Bundesliga Winter Break: Surprise Clubs and Failing Clubs?

[Catfish]

The Table at the Winter Break
1 B. München 17 +13 34
2 Schalke 17 +5 34
3 Stuttgart 17 +13 31
4 Wolfsburg 17 +6 30
5 Bremen 17 +17 28
6 Hertha BSC 17 +13 28
7 Hannover 17 +8 28
8 Leverkusen 17 +3 26
9 Hamburg 17 +5 25
10 Bielefeld 17 -4 24
11 Mainz 17 -3 22
12 Nürnberg 17 +2 21
13 K'lautern 17 -4 21
14 Dortmund 17 -5 18
15 M'gladbach 17 -10 17
16 Bochum 17 -12 14
17 Rostock 17 -23 11
18 Freiburg 17 -24 11

So which clubs have been a surprise and which ones have failed? Curious to get everyone's thoughts since there is no Bundesliga for about a month.

Hertha, Wolfsburg, and Bielefeld have been surprises to me. Dortmund has been the biggest disappointment.

[DanielHSV]

surprises: Mainz (at least the first half), Wolfsburg, Hamburg (since Doll), but the biggest surprise for me is Hannover

disappointments: Hamburg (with Toppmöller), Dortmund, Bochum, Rostock (1 point in 9 home games!), biggest disappointment for me is Gladbach, I thought they'd be way better

[  ]

surprises: Mainz (at least the first half), Wolfsburg, Hamburg (since Doll), but the biggest surprise for me is Hannover

disappointments: Hamburg (with Toppmöller), Dortmund, Bochum, Rostock (1 point in 9 home games!), biggest disappointment for me is Gladbach, I thought they'd be way better


Similar for me, Bochum's season really crumbled immediately after their UEFA Cup loss.

Mainz has pleasently surprised me as they endured two seasons of heartbreak not making it to the 1st division.

[afgrijselijkheid]

yesterday notwithstanding, i've been impressed by bielefeld - i'm actually a bit disappointed that werder bremen have shown a lack of focus in league matches thus far

[96Squig]

Positive: Mainz, Wolfsburg, Hannover, Hamburg (doll), Bielefeld
Negative: Rostock (eastern germany's dying), Bochum, Leverkuse, Bremen

[Jun Yun]

Do you guys think Bochum can survive this season? I'm really worried for them. :(

[Catfish]

Bochum and Rostock appear to be going down.

[Dead Fingers]

Bayern STILL competing on all levels, though some people might not be too surprised or happy about that. Happy that Bremen and Leverkusen are still in the CL. Hopefully Schalke and Stuttgart will advance in the UEFA Cup.

Other surprises (good)
Hannover, Mainz & Bielefeld

(bad)
Dortmund


Hamburg and Schalke after their coaching changes

[blazsovszkyc]

Positive: All three teams from 2Bundesliga plus Hertha (especially away from home)
Negative:Bochum ( I am sorry for them}, and Dortmund

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Positive : Hannover, Berlin, Wolfsburg, Arminia Bielefeld and Mainz.

Negative : Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Bochum, Munchengladbach, Hansa rostock.

[hoop]

positive: Mainz, wolsburg, hertha,
negative: Bochum, Bremen, and leverkusen

[wolfsburgh]

Biggest Surprise: Hannover (with Lienen as coach, this team should be relegated already). Runners-up: Wolfsburg (but for their recent lack of form, they might have been the biggest surprise).

Biggest Disappointment: Dortmund (I know about their financial problems, but goodness gracious, they still have a lot of talent on that team, and should be challenging for a UEFA cup spot, not languishing just above the relegation zone). Runners-up: Leverkusen (after a fast start, which raised expectations for this club, they really have been pretty bad domestically).

[gaijin]

Biggest suprise: Hertha Berlin - 6th in the table, and one of the best defences in the league! wtf is going on! Marcelinho the man who is turning their fortunes around after a poor season last year.

Biggest Dissapointment: Vfl Bochum - brilliant last year and was kind of everyone's second favourite team. This year they have been poor and haven't really replaced Vahid Hashemian.

[LordR]

Suprising: Hannover, Wolfsburg, Bielefeld, Mainz, Nürnberg

Failing: Bochum, Freiburg, Leverkusen, Dortmund

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Surprising: Hannover 96, Hertha BSC Berlin

Disappointing: Borussia Dortmund, VfL Bochum

Surprising Players: Gilberto, Mertesacker

Disappointing Players: Rosicky, Hashemian, Mathis

[gaijin]

Yeah, I like this guy Gilberto too. Lets hope we can keep hold of him, he has also turned the season around for Hertha.....

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Yeah, I like this guy Gilberto too. Lets hope we can keep hold of him, he has also turned the season around for Hertha.....

I don't think that Gilberto has turned the season around...Basturk is also important and having a better defense is still the most important thing to the turnaround of Hertha. THey have the best defensive record in the Bundesliga thanks in large part to Josip Simunic, whos been a monster, and the resurrection of Niko Kovac. So while Gilberto has been a pleasant surprise and a quality player (better than Bart Goor was the past few seasons), he isn't the reason why the season has turned for Hertha.

[CanuckFan]

The biggest surprise would be Hannover as you might remember they had a very poor start and were in last place after 6 games. An added surprise is that they have given up the 2nd fewest goals in the league. Wolfsburg being so high is also a surprise, along with the 3 promoted teams staying out of the relegation zone.

The biggest disappointment for me would be Dortmund.