Got it. I think that's all from the latest batch, T. I really appreciate your attention to this stuff.
Royal is still available - maybe a good bargain pick-up for an MLS team? Philly or Chicago could use him.
Too late, newly-promoted Würzburg signed him. Würzburg is the team that beat Matt Taylor's Saarbrücken on penalties a few weeks ago to get promoted to the 3. Liga.
Started Würzburg's first game of the season, which kicked off this weekend. 0-0 draw with Wehen Wiesbaden on the road, not a terrible way to start life in the 3. Liga.
Through the first games, Fennell has played every minute. If the posted lineups are correct, he appears to be playing d-mid.
#FWK-Startelf vs @KAAGent: Wulnikowski - Billick, Weil, Schoppenhauer, Kurzweg - Fennell - Gutjahr, Karsanidis, Benatelli, Daghfous - Bieber— FC Würzburger Kickers (@fwk_1907) January 8, 2016 Started in a friendly against KAA Gent & Kenny Saief.
Fennell scored his second goal of the season this year in a win over Preußen Münster. Würzburger Kickers are comfortably in 7th place, though still a little ways off from competing for a promotion spot. Fennell's swap of Kicking from the Stuttgart variety to the Würzburg variety seems to have paid off - Stuttgarter Kickers are in the relegation zone and his switch to DM seems to have gone well.
With three games to play, Fennell's club is in the promotion playoff spot in the 3. Liga. They have very little chance of moving up to 2nd place, so they'll have to hold off Sonnenhof Großaspach and Osnabrück (3 and 4 pts back respectively) and then beat a 2BL club.
They are promoted and perhaps signaling Royal's chance to move out of the YA Academy: Duisburg 1 - 2 Würzburg (agg. 1-4) Royal-Dominique Fennell and Würzburg earned a spot in Germany's second level for the first time in nearly 40 years, making easy work of their 2nd Bundesliga hosts Duisburg. Fennell once again lined up in Würzburg's central defense for the entirety of the game, earning a yellow card midway through the second half. http://www.yanks-abroad.com/content.php?mode=show&id=11949
Fennell finished with the 12th highest Kicker rating in the 3.Liga, for whatever that's worth. He made 37 starts and went 90 in almost all of them. http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/3liga/topspieler/3-liga/2015-16/topspieler-der-saison.html His former club, Stuttgarter Kickers, were relegated.
Dirk approves. He grew up in Würzburg and tweeted "Nevermore 3.Liga...crazy". 728954119722020866 is not a valid tweet id Nie mehr 3. Liga.... Wahnsinn.@fwk_1907— Dirk Nowitzki (@swish41) May 24, 2016
Looking forward to seeing how Royal performs next season. But given depth at CB, unlikely to see a call-up anytime soon.
Fennell played mostly DM last season, actually, though he still accumulated a number of starts at CB as well. Würzburg lost their 2.Bundesliga opener today to Eintracht Braunschweig. Fennell will need to wait to make his debut at this level, as he watched from the bench. Würzburg have acquired another DM named Tobias Schröck who played in the 3rd Liga with Sonnenhof Großaspach last season. Schröck started today alongside Fennell's normal CM partner Emanuel Taffertshofer. Taffertshofer saw red, so maybe Fennell will get a shot next week, though I suspect it is Schröck who is the real competition. EDIT: Also, since Fennell is an established pro on a team that is now in Germany's second tier, it's time to kick him upstairs to the YA forum. @bungadiri
Fennell is moving down again - transfer to Halle in the 3. Liga: http://www.kicker.de/news/fussball/..._toptransfer_fennell-zieht-es-nach-halle.html
That's too bad for him after being part of a promotion campaign, but it seemed like Würzburg didn't view him as part of their 2.Bundesliga plans.
It looks like the press approved of his debut: Royal heißt königlich. Der Transfer von Royal-Dominique Fennell könnte sich für den Halleschen FC als königlicher Glücksgriff erweisen. http://www.mz-web.de/24687722 ©2016
Scored for Hallescher. Fortuna Köln - Hallescher FC 0:1 Tor: Fennell (26.) #FORHFC https://t.co/FmJSrbVCWt— kicker ⬢ Fußball News (@kicker_live) October 1, 2016
Scored the winner today in a 3-2 win. He has three goals in six games, which is quite a bit of production for a player like him. He's been playing mostly DM for Halle, who haven't lost since he's joined the club.