I got nuthin’
By: Chris | March 15th, 2008
Just like that the European season is over? Seriously? I swear I have been watching Intertoto and UEFA Cup matches since May ‘07. Out of the German Cup, out of the UEFA Cup, Huub leaving and VDV with one foot out the door. SIGH. At least we had an Atouba sighting. :P I suppose we could hold our heads high knowing we played a hell of a match without our #1A player, Vincent Kompany (Da Man!). Alas, it was not to be.
Instead of drowning my sorrows in Holsten (which, by the way, you can’t get in the Midwest) I am going back to a happier place. Let me take you back to 10 February 2007. I had been in Hamburg for 2 and a half weeks and was ready for a little diversion besides the Reeperbahn (LOL). When the subject of the weekend’s activities came up, I suggested to some of my German collegues that we check out the HSV-Dortmund match. Hell, there had to still be tickets to the match–HSV were playing like crap, they had only 1 victory in the Bundesliga on the season and had crashed out of the Champions League with only a single victory versus CSKA Moscow for their troubles. They were smack-dab, right in the middle of the drop zone. Yes, in February 2007, it sure looked like the Dinosaur was going to be relegated at last.
But on that cold, windy February day, Dortmund were coming to the then-AOL Arena. It was to be Huub Stevens’ first home contest as manager of HSV, and expectations were high. He had taken over from Thomas Doll a week earlier. Doll had been canned after HSV hit rock bottom, literally–they were in last place, following a home draw to Cottbus. Huub came over from Eredivisie side Roda JC, and had previously guided Schalke to the UEFA Cup in 1997 and a near-win of the Bundesliga in 2001, only to see the title go to Bayern Munich on goal difference. HSV were getting a difference maker as their new manager.
And what a difference he made. Following an away loss at Herta, HSV came back home and fairly pounded Dortmund 3-0. Van der Vaart scored from the spot early into the match (this was a guy who you could follow!), and Dortmund played with 10 men for the entire second half. My colleagues and I ended up scoring “seats” in the standing area of the stadium (German stadia still have standing areas/terraces, unlike English stadia–and they sold beer[!], and though it was cold and windy, the Holsten was warm; I never would have thought it possible) and having the time of our lives. THIS was the match that converted me from casual observer of German football to HSV supporter through and through. The home supporters energy was palpable, as was their optimism that HSV had finally turned the corner and that Huub would guide them out of the drop zone. As crappy as warm Holsten is, I don’t think I’ve ever had better beer than I did that afternoon.
We come full circle this week. Doll returns as manager of Dortmund, and HSV are fighting for their lives again, though at the top of the table for a Champions League spot, rather than the bottom and avoiding relegation. Van Der Vaart is now known to be leaving, where a year ago it was speculation (his flirts with Valencia were last summer). Huub is leaving to, and his replacement is . . .
The last meeting of these sides in September produced another 3-0 victory for Hamburg. HSV simply must have 3 points from this match to stay clear of our new nemesis Leverkusen (I now have a special place in my heart for the distaste I have for Leverkusen; it’s right next to the spots for Bremen and Bayern) and catch Werder Bremen, who are playing some crummy ball right now and are ripe for the taking. My SWAG prediction: HSV 2 - Dortmund 0, with goals from VDV and Guerrero, chased by lots St. Pauli Girl (or whatever other crummy American-German bier I can find at Hy-Vee). Skol!
Category: Team News
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[...] Chris wrote a fantastic post today on “I got nuthinâ”Here’s ONLY a quick extractMy colleagues and I ended up scoring “seats” in the standing area of the stadium (German stadia still have standing areas/terraces, unlike English stadia–they also sell beer[!], and though it was windy and cold, the Holsten was warm; … [...]
Posted from
United States
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What a story of how you became a HSV supporter through and through. Nice!
‘Huub is leaving to, and his replacement is…’
And till now, no answer yet. You heard about Slaven Bilic being flattered or something to be linked to his former club West Ham for the coaching job? But then the last I know, he’s not going there. That is the latest I am hearing from the man itself. Other than him on UEFA’s Magazine - http://www.uefa.com/magazine/news/kind=4/newsid=671945.htmlPosted from
Singapore -
i hope zidan plays, this coach is stupid!!!!
Posted from
United States -
Zizou isn’t getting match time because Olic and Guerrero are playing brilliantly, especially Guerrero. But as Guerrero is a bit mecurial, or shall we say streaky, Zidan will be back. He’s too good to keep out of the lineup.
Posted from
United States -
http://netherlands.worldcupblog.org/1/huub-stevens-am-i-really-so-tough.html
Found it from the Netherlands World Cup Blog. It’s about Huub Stevens, Chris.
Posted from
Singapore -
[...] Chris, who shared the story of how he passed out drunk on warm Holsten beer and then woke up, littered with HSV scarfs and a big blue plushy dinosaur sleeping next to him. There was no looking back for him ever since. (Hamburg Offside) [...]
Posted from
United States -
I always find it interesting to hear how someone ended up supporting a specific club.
About Zidan:
I think he is currently a bit overambitious. He wants to prove himself too much, which in the end doesn’t help Hamburg. He has great technical ability, but more often than not this is just attracting more and more defenders until he eventually loses the ball. He doesn’t seem to be fully integrated in Hamburg’s attack. That’s Olic’s and Guerrero’s advantage at the moment. I still hope that he comes good eventually. Otherwise a loan spell might be in order, to give him more playing time.Posted from
United States -
One story I left out of the post–my fondest memory of that day was taking the tram from Heimfeld to the central station in Hamburg for the trip out to the arena. As I entered the car, there were about 8-10 HSV supporters in the front of the car with what looked like milk crates, filled with litre bottles of Astra, just pounding beers on the way to the match. It was like tailgating for an American football game, but on the subway.
When I got to the station, there were riot police on all the platforms and up on the concourse. That was a little unnerving to see as an American sport fan. Got me to thinking what it would be like to see to national teams going at it. The game day atmosphere at the stadium was great. My German friends abandonned me when I went to buy the tickets and had a great laugh when I tried to purchase the tickets at the kiosk with my rudimentary Germanglish (it’s a combination of German and English). Buying beer inside was much easier.
Posted from
United States
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