	25.09.	17:30	FC St. Pauli	-	VfR Aalen
Di	25.09.	17:30	FC Energie Cottbus	-	SC Paderborn 07
Di	25.09.	17:30	SV 1916 Sandhausen	-	Jahn Regensburg
Mi	26.09.	17:30	Eintracht Braunschweig	-	MSV Duisburg
Mi	26.09.	17:30	FC Ingolstadt 04	-	TSV 1860 München
Mi	26.09.	17:30	FC Erzgebirge Aue	-	1. FC Union Berlin
Do	27.09.	20:15	VfL Bochum	-	1. FC Kaiserslautern

Round 8

Do	20.09.	13:30	VfL Bochum	-	FC Ingolstadt 04
Fr	28.09.	18:00	SC Paderborn 07	-	1. FC Köln
Fr	28.09.	18:00	VfR Aalen	-	FSV Frankfurt
Fr	28.09.	18:00	Jahn Regensburg	-	FC St. Pauli
Sa	29.09.	13:00	TSV 1860 München	-	SV 1916 Sandhausen
Sa	29.09.	13:00	1. FC Union Berlin	-	FC Energie Cottbus
So	30.09.	13:30	1. FC Kaiserslautern	-	Eintracht Braunschweig
So	30.09.	13:30	Dynamo Dresden	-	FC Erzgebirge Aue
Mo	01.10.	20:15	MSV Duisburg	-	Hertha BSC