Löwen News... Camdal leaves, though somewhat reluctantly. Halfar and Hinterberger seem to be working to a conclusion on his contract without worrying about getting it done before they leave for camp. The issue with Daniel Jais continues. The youth U19 wants a pro contract. 1860 has only offered him a performance-based contract which they have done with most promising talent. HOWEVER, rumor is that Jais is in contact with Hoffenheim and BMG. Hinterberger has told Jais that if he does not sign the performance-based contract he won't travel to camp. While I know the club needs to keep costs low and wants to present a united front, they really are risking losing yet another talent for practically nothing. Should be interesting to see what happens here. Collin Benjamin's first day with 1860. Another report.
Stinking Hoffenheim. They're snatching up every single youth player these days. Smart strategy when you have the money like they do, but still....damn them!
What money? They do it because Hopp isn't "bankrolling" the club anymore. This is and always has been their plan. Which is why I defend then at every turn. People just assumed they would continue spending......
First round: 15.07.-18.07. Braunschweig (A) 22.07.-25.07. Karlsruher SC (H) 05.08.-08.08. Energie Cottbus (A) 12.08.-15.08. Erzgebirge Aue (H) 19.08.-22.08. Fortuna Düsseldorf (A) 26.08.-29.08. Union Berlin (H) 09.09.-12.09. FC St. Pauli (A) 16.09.-19.09. FSV Frankfurt (H) 23.09.-26.09. Greuther Fürth (A) 30.09.-03.10. Dynamo Dresden (H) at Wiesn time !?! 14.10.-17.10. Hansa Rostock (A) 21.10.-24.10. SC Paderborn (H) 28.10.-31.10. MSV Duisburg (A) 04.11.-07.11. VfL Bochum (H) 18.11.-21.11. FC Ingolstadt (A) 25.11.-28.11. Eintracht Frankfurt (H) 02.12.-05.12. Alemannia Aachen (A) Second round: 09.12.-12.12. Braunschweig (H) 16.12.-19.12. Karlsruher SC (A) No two consecutive away/home games per round. Dunno when if we had that ever before....
He literally skipped through the U17s to the U19s and ended up playing mostly U23 matches before being brought up to the pros late last season. I said last summer I would not be surprised if he was first team inside 18 months...he made it in 9 months. They are playing him like they play Volland: 1) outside wing midfielder in the 4-2-3-1, 2) as an AM in the 4-2-3-1 or 3) as a recessed striker in the 4-4-2. He is very versitile and fast. Good pairing for Lauth. With Wood's speed he is a good second option. Would love to see Lauth/Wood or Volland/Wood up front. I think I saw Rongen playing him in AM in the U-WM last month. He was impressive. Wood kept his head down, played hard and did not push things. He is a typical old-school Loewen player. Dare I say it: the black "Gregg Berhalter". Let's see what he can do.
Löwen News... Remember Nicky Adler? My how his stock has fallen. See here. July 7th the 1860 game will be broadcast live on Sport1. The saga around Daniel Jais has ended. He signed a contract and is on his way to the training camp. He is under contract through 2014.
How many Testspiele? Ok, I just noticed 1860 has 7 more Testspiele (they are going to Austria now to play a few) and they are a lot earlier than usual (they have already played 5 loooooooowwwwww level teams). So, 12 test games seems a little high. How unusual is this (did they just not publicize some of the really low level games before or is 12 games a new strategy)? I just noticed that the season starts a lot earlier this year. I vaguely remember some discussion of shortening the winter break but this a much more radical early start. Why did I not get the memo on this? Why is this being done? It seems that the 2.BL is starting two weeks ahead of the 1.BL, so are they finishing 2 weeks earlier (and why?).
Re: Löwen News... Did any of those guys from that "talent batch" make the right move when they left 1860?? I believe only one did. Schaefer.
Re: Löwen News... No, you had Traesch too. Baier had a decent move to VfL as did Jenztsch but they eventually fell back to the 2.BL. Adler just hit FCN, never gelled and came straight back. To leave Osnbrueck and not find a 2.BL team willing to take him says he as fallen a LONG way from 4 years ago.
Re: Löwen News... I somehow thought he was after that group....... I wouldn't call it a "decent move" when they were in the batch of players that club jettisoned just before its biggest and only success...... Are you considering the very real possibility that we and very many others simply overrated him???
Re: Löwen News... Dude, just because enough people think a player has what it takes, that doesn't always make it so. I thought he had what it took too. The problem was, when he left 1860, he was already as good as he was going to get. Just because he didn't make it, it doesn't mean he "squandered" anything. It could very well mean those of us who thought he had what it takes were WRONG! I certainly admit it. When I saw him playing at FCN and Duisburg, I realized I had been wrong.
Re: How many Testspiele? I would love to know this too b/c I'm surprised and baffled by it for the same reasons.
Very ironic. I posted something over the weekend comparing Daniel Jais' situation to the Marvin Pourie incident from a few years back, and look who makes it into the news today but Herr Pourie himself. Seems Marvin never settled in to Schalke and is leaving for Denmark. Perhaps he can score his record number of goals there. I wonder how long before he joins Nicky Adler in the 3.BL?
Very ironic. I posted something over the weekend comparing Daniel Jais' situation to the Marvin Pourie incident from a few years back, and look who makes it into the news today but Herr Pourie himself. Seems Marvin never settled in to Schalke and is leaving for Denmark. Perhaps he can score his record number of goals there. I wonder how long before he joins Nicky Adler in the 3.BL?
As for the "neuer Trikot"; I love it and would love to get one through the Uhsport USA office near Atlanta. I've been getting my Torhuter gloves, sliders and other gear direct a few times. I used to have an ex-teammate that ran the Jako office and distribution center (Markus Maritz) in New York to order Jako replica trikots for me and I would get them in numbers to make it worth his while as well as getting a season's worth of gloves per order. I was able to get my gear at wholesale which led me to order team kits for two teams I was playing on. They closed operations when the Euro skyrocketed in value compared to the $. Just to costly doing business in U.S. and struggled to establish a stronger footing (he was doing about $4M annual volume) in a market dominated by Adidas, Nike and Puma. Uhlsport won't due same deal unless you are a soccer shop. However, I would love to get the new 1860 kit and the Union Berlin to add to my collection!
As for the team; it is shaping up nicely. Benjamin is a good addition to add maturity, experience and direction to a young defending cadre. Nice to see changes being made from office to the field that are positive and hope that Wood is able to establish self as a regular sub initially and then move to a starting role. His work ethic seems to fit in well towards future success with TSV 1860!
Re: How many Testspiele? The number also isn't particularily high - last season 1860 played 13 pre-season friendlies.
Re: How many Testspiele? Woops I should have been more specific. I get the earlier starts this season because of the Euro but I am baffled by BL2 starting two weeks prior to BL1. This is odd because there is still the relegation / promotion play off so the lopsided season end times don't make much sense. Why are the two division not synced like usual?
Re: How many Testspiele? For whatever reason the 2.BL is starting the season two weeks earlier than 1.BL. I think the 1.BL is then going with a 2 week shorter winter break so the second half of the season will be "together" from matchday 20 on. I would guess that the 2. BL figured its attendances would be better in late July rather than late January and the 1.BL had to work around Europa and CL competitions. I am just guessing about that though (like I said earlier nobody included me on any of the memos).
Hey Lb, can your jersey collection compare to this ? One day I need to get one of these old Hacker-Pschorr jerseys....