With just eight wins in 34 matches in the whole of 2014 things were clearly not going to plan.  Now Pál Dárdai has injected some blue and white blood into the coaching team and produced a remarkable result in Mainz we dared to hope for better things. But, what happened against Freiburg?  There are clearly still some major issues with how the team play together.  It’s not a good sign if one of your midfielders (Hajime Hosogai) wins the ball and when he looks up the rest of his teammates are all in a huddle leaving him with zero options when it came to cut through the Freiburg defence.  Perhaps it was a little brave starting with Kalou who was fresh back from the African Cup of Nations as he did little to inspire me in the stands.  The form shown by Ronny was a little worrying as well.  OK he may have never been epitome of fitness but he used to be able to take a cracking free kick and even this has deserted him of late. Clearly Dardai was not too happy with his team as he sent them down the tunnel without going to the fans after the last game. I hope that what he so urgently had to say to them that afternoon has had the desired effect.

I the face of a fearsome strike force the return from suspension of Fabian Lustenberger together with Sebastian Langkamp will, hopefully, bring some stability to the defence.  Jay Brooks has shown a lot of promise but he needs some experience around him.  On the subject of experience I notice Johnny Heitinga is back in the squad for the Wolfburg game.  I will be fascinated to see how Johnny performs under the new coach.  As always time will tell.

If I said I was confident going into the match against Wolfsburg it would be a truly massive lie but that doesn’t stop me being optimistic.  This is football and anything can happen.  All we can say is the ball is round and the game last 90 minutes – when all that's done, then we’ll know.

Well, it didn't go completely to plan and Hertha came away with nothing - again. Having said this the game wasn't without its positives. Hertha held their ground in the face of the aforementioned fearsome strike force for long periods in the match and were perhaps unlucky not to nick a point. The other plus was the goal - a great cross from Stocker finished with an outrageous diving header from Schieber. Stocker is finally finding his feet I only hope it's not too little - too late. Perhaps if Johnny Heitinga can come back with a similar change in form to bolster the back line the summer signings can save the day after all.

 In that season he turned the club around in a truly remarkable fashion and won the 2. Bundesliga title and not just scraping through but with a record number of points!

The winter break always seems like it lasts for ever.  Perhaps because of long winter nights or perhaps the festive season giving a break in the middle makes it feel like it is longer that it really is. Whatever the reason the Bundesliga made a welcome return over the weekend.

There were a few things to think about whilst sipping mulled wine in front of a roaring log fire and not all of them left one with feelings of seasonal good cheer.  Even after five weeks it’s hard to forget the beating Hertha took at the Olympiastadion and the hands (or feet) of Hoffenheim.  This fading memory was reawakened on Sunday when Hertha were defeated again, this time away to Werder Bremen.  This adds up to seven goals conceded by Hertha, without reply in 180 minutes of play.  A sobering thought if there ever was one.

We started the 2014/15 season with a raft of new players who in theory at least should have provided us with some depth and experience.  The new players should have given us attacking options and some experience to shore up and perhaps organise the defence.  I for one started the season hoping for Hertha to move on and perhaps do more than just survive this season.

So far, and it is just so far, it hasn’t worked out like that. Hertha are in 15th place and just two points off the bottom. I have no idea why but clearly something is not working.  Two experienced players in the form of Johnny Heitinga and Salomon Kalou have spent a worrying amount of time on the bench and the first half of the hinrunde saw Valentin Stocker playing in the U23s.  Julian Schieber at least has made a bit of a start for himself and notched up a few goals.

I see little point in speculating on why or how this has happened and even less point in people saying “Luhukay out” on Twitter!  Having said this the Berliner Morgenpost is talking about tension between coach and team. However, when it comes down to it, the players are not coming up with the goods.  Too many passes go astray, too few real chances and with the resultant shots far too few are even on target.  Moving on to the defence . . thank goodness we have Thomas Kraft or things could be a lot worse!  Having said all this we have to remember that although Hertha is just two points above the bottom, they are also only five points off being mid table as well.  It is a wonderfully tight league, if you ignore the very top!

In the winter break we also found that Deutsche Bahn will be cutting back their sponsorship at the end of the season.  The familiar DB logo on the shirts will go and so will (if I remember correctly) will three million Euros of sponsorship.  That will hurt the finances for sure and a new main sponsor needs to be found and found quickly.  That’s a big ask in the financial climate we find ourselves in today.

Ahead we have an English week and ironically this will be the first home game I have missed since October!  It’s another big ask for Hertha to come out and keep three points in the capital when Leverkusen come to town on Wednesday but there are going to be a lot of big asks in the Ruckrunde if our hopes are not to be dashed.