Herr Mike in Deutschland

It was crucial for FCN to take three points from today's clash with Hertha Berlin if they were to keep their dreams of achieving a UEFA cup place alive. There is a real battle for the elusive fifth position and with both these teams vying for it the pressure on today's result was huge.

From the start the home team took the initiative and were ahead after only 5 minutes thanks to Thomas Galasek. A corner was played short to the Czech International who lashed the ball home from outside the penalty area. The perfect start.
Spurred on by the early goal and the chants of 'Europa Pokal' (UEFA cup) from the fans FCN bossed the game. Vratislav Gresko dictated the play in the middle of the park - I'm not sure how much German he knows but he was always screaming encouragement and instructions which seemed to be understood.
The teams went it at half time with Nuremberg much the happier side and Berlin offering very little. Unfortunately a slight dampener was put on the proceedings as right back Dominik Reinhardt had to be stretchered off with what looked like a serious injury just before the break.

FCN continued their domination as the second half got underway, Andreas Wolf and Michael Beauchamp both unfaultering at the centre of defence, breaking up any Hertha attack before it had a chance to develop. The Berlin fans were obviously frustrated as the police had to break up a brawl in the away enclosure, probably caused by a little too much 'liquid inspiration' on the long journey down.

FCN had been creating chances down the left all day with good link up play and overlapping from Javier Pinola and Ivan Saenko and on 60 minutes it beared fruit. A rapid dash from Saenko got the better of his marker and he squeezed in a pacey low cross. A defender got a touch on the ball but only managed to deflect it into the path of Marco Engelhardt (pictured) who slotted the ball home. The game looked to be won.

But this turned out to be the motivation that Berlin needed and they began to create more and more, Nuremberg keeper Raphael Schaefer forced to bravely dive between legs to punch a ball away as Kevin Prince Boateng (excellent name) threatened for the away side. Constant pressure on the FCN goal eventually paid off and some neat play from skilled turkish playmaker Yildiray Basturk allowed Gimenez to pull one back for the team from the capital.

Nuremberg held on by keeping possession and could have perhaps had another with Zorro lookalike Markus Schroth going close (he broke his nose in a recent game and so it wearing a protective mask - see pic) . But the 2 -1 turned out to be enough. Other competitors for the UEFA cup spots also won today which gave the three points from today's game particular value for Der Club who are still very much in the running for international competition next season.

Labels: FCN

We said farewell to Matt this week as he heads off to finish the remainder of his placement year in France.

We went for a chinese meal before watching the footy and going for a bowl which was a fitting send off. Ashley and Marie collected pictures of all the things we have done while Matt was here and put them into a big scrap book which we all signed.

I have made loads of really cool mates out here but nobody who is as like me as Mr Otto is. With the exception of my best mates at home there are very few people with whom I can discuss 1990s football, drink copious amounts of tea and dissect football manager simulation game strategies but Matt is an expert in all fields. I will miss our trips to watch FCN together, 'pumping the guns' in the gym and taking the boredom out of washing by watching the Match of the Day DVDs which Mum sends over while our clothes were spinning.

I wish Matt good luck and much fun in France, I hope I can make it over for a visit. Even if not I am sure we will meet up back in England and go and watch some Premiership action.

Bon Voyage Matty boy!

The weather has returned to blue heavens and warm breezes and the TV 'Wetter' folks say it will only get warmer. It's great to come out of work in the daylight, before I was going to the office in the dark and leaving in the dark which was a tad depressing.

Haven't been up to much, the weekend was quiet, went to the gym and watched the dismal England game but that was about it.

Today we held interviews for my successor; I can't believe it's that time of year already. It really seems like yesterday that I was having my telephone interview sat in my university room in my underpants struggling to string a sentence or two of German together.

We've had some really good candidates and a decision will be made pretty soon.

We have Matt's leaving doo tomorrow which will be cool though a sad occasion as we'll miss him. He is flying to England for a week or so before finishing the remainder of the year in France.
Hopefully have some pics of that for you to make the blog a little more visually stimulating.

Just for something to look at please see the below pic, a classic example of a poor translation which can be found on the lifts in my building. Think I'll take the stairs!

I'm not sure if I've mentioned him in my blogathon before but Sahai is a Wohnheim legend. He lives just a few doors down from me and is cooler than Fonzie on ice. As he works for Siemens too he occasionally joins me for lunch and always greets me with a 'gangsta' handshake, a complex exchange involving numerous hand maneouvres which I am yet to master.

Unfortunately Sahai is not his usual blingin' self at the moment as he has just had a kidney operation. He has had kidney problems for a while and this op was actually to correct one he had done in Munich which was a bit of a botch job.

So, we wish Sahai a 'gute besserung' (Get well soon!)

Der Mike can now officially claim to be able to speak some deutsch after being awarded with his Mittelstufe (Intermediate) Certificate in German from the Goethe Institute at a little ceremony this evening.

This is the level which most employers will ask for in order for you to work in Germany so it is a nice thing to have in case I ever come back.
I didn't really need a certificate at the moment but I used it as a goal to aim for to motivate me to go to my nightschool lessons. And it paid off - I got 283 out of 300 which is not too shabby and in fact classes me as 'sehr gut' (very good).

Apologies if I sound smug -that would be because I am! I could barely understand a word in the first of our departmental monday meetings back in July and now I can give an account of my tasks without notes and answer any question which is thrown at me.
I don't know how useful German will be for me in the future but the little knowledge I had previously enabled me to have this experience so I guess learning the language has been worth it already.

This Saturday I took my biggest football pilgrimage so far - a 600 mile round trip to the Westfalen Stadion (now known as the Signal Iduna Park thanks to a massive sponsorship deal) the home of German football giants and 1997 champions of Europe Borussia Dortmund.

Norman and I set off at around 6 in the morning on the fan bus which was pretty hard going but he party soon started when everyone woke up. With the FCN songs on the stereo and numerous crates of beer the journey didn't seem to take that long. We did stop every couple of hours for 'Brotzeit' - a feats of bread, sausage, cheese and gherkins which kept us fuelled and ready for the game.

We got to the stadium in good time and had a good bit of banter with the Dortmund fans. Though the police came and seperated us it was all in good spirit and when it was time to head into the ground we all shook hands and wished one another a good game. Most sporting.


The stadium itself was awesome. Unlike many grounds in Germany there is no running track around the pitch and with the sides being so steep you feel right on top of the action - it's a real cauldron.

Throw in the largest standing terrace in Europe and you have a hell of an atmosphere -25,000 people stand in the ground's southern stand which observed from the other end was just a yellow and black wall of sound.
It was nearly a full house for the game - around 80,000 and when they sing you understand why the place is nicknamed 'the opera house'.



Of course I and the 4,999 other FCN supporters were hoping for a Nuremburg win when the fat lady came to sing - it would have been the first for Der Club over BVB since 1992.

The game itself didn't do the stadium justice really, FCN looked a little defensive, obviously giving Dortmund the respect they deserve. The bright yellow home team knocked the ball around efficiently but didn't take there chances, polish striker Ebi Smolarek heading there best opportunity over the bar. 0-0 was a fair result.

The way back was another party for about the first 2 hours then I think the tiredness set it and I, along with most of the other travelling fans, fell asleep.

We got back to Erlangen with it still just about St Patricks day and we joined the others, including my boss Andy, to toast the emerald isle with a pint of the black stuff before retiring.

Labels: FCN

We took part in another pub quiz this week and managed a remarkable 2nd place. Credit goes to Mr. Pete Denner who makes Einstein look like a simpleton. Level on points with another team we required a deciding question to decide who got second place. The twist was that you had to sink a shot of evil pear schnapps before answering. Though Pete was second to finish his shot Tom from the rival team got the question wrong.
Pete then gave the correct answer and in doing so won us vouchers and a load of Fosters prizes. Result!

Ahmed, our beloved representative on 6th floor has bought some new fish for our living room. They are tropical and are relaxing to watch after a hard day at the office.

As Matt and Ashley will testify the journey back from the football was undoubtabley the worst of my life.
Let's have a run through:

1. Fought through the crowds to get on the train back to Nuremberg main station.
2. Packed train moves about 10metres and stops. Stays stuck for about 20 mins. Starts to get really warm.
3. Fight breaks out between home and way fans (see scuffle in pic)
4. Announcement tells us to use the buses but we can't get out as doors are locked.
5. Doors open and we rush to get on another train.
6. Finally get to Nuremberg and get on train to Erlangen though there are no seats so we are squashed in the bit between carriages. And I mean squashed! Temperature like an oven.
7. Halfway home drunken teenager throws up on Ashley's shoes. Smell of vomit fills the tiny space. Get out a stop early and opt to walk.
8. Make mental note to take the bus next time.

FCN, back again! Friday's televised game saw Nuremberg host Frankfurt in a dress rehearsal for next month's cup semi-final. Sitting low in the league Frankfurt are a team that Der Club should beat with relative ease. Football is never straightforeward like that of course and Eintracht were the first to score, Greek international Kyrgiakos heading in a corner on 26 minutes.

It was a relief when the ref blew for half time, bringing to a close the worst 45 minutes of football I have ever seen FCN play. It was frankly shambolic, no momentum, no movement and no threat whatsoever. Ian's sunday league team would have made them look average.

And the second half started brightly with a Nuremburg flurry, though this left it open at the back and Frankfurt punished them with a counter, Japanese striker Takahara scoring to give the visitors a 2 goal cushion. At 2-0 FCN looked deservedly down and out. But with the fans in the Nordkurve (Nuremberg's equivalent of the Kop) still in full voice with chants of 'Kampfen und Siegen' (Fight and Win) the home team picked it up a notch and began to play.

With 9 minutes left some good work on the left saw the ball fizz into the Frankfurt box. Robert Vittek pounced on the cross but it shot came back off the keeper though fortutiously hit Frankfurt defender Spycher in the face and landed in his own net. The stadium erupted and Der Club sensed they were back in the game.

Then came the equaliser, a through ball to striker Vittek slicing the Frankfurt defence in two. A drop of the shoulder and calm finish ensured the point for Nuremberg in a valiant comeback which could have gone either way.

Labels: FCN

This weekend I visited my good mate Christian in Wurzburg (technically it's spelt Wuerzburg but let's not confuse things) where he returned to study after doing his summer work placement in Erlangen.

I arrived to pouring rain around lunchtime on Saturday but this did not dampen our spirits and we had an 'English' breakfast in a cool student cafe bar before having a look at some of the magnificent churches, the cathedral and a grand hosue called the "Residenz". We then headed to his accomodation where we sheltered from the weather and watched some comedy DVDs (Christian has impeccable taste in british comedy - monty python, fawlty towers etc).

After a bite to eat we headed out, firstly to Christian's mate Toby's flat for a few beers with the German boys which was a good laugh. Afterwards we spent the night in a little student bar where we meet up with the finnish ladies who came to Prague with us. They brought an english girl with them too who was really nice, always good to see a fellow ex-pat.

On Sunday we awoke to glorious weather so we headed up the hill which overlooks the city to 'die Festung' (fortress). The fortress itself was pretty impressive but the view over the entire landscape was even more amazing. We then had a pleasant stroll around the rest of the sights before having dinner in a nice italian restaraunt. It was a really nice weekend and I look forward to going back, it's definitely worth a second visit.

Some interesting facts about Wurzburg:

• It's home to the second largest winery in Germany
• The X-ray was invented there
• 90% of the town was destroyed by allied bombing just a couple of months before the end of the second world war. Hence most of the sights have been immaculately re-built.

For more on Wurzburg see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wuerzburg

Guten Tag! I'm just about to head to Wurzburg to vist my mate Christian but I thought I would drop you a little post.

Not much new, had a fairly leisurely few days at work, nothing too stressful which is nice.

Had a good time last night when we went out and celebrated the end of Norman's exams.

This weekend the FCN are playing away from home so there will be no match report but never fear, I would not deny you your dose of German football. If you click on the link below you can see what the atmosphere was like when Der Club beat Bayern Munich (ubelievable, I don't thing I did it justice with just words) so have a look . You'll also hear the 'Europa Pokal' song (European Cup) which is now sung everywhere with FCN sitting high enough in the table to make it into European competition for the first time in decades.

I've put the words below too so you can sing along, I think theyre pretty self explanatory!

So, have a good weekend, I'll have some pics of Wurzburg for you very soon.

p.s. It's best to pause the video for a minute of so before watching so it can load up and play smoothly.
http://www.youtube.com/Stimmung

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