(R) VfB Stuttgart Thread 08/09

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Thanks. :)

Wolfsburg away today, we're gonna be the major underdogs in this. They mauled us 3-0 there last season and have played much better than us this year. If we can get anything from this match i'd be satisfied. A win would be a huge boost, but with our recent reconrd, you just can't expect us to do that, can you? Oh well, gotta remain hopeful I guess, but Wolfsburg are the better side this year.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Thanks. :)

Wolfsburg away today, we're gonna be the major underdogs in this. They mauled us 3-0 there last season and have played much better than us this year. If we can get anything from this match i'd be satisfied. A win would be a huge boost, but with our recent reconrd, you just can't expect us to do that, can you? Oh well, gotta remain hopeful I guess, but Wolfsburg are the better side this year.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

We scored :eek:

Lanig with his third goal of the season! Awesome!

If there's one thing we're good at, it's holding on to a lead, so let's hope this trend continues.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Well, now we conceded a silly goal and it's 1-1. 40 minutes left to play, anything can happen,w e can still win this or we can throw it all away and see what happens. It'll be interesting.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Well Wolfsburg have sealed the game, they lead 3-1. Veh must have given an absolutely INSPIRING half-time team talk. We're gonna lose again. ******** this season, everyone is pathetic. Everything is pathetic.

If Veh hadn't won the title two years ago he'd already be fired long ago. This team lacks everything. And that's reality.

******** them.

[THOMA GOL]

Danke Mr. Keeper and your shambolic defense:mad: 4 -1 and I bet Boka is livid even more. Sigi Schmid is Schwaben. I'm done watching this mess.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

4-1.

Here are some thoughts:

- The side has no fighting spirit.
- The side has the biggest loser-mentality possible. If they are behind, they'll never come back.
- The side seems unmotivated in many games.
- The side SUCKS away. 4 wins in 24 matches over the last 1 and a half seasons. Again, a mentality question. Pathetic.
- The transfer politics over the last year and a half has been terrible. Ewerthon. Marica has failed so far. Radu. Gledson. Schaefer. Boulahrouz has underperformed massively. Simak. Basturk. Lehmann is an exception, but these transfers have sucked.
- The team has no standard first-11.


So many things are lacking, i've had enough and something must change. I'll always love Veh for that title year, but in the interests of the team we must realize that they've underperformed for 18 months now, they've been completely shit in the last months. And it's simply time to change - Veh , I now believe, has to go.

[Borussia]

Veh , I now believe, has to go.

I'd like to see him as Hans Meyer's successor. ;)

Don't know what's up with your guys lately...

[footyfan1]

4-1.

Here are some thoughts:

- The side has no fighting spirit.
- The side has the biggest loser-mentality possible. If they are behind, they'll never come back.
- The side seems unmotivated in many games.
- The side SUCKS away. 4 wins in 24 matches over the last 1 and a half seasons. Again, a mentality question. Pathetic.
- The transfer politics over the last year and a half has been terrible. Ewerthon. Marica has failed so far. Radu. Gledson. Schaefer. Boulahrouz has underperformed massively. Simak. Basturk. Lehmann is an exception, but these transfers have sucked.
- The team has no standard first-11.


So many things are lacking, i've had enough and something must change. I'll always love Veh for that title year, but in the interests of the team we must realize that they've underperformed for 18 months now, they've been completely shit in the last months. And it's simply time to change - Veh , I now believe, has to go.


Dude, I agree with what you are saying.

I watched a lot of that match today and I thought your defenders were especially horrible.

Lehmann would make saves and instead of hustling to clear the ball, they'd all be standing around looking at one another.

It probably reminded Lehmann of his final season at BVB.

I don't know if this is all Veh's fault, but usually when this happens, the coach is the first to go. But I think Heldt shouldn't get off scot-free either.

I think you nailed it with your transfer analysis. Also with your comments of their being unmotivated.

Again, your defense looked like they especially didn't give a shit today.

[+Gooner+]

Danke Mr. Keeper and your shambolic defense:mad: 4 -1 and I bet Boka is livid even more. Sigi Schmid is Schwaben. I'm done watching this mess.

Lehmann's defense? You've got to be kidding. He worked his bum but with those sleeping pills in front of him what is he supposed to do? Enke has the same problem with 96. Wolfsburg could have as well won 8-1 if not for Lehmann making save after save.

[Rainer24]

This season is officially in the crapper. I don't know who the blame should be falling on. Everyone? No one? I don't know. It is truly pathetic. Wolfsburg is a good side, but that result is an embarassment. If we go down to a decent team, we lack ability to come back from a deficit, or what's worth, the belief that we can do so.


I agree with the criticism of the transfer policy, i.e. signing losers, which is is all we've done in the past couple of years. We spend no money and when we do it is for guys that bring nothing to the team, whether it's because they're too old, or they were just never good enough. I have nothing positive to say about the team at the moment and I basically just wait around for the games on the weekend, knowing that I will be feeling like shit 90 minutes after kickoff.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Veh has been fired:

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/500787/


Not a surprise after yesterday, I felt this coming. There was simply too much wrong with the side and he had to go. I myself for the first time came out yesterday and said I wanted him out, and I guess others reacted the same way at the same time.

As Keith said earlier in the thread, clearly Heldt is not without mistakes either. He's played big part in this too, but he stays in power of the management for now.

Well, what can we say? 3 years of Veh in which two were steeped in mediocrity. But for that one title-winning season he and the side defied all expectations to create one of the biggest shocks in the Bundesliga's history. That is what I will always remember him for, and I believe it'll be the same with other fans.

http://www.fussball24.de/bilder/news/mittel/47169_m.jpg

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Veh has been fired:

http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/bundesliga/startseite/artikel/500787/


Not a surprise after yesterday, I felt this coming. There was simply too much wrong with the side and he had to go. I myself for the first time came out yesterday and said I wanted him out, and I guess others reacted the same way at the same time.

As Keith said earlier in the thread, clearly Heldt is not without mistakes either. He's played big part in this too, but he stays in power of the management for now.

Well, what can we say? 3 years of Veh in which two were steeped in mediocrity. But for that one title-winning season he and the side defied all expectations to create one of the biggest shocks in the Bundesliga's history. That is what I will always remember him for, and I believe it'll be the same with other fans.

http://www.fussball24.de/bilder/news/mittel/47169_m.jpg

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Taking over for now will be our title-winning former player and ex-Assistent manager Markus Babbel. He will be assister by Widmayer, the former assistent of VfB II.

Not certain for now whether this is just an interim solution or a long-term decision. Guess we'll see how they perform until Xmas.

A tough job as this team looks like it needs a real shake-up. I'm sceptical about getting an assistant manager to replace the manager, after all they were part of the sam team that has been unsuccessful this season.

I'm somewhat sceptical about Veh being replaced by his assistant, after all they were part of the same side that has been very unsuccessful this season. But I hope i'm wrong. Babbel knows all the players already having even played with some of them, and I hope he'll prove himself able to give them a firm kick in the ass and get them to play well again.

First match of the 'new era' will be a vital UEFA Cup game away to Sampdoria. That'll provide the first insight into whether we can now take a turn for the better or now.

Good luck Markus!

http://d.yimg.com/eur.yimg.com/ng/sp/empics/5154478

[Borussia]

I'm somewhat sceptical about Veh being replaced by his assistant

I don't think that Babbel will be the head coach for more than 1-2 games...

Pity for Armin, but that's football nowadays. If you don't have success, you get replaced. At least he'll be "rewarded" with a nice financial compensation... ;)

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

His contract only went until this summer so I don't think any compensation would be that large.

But no, with Babbel I think he'll definitely stay at least until xmas. then we'll see what to do depending on how well the side performs.

[Rainer24]

Well, you could see that coming, and I think it had to, but I will always remember him fondly thanks to the championship year.

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Lehmann: 3.5 Magnin: 4.5 Tasci: 4.5 Delpierre: 4 Boulahrouz: 5 Pardo: 4-4.5 Elson: 4-4.5 Simak: 4-4.5 Lanig: 4 Gomez: 3.5 Cacau: 4

Player Ratings:

Jens Lehmann: Kicker Rating: 3.5 (14 games played, 3.07 avg. rating)
My Rating: 3.5 - Our Best

Serdar Tasci: KR: 4.5 (13 games played, 3.35 avg. rating)
MR: 5

Khalid Boulahrouz: KR: 5 (8 games played, 6 as starter, 4.00 avg. rating)
MR: 5

Matthieu Delpierre: KR: 4 (12 games played, 3.50 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Ludovic Magnin: KR: 5 (8 games played, 7 as starter, 4.43 avg. rating)
MR: 5

Martin Lanig: KR: 4.5 (11 games played, 7 as starter, 3.64 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Thomas Hitzlsperger: KR: 5 (13 games played, 3.69 avg. rating)
MR: 5

Elson: KR: 5 (6 games played, 3 as starter, 3.90 avg. rating)
MR: 4.5

Jan Simak: KR: 5 (6 games played, 5 as starter, 4.08 avg. rating)
MR: 4.5

Mario Gomez: KR: 4 (14 games played, 3.57 avg. rating)
MR: 4

Cacau: KR: 5 (10 games played, 9 as starter, 3.94 avg. rating)
MR: 4.5

SUBS:

Arthur Boka: KR: 4 (13 games played, 10 as starter, 4.00 avg. rating)
MR: 6

Danijel Ljuboja: KR: No Rating (3 games played, 0 as starter, no avg. rating)
MR: No Rating

[The Old Lady Hertha]

Any chance Balakov will be your new coach? Would rather like to see him come back I always liked him. Babbel...well he's a Kopite, I hope you understand ;)

I also heard Fatih Terim has been linked to the job, he would be very very interesting :eek:

[Vfbstuttgartfan]

Well, I haven't paid much attention to the manager links. For now Babbel is our new manager and i'm hoping he does a good enough job for us to not have to worry about finding a replacement. But we'll see, he sure won't have it easy with this tough end of year schedule.

I don't know about Balakov, I don't believe he's had any notable success with the sides he has coached. Of course, i'd still give him a chance because he's Balakov ;). A poll on the official VfB forum had Mirko Slomka as the most popular of the options listed, but I think that's just because he's rather well-known. Soldo came a distant second, I actually wouldn't mind having him, he was a strong captain, a real VfB man and seems intelligent, and in the only managerial role he's ever had he won the title with Dinamo Zagreb. Then there of course other 'heroes' like Buchwald whose names are being thrown around. Haven't heard of Terim, that WOULD be interesting - could work out great, could be an absolute disaster. Would certainly be risky. Also, Thomas Doll was also included in that fan poll and received a hefty 2% of the vote :D


but anyway, as I said, for now I'm just hoping Babbel does the job. We're three hours away from his first match!

Here's the team news heading into the match in Genoa against Sampdoria:
Very unluckily, Sebastian Rudy, who had been promoted back in to the senior side by Babbel and who was seen as a potential 'surprise-starter' against Sampdoria injured himself in one of his first trainings with the A-team and is now out for 2-3 months. Very unlucky :( - wish you a speedy recovery, Sebastian! Also, Delpierre is gonna have to miss this one which'll certainly weaken our defence, hopefully Boulahrouz and Tasci can do the job. However, one piece of good news is that, despite having had a fever midweek, it seems like Lehmann is fit to play, which is obviously a relief.

I'm curious how Babbel lines us up, some issues exist and we'll see what starter choices he makes.

Goalkeeper will obviously be Lehmann. Question over who will play at leftback, does Babbel prefer Boka or Magnin? both have been terrible this season. Both can be good. We'll see who he picks, and how they perform. I was hoping to see Tasci move to the right with a Boulahrouz-Delpierre central partnership as, after all, Veh failed this season to incorporate our 3 best defenders into the most commonstarting side this season. With Delpierre's injury though, this can't happen. It'll be a Boulahrouz-Tasci central partnership. At rightback, if he wants to give the youth a chance, Babbel might surprise by playing Traesch, who has been good when given the chance this season and is certainly talented. But most likely he'll stick to the more experienced Osorio. This leaves us with:
--------------Lehmann
Osorio--Boulahrouz--Tasci---Boka/Magnin

In midfield, will we revert to the title winning, two central midfielder, two winger formation, or will we play with a creator? Personally, I wouldn't mind seeing a return to the title-winning midfield of

--------Pardo----Hitzlsperger
Hilbert-----------------------Khedira

But of course this would hardly be the kick-in-the-ass change that the side probably needs. Also, Hilbert has been very poor this season, Pardo has been average, Hitzlsperger has had a run of bad form, though he's expected to return to the side tonight. We'll see.

but if we do play with a creator, I guess it's between Elson and Simak. Between the two I don't know who i'd pick, the trainer must decide that based on who performs better in training.
Basturk, of course, is out injured.

Finally, would we play Hilbert or Lanig at right midfield. Hilbert I prefer, and is the more talented and on a good day better of the two. But Lanig has had a solid season, it would perhaps be unfair to take him out of the side here. Who knows, tough one.

finally in attack, who will partner Gomez? Cacau has scored 2 goals in 14 matches this season hasn't been good, so i'd like to see Marica return to the first 11. But we'll see.
also, questions over who else will play a role. Fischer was not given many chances this season by Veh, a real letdown after the very promising last match of last season where he practicallly saved us from not getting into Europe at all. I hope Babbel gives him more opportunities. also, will Ljuboja continue to play some role? I'm guessing he will do, a minimal one, if the other attackers besides Gomez aren't able to assert themselves.


So, many questions to be answered and i'm clearly very excited about tonight's match. I'm hoping for a touch-of-gold, a total change in fortunes and mentality, as a result of the managerial change. But realistically, I know this probably won't be the case, against Sampdoria who will be the big favourites for this game.

We must keep in mind that it IS a very important match. A draw would give us a good chance of progressing, we'd have things in our own hands. If we lose however, which is the most likely result, we'd HAVE to win our last game at home to Standard Liege and would also need to rely on other results. It will be a nailbiter either way. But with our horrid home season there's nothing that would be worse than a group-stage exit from the UEFA Cup. This is a tournament where we can still make something or a lot out of this season if we play our best. So, fingers crossed that the boys pull off an upset tonight!