Bayern won, again. This time on penalties against Chealsea. That's all I'm going to say about that . . . humph

I arrived back in the UK a couple if days ago so I am in England for this home match against HSV. On the plus side it appears BT Sport appear to be showing the match live on Saturday so at least I can watch it properly. Coverage starts at 17:00 BST and lasts for 165 minutes for those if you who have access to it.

Hamburg have not got off to a good start this season with a hard fought draw followed by a heavy loss. They will be getting desperate for points. Hertha on the other hand have started well and are brimming with confidence. I hope the rubbish and lies printed in the gutter press about Hertha players has not affected them in any way. At times like this it is down to Jos Luhukay and Michael Preetz to keep the team's collective heads together and focused on the task at hand.

The second half was a nervous affair. Hertha have a bit of a history of throwing things away when they "should" win. Call me biased if you like but the HSV looked like they were wrestling our lads to the ground too many times for my liking. Having said this Hertha had the best of the second half although they had to rely on some heroics from Thomas Kraft to save they day.

It was all wrapped up when Nico Schulz put a beautiful pass over to Adrian Ramos who slotted it away in the 74th minute.  The clock ticked very slowly for last 16 minutes and the added 3 minutes. Both teams made changes in the last few minutes but Hertha held on to a fantastic victory.

Seven points from the first nine is a superb start to the season for Hertha and better than we could have dreamed of. The Hertha TV video below shows the team celebrating with the fans -  
                                           Ha Ho He - HERTHA BSC ! ! !

I heard about the first two goals via my apps whilst walking around Münster. By pure chance we stopped to have a coffee next to the cathedral and they happened to have the Hertha match on and I sat down to see Ronny getting ready to take a penalty! Naturally he scored but at that point I had no idea why it has been given - having not seen anything before the the penalty itself. I saw it on the recaps after the match and he clearly got the ball befor Alex going down so we were lucky there. I was a bit gutted about the free kick that resulted in the equaliser - it was a great strike but it cost us 2 points away from home.

But hey, an away point is still nice, especially in Nürnberg. Onwards and upwards He Ho He

At the time I am typing this it is a fine sunny morning here in Berlin and we plan to cycle around the city whilst the weather is nice but not too hot. Part of this is going to involve being down at the Hanns-Braun-Straße/Sportforumstraße training ground at 15:30 when Hertha have their last open training session before the away game in Nürnberg on Sunday. I'm hoping to be able to take some nice photos of the team as they train.

I managed a few (million) shots and got my programme from Saturday autographed by: Thomas Kraft, Alex Baumjohann and Fabian Lustenburger.  I've started uploading a few of them, and I may add a few more as time goes on.  You can find highr resolution versions on my Hertha Flickr account -  Econet1892

The Bundesliga 2013/14 is under way and Bayern have their first three points following their 3:1 win over Borrusia Mönchengladbach on Friday. Hertha kick off against Eintracht Frankfurt in a much anticipated first home game. Ticket sales were high (54,376) and I for one was hoping for a good atmosphere and I wasn't disappointed.

It was a regulars birthday at our.Kneipe on the night before and free shots were flowing but we planned to be at the Olympiastadion nice and early albeit with a slightly thick Heads! Ha Ho He Hertha BSC!

After the match
What can I say?  Wow, what an amazing game and an amazing afternoon watching football!  The goals and the support from the fans - breath taking!  A 6:1 home win against the Europa Cup team Eintracht Frankfurt with goals from: Adrian Ramos (17 and 71), John-Anthony Brooks (32), Sami Allagui (58 and 60) and finally, last but not least from a cameo appearance from Ronny in the last minute of the game. Quite a haul!

Our first Bundesliga match finds us at the top of the table ahead of both Dortmund and Bayern on goal difference!  With hitting the woodwork no less than three times the score could have been 9:1 by the end of the game.  When Adrian and John-Anthony scored the first two it was party time around us.  People hugging each other and the noise - wow.  Frankfurt only got on the score sheet through a penalty but to be fair there was no debating the decision the ref, was quite right to point to the spot.

As the four goals went in during the second half it was just getting silly - total disbelief - total euphoria.  Once I recovered from each of the six burst blood vessels / heart attacks I managed to get a few tweets away,  Most of them started "TORRRRRRRRR #Hertha".  To think I was worried about us scoring goals!

I filmed the video below after the match and it shows the team celebrating with the fans after after their magnificent performance. They were stronger and just more hungry that Frankfurt and the support from the crowd was a sight to behold - just awesome. What a day -  Ha Ho He - Hertha BSC!

As a Hertha fan I have to say I am looking forward to the start of the new Bundesliga season on Saturday. I'll be there at the Olympiastadion with my Hertha shirt and flag dreaming on those first three points.

Am I nervous? Naturally, 2011/12 is not so long ago and it was a very painful experience. This is particularly true when thinking about the chaos of the playoffs and the manager fiasco. This year I am hoping we will at least have managerial stability and also I have faith in Jos Luhukay. My only worry is about how late he left it to announce who would wear the captains armband and the effect that may (or may not) have had on the team. I hope I'm worrying about nothing.

Hertha have brought in some depth into the defence which will be useful we suffered with injuries and bans back in 2011/12 and struggled to replace them. Alexander Baumjohann adds another option to the attacking midfield as well. It is a disappointment however that Ronny has come back from the summer in poor shape (again) as his free kicks saved us on more than one occasion last season.

Confidence and momentum will be key this season as many of the players we're there two years ago and will be well aware of the label of Fahrstuhlmannschaft which hangs like a millstone around their necks.

Win or loose I will be there on Saturday to cheer the guys on albeit with nervous optimism.

Disaster struck after just five minutes as a free kick by Harrer goes past the wall and Kraft, not taking it cleanly, spills the ball into the net leaving Hertha 1:0 down!

Eleven minutes later Hertha pull one back as Sami Allagui draws the keeper totally out if position and crosses it over to Änis Ben-Hatira for a tap in - all square 1:1.

In the 30th minute the Sami-Änis combo struck again as Änis Ben-Hatira stormed down the left following a pass from Sami to blast a second into the back if the net 1:2 and Hertha in the lead. Hertha took that lead into half time after the shakiest start imaginable.

The second half didn't go so well either in that an attempted clearance from Marcel Ndjeng went to Christopher Kramer giving him a free header to equalise in the 59th minute.  That sinking feeling oh so familiar from two seasons ago was starting to creep back.  Kramer picked up his second yellow card after a foul on Marcel Ndjeng and Neumünster were down to 10 men. It ended at 2:2 after the 90 minutes and so extra time it was.

Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your viewpoint) I had to go to work at this point so I wasn't able to see the extra time although I intend to look at the highlights later.  Hertha were awarded a penalty and Sami Allagui slotted it in the 120th minute would you believe.  The penalty was awarded after Änis Ben-Hatira was barged over in the box. The keeper got a hand to the penalty from Sami but the strike was strong and in itt went. Today was the Sami and Änis party - they were involved in all three Hertha goals.

Neumunster must have been gutted but that is the way the game goes sometimes - it has happened to Hertha often enough.  This time we had Lady Luck on our side - just as well, we needed her!  I did wonder if the team hadn't settled yet after the news of Lusti being given the captains armband.  If so they have less than a week to sort out any teething problems. Next season every single point will count . .

There has been much speculation in the press over a last couple of weeks about who will wear the captains armband in the coming season. Will it still be Peter Niemeyer or perhaps Peer Kluge, or perhaps Lusti? Pretty pointless to speculate really - Peter did a fine job last season but how much will he play this season?

Anyway, Jos Luhukay is due to make an announcement at 13:30 (CET) on Friday - just a couple of days before the first round of the DFB Pokal. We will soon see . .

I just hope that no matter what the decision is - it does not cause internal problems within the team. That can be the death nail to a club even one that leaves the Zweite Liga with a record points total. We need everyone, the whole team, pulling together this season if we are going to survive let alone thrive. There is zero scope for moral sapping discontent in the ranks so let's hope Jos is as good as we think he is.

Well the waiting is over, today it was announced that Hertha's new captain is Fabian Lustenberger. Good luck Fabian and may your appointment bring long term success to Die Alte Dame!

Ha Ho He Hertha BSC!