We’re only couple of weeks into the winter break and it feels like it’s been ages!  The next Hertha home match is still six away but at least it should be a corker!  A great way to kick start the Rückrunde in the Olympiastadion will be the local derby against Union Berlin.  It’s such a long wait though!

It’s still annoys me that the last date we have had confirmed for match days is for that local derby on Monday the 11th.  After that we don’t know exactly which day the game is going to be on. Any match after this could still be placed on a Monday which can be a real pain . . . grrrrrr.

The English Premier League has ploughed on regardless over the festive period with Chelsea having played three matches in seven days and notched up 11 goals and nine points in the process.  They have another match in two days as well -crazy stuff really.  Frank Lampard scored two goals against Everton today with his contract remains conspicuously unsigned at the moment and expires in the summer. Hopefully “they’ll” see sense and keep him on but who knows . . . 

Having an Oligarch running the club is a very mixed  blessing.  Sure the money has brought in some amazing players and undreamt of success but at what cost?  Fans can only talk about what may or may not be going through the mind of the owner. They don’t know and they certainly have no influence on those thoughts let alone the decisions made.  

Bundesliga – follow at your peril; keep your 51% rule, your soul and the involvement of your fans.  A treasure can be lost so quickly but mourned for so long afterwards.

We all have a long wait until the return of the 2. Bundesliga in February. Hertha go into that break in a very comfortable second place two points behind Braunschweig but 10 points clear of Kaiserlautern and the playoff slot.

I wasn't able to watch, even on TV, the last game of the season where FC Union played the leaders Braunschweig on Monday evening. I monitored it on my phone and having 90elf on on the background some of the time. It sounds like FC Union Berlin put up a great fight against Braunschweig on Monday. The took an early lead but then Braunschweig equalised, Union scored again and then Braunschweig . . . It ended up 4:3 and Braunschweig finished the winter champions rather than Hertha. If only Hertha had won, just one of their draws!

A shame but hey, Hertha have done so well since the end of August. Always a little nervous but the performances have made football fun again rather the strange mental tortures of last season.

Now as the deepest and darkest part if winter is just ahead of us we find the final match of the 2.Bundesliga Hinrunde . . . .

Hertha have to win this one and take all three points to stand a chance of being the winter champions this year. But, FSV Frankfurt are the only team to deny us any points at all from a game this season so it will not be easy.  Also it is not totally in the hands of Hertha as Braunschweig would have to loose or draw as well. If Braunschweig draw Hertha will be at the top on GD - as long as long we win so, no pressure lads!

Post Match.
We had a fantastic, if somewhat nervous afternoon at the Olympiastadion this afternoon along with a comparatively small turnout of 29,851 supporters. Hertha went on to win 2:1 after conceding the first goal in the 55th minute due to an unlucky block ending up being knocked in at the second attempt!
The crowd went bonkers inside the first minute when a shot from Kluge nearly made it 1:0 after less than 20 seconds! If that had gone in I can't help thinking it would have been a bit of a goalfest but, it wasn't to be.
Hertha dominated possession in the first half but I felt they didn’t make the best of some of their chances.  Some were lost due to long balls sailing in towards empty spaces, others to passes to players in offside positions.  Ronny had a half chance at one point but he hesitated and didn’t just turn and pull the trigger. 

There were a few fouls in the first half and Nils Texeira (FSV) picked up a yellow for his troubles in the 20th minute but Hertha went in at half time at 0:0.

The second half was a very different affair when in the 55thminute Michael Gorlitz scored for FSV after an initial shot was blocked and he then struck it home on the rebound leaving Kraft with no chance.  The crowd were pretty shocked and quiet it had been against the flow of play I felt. Hertha have scored late in the game before recently so all was not lost.

In the 57th minute Ben Sahar was replaced by Hany Mukhtar closely followed by Sami Allagui being replaced by Elias Kachunga.  Lastly, in the 80th minute Sandro Wagner was brought on for Peer Kluge and we were committed.   Then in the 82nd minute Ndjeng scored for Hertha and I went a bit bonkers – not sure about the rest of the crowd!!!  
 
Then, in the 84th minute, two minutes later RONNY!!  Hertha get the winner right at the last which always makes foe a great feeling.  The crowd were singing "Spitzenreiter! Spitzenrighte!"  (I think!) as Hertha rise to the top of the table - a wonderful feeling

A few photos from before the match below -

Last week  found the Bundesliga in the English press with  a couple on interesting articles that are quite current both in the Bundesliga and the EPL

Borussia Dortmund boss attacks Premier League's oligarch owners  A article in The Guardian where Hans-Joachim Watzke ("CEO" of Borussia Dortmund) comments on clubs owned not by there members but rather wealthy groups or perhaps even worse, individuals.

Germany's Bundesliga takes a stand by keeping faith with noisy fans  An article about the fan protests against the "Safe Stadium Experience" proposals that will be voted on in just nine days time.

I think perhaps the article dilutes the significance of what is happening in Germany. I am old enough to remember stands in the UK and have stood watching games.  I perhaps wouldn't do so now but, I appreciate the vibrancy added by the Ultras with their chanting, drums and flags and what has been lost in England because of the changes that have been made there.  In some ways, in many clubs the soul of the EPL has been lost. It would be tragedy if "central interests" cause the Bundesliga to go the same way for reasons that have little to do with the people who go to the matches. I fear a small change now could lead to a drip, drip, drip which would change the league for ever and loose the traditional club experience.

There are dangers with flares, only an idiot would deny that but,  do not "throw the baby out with the bath water" and ruin the gem that is the Bundesliga and its fan culture.  I hope the banners saying Ohne Stimme Keine Stimmung are seen and listened to by DfB et al and they pull back from the brink.

Post Meeting
Well on 12/12 thirty one of the thirty six Bundesliga clubs supported the "Secure Stadium Experience" regulations in Frankfurt. So, the bath water has been firmly thrown out. It just remains to see if we can still find that baby . . .

Now where can it be. . .

I watched the Köln v Braunschweig match tonight which was key when deciding who wears the winter crown in 2012. The match was a nervous one from a total biased "neutral" perspective.

Braunschweig got off the mark in the 23rd minute with a lovely touch by Kumbela. To be honest as the match went on the Billy goats had the best if it with many more shots and at least half of the possession. All this payed off in the 47th minute when Clemens made a great long chip to find the back of the net to make it 1:1 - all square and a point apiece!

A crazy hanging leg gave Braunschweig a penalty but it was a poor one and the heroic Timo Horn saved it to keep Köln in the match.

As time moved on Köln built up more and more pressure culminating in the 88th minute with a goal from Ujah who was promptly booked for taking his shirt off!

Everyone though that was it but it was not to be - in the 90th minute Braunschweig won a corner from which Bicakcic pulled one back for the visitors. So, the match ended up as 2:2 - gutted!

Still Braunschweig dropped two points and, as you can see, are only two points above Hertha now at the top of the 2. Bundesliga. With one match to play before the winter break there is everything to play for on Saturday against FSV Frankfurt. I'm looking forward to it!

On Saturday the the 8th Hertha travel to Paderborn to extend their unbeaten run to a massive 16 games.  Following the victory by Union Berlin over Kaiserlautern on Friday we stand a fair chance of extending our lead in second place to 7 points with one game to go before the winter break! Whats more, if Braunschweig trip up against Köln on Monday . . . who knows?

The squad for Saturday
Kraft Burchert (keepers),
Brooks, Holland, Bastian, Lustenberger Hubnik, Ndjeng (defense),
Kluge, Ronny , Niemeyer, Mukhtar, Knoll (Midfield),
Allagui, Wagner, Sahar, Ramos and Elias Kachunga (Strikers)

We have already met Paderborn at home in the first match of the season where we had a tough game of it. It was a close run 2:2 draw with Sami Allagui equalising for us in the 88th minute!  That warm summers day seams a long time ago now when the forecast for tomorrow is for -2°C and for the home game next week the forecast is for a cool -2°C with light snowfall - nice! I have started putting on layers ready for that already!!

In the run up to this second match Paderborn have had a mini crisis in that they have gone without a win for three matches. They have lost against Duisburg and 1860 and managed only a 1:1 draw against Dynamo Dresden before that.

Nothing however is ever easy for Hertha and there is always scope for slip ups. I understand Ramos has reconverted from his dose of flu so he should be back and we can only hope that Ronny continues his rich vein of form!  It would be nice to see another goal from Ben Sahar as well!!

Post Match
Pheww that was a real bruiser of a match. Paderborn started off with a physical approach and kept on that way. They picked up five yellows -
Brückner 15mins
Yilmaz 17mins
Meha 70 mins
Bertels 73 mins
Zeitz 81minutes
. . . one if those should have been a red IMO.

Hertha picked up three as well
Ronny 23mins (for nothing - should never have been given!)
Lustenberger 33mins
Kraft 79minutes (for complaining too much)

Hertha went on to win 1:0 but . . it could have been so much more. Play was broken up by some tackles that were suspect at best but also, for a spell in the second half, Hertha were not driving forward as much as they could. But, in the 65th minute Ramos broke the deadlock and smacked the ball into the net.
This result leaves us seven points clear of Kaiserlautern and just one point behind Braunschweig . . until Monday when they play Köln. I think I might watch that match!

What's all this about the 2015 UCL final being in Berlin then? It has appeared in the press this week in Germany and elsewhere. It appears it is being pushed for quite strongly and the DFB are quite confident.

An English language article on ESPN - Berlin to host 2015 UCL final - reports

It would be a great time to be in Berlin if it were to happen. The Olympiastadion is a magnificent venue for such a high prestige match - hard to beat IMO.

I am not at all sure what would happen with the ticket allocation for such an event if it were to be held in Berlin. I am quite confident however that it will not be cheap!
No panic in the short term though we've got over two years to wait still!

Another match day when Hertha feature on Free to Air TV - this time visiting Cottbus just a short distance down the motorway from Berlin.
K'Lautern lost to St Pauli on the weekend so we have an opportunity to pull four points clear in second spot this evening but the match against Koln proved we can take nothing for granted; nothing at all.

Braunschweig won, again, so the best we can hope for is to limit the gap at the top to four points. If it stays like this 28. Spieltag could end up being a season maker/breaker. .

The starting team -
Kraft, Ndjeng, Allagui, Ronny, Sahar, Niemeyer , Bastians, Kluge, Brooks
Lustenberger, Wagner (Ramos had the flu).

Post match.
Well this one kept me on the edge of my seat! Cottbus came out strong for the first ten minutes and I wondered if we were going to make it. Gradually Hertha started to place there mark on the game In the 16th minute Peter Niemeyer tried a shot from distance which deflected away to find Kluge ready with a header to take it into the net and Hertha in the lead.

Following this we witnessed 38 minutes of bruising football and crunching tackles ended in an equaliser from Cottbus. Now Hertha had to fight!
Who klinched the game for us? Who else but RONNY in the 84th minute who clipped it in past a keeper who perhaps should have done better.

Ronny is really on fire thus season and where would we be without him - right in the brown steamy stuff that's where!  But we do have him - Yay!

The game ended with an away win for Hertha (1:2) and unbeaten for 15 matches! This leaves us four points clear of Kaiserlautern and keeping pace behind Braunschweig. At the half way point in the season and we are in one if the two automatic promotion places - so far, so good!

Two more matches before the winter break and I am so looking forward to watching Hertha play at the Olympiastadion in less than two weeks - Ha Ho He Hertha BSC

Here we are in another "English Week" with Hertha playing 1.FC Köln on Thursday night in the Olympiastadion.

Although the midweek timetable is a pain in a way the match is televised on FTA German TV. This has to be a plus for those who can access it but can't get to the match.  Hertha are in a strong position after the game on Sunday as their unbeaten run is extended to 13 matches.

However, Köln have had a little run themselves and will be no "push over".. They are unbeaten for three games and have amassed 20 points from their first 15 games. In the 2. Liga this includes a remarkably even: five wins and five draws but also five losses!

I hope the guys can put the financial worries of the club (42 million Euros of debt) to one side and play with confidence on Thursday. We have to keep the pressure up at the top of the table.

The footballing gods were kind to us on Tuesday night when K'autern only managed a draw against Jahn Regensburg. On Wednesday they were not smiling so sweetly on us when Braunschweig played St Pauli and came away with all three points and a 1:0 win. However Ben Kessel did also pick up a red do we won't be seeing him for a while!

The 3:1 victory of SV Sandhausen against Cottbus brings us four points clear of the fourth spot, even if we loose against Köln - but we can do better than that! A win will take us seven points above fourth and three clear points above third chasing Braunschweig hard . .

Post match
Well it was a wet night in Berlin but 34307 fans turned out to watch the game. Hertha dominated possession and the shot ratio (16:4 in favour of Hertha! (Bundesliga.de)) certainly in the first half but conceded a cruel goal in the 35th minute following a deflected header from Kevin McKenna.
Eleven minutes later Hertha came back with s magnificent solo effort from Ronny in the 44th minute. He weaved around the whole defence and wrong footed the keeper - incredible!
Following this, unfortunatly, try as they may, they couldn't get the ball in the net. Köln nipped a few attempts in the bud and picked up 4 yellow cards including one cynical scything of Ronny on the break.
Luhukay played his hand taking off: Sahar (for Wagner in the 67th minute), Kluge (for Hubnik in the 76th minute) and Ramos for Mukhtar in the 82nd. All to no avail. The game finished 1:1 with Köln a lot happier with the result than us!
We stay in second place but only by one point and we're now a full four points behind Braunschweig. I may be being unfair but I feel there was an opportunity thrown away in this match but its all "water under the bridge" now.
Plenty of work to do still but onwards and upwards! Its Cottbus away on Monday and another three points desperately needed.