FC St. Pauli
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Sometimes you need to be lucky. Sometimes you need to be good. Sometimes you need a little magic. Today in Hamburg, St Pauli had all three going for them and thus got a HUGE 3 points from the derby.
Kudos to Holger Stanislawski for winning on the road with inferior talent. Being outshot 22-5 and having possession only 35% of the time did not keep the guys in brown from making the most of what little opportunity they had.
The Lucky: Ruud van Nistelrooy and Ze Roberto were among the Hamburg players who should have placed the ball in the net behind Benedikt Pliquett. Their bit of bad luck undoubtedly lead to the St Pauli win.
The Good: Gerald Asamoah continues to be lethal whenever an attacking opportunity presents itself, and Carlos Zambrano anchored a solid defensive effort by the entire club.
The Magic: Holger Stanislawski! The heart and soul of St Pauli football managed perhaps his best match of the year. He got the players to buy into a defensive first approach that waited patiently for the right moments to seize an attack.
St Pauli now sits in 11th place in the 1.Bundesliga. (I cannot believe I just typed that sentence!)
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For those who love the passion, emotions and insanity of a good match, don’t look to Dallas, Texas on Sunday. There you will only find a sterile event with approximately 9 minutes of live action. However, if you turn your attention to a city called Hamburg, you will see the essence of sport on display this Sunday. Not to mention 90+ minutes of continuous excitement.
Past rivalries have brought to the surface deep tensions dating back many decades. An extremely small (but often vocal) group of Hamburg SV supporters identify themselves as neo-fascists and can be heard chanting songs of hate or singing of sending St Pauli fans off to Auschwitz. Thankfully, this is becoming less frequent as authorities and the 99%+ of good Hamburg fans have made considerable efforts to rid the game of these assholes.
Still, this Hamburg derby is seen as a clash of ideologies, economies and politics. Although the lines between these two clubs are a bit more blurred than they used to be, we all know that old tensions seem to resurface in the sporting world whenever we give them opportunity.
Added to the rich (and often disturbing) history of this rivalry is the fact that both of these clubs are pretty damn good right now. HSV is obviously a better club and their position in the table reflects that. However, St Pauli is quickly becoming a club that looks to stick around for more than just a year in the top flight. If St Pauli can play they way they did last week against Podolski and compnay, HSV could be looking at a very damaging loss on their home turf.
In reality, I will call for a 1-1 draw at the end of the day.
<iframe title=”YouTube video player” width=”640″ height=”510″ src=”http://www.youtube.com/embed/HPG3cNYCi74” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen></iframe>
Sorry, having some “embedding” issues with the site. The link above is to some St Pauli magic (or luck) against Hamburg during the 96/97 season. Enjoy!
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It has been 2 days and the euphoria still has not worn off. For 90 minutes on Saturday, St Pauli looked like a club that legitimately belongs in the top flight of the Bundesliga. Granted, FC Koln isn’t challenging for a Champions League spot anytime soon, but this doesn’t diminish the fact that guys in brown and white looked pretty damn impressive.
Charles Takyi broke the game open with two goals in a 6 minute span. He finished the match having shown his best form of the year and receiving a 7.5 rating. Other top performances for St Pauli came from Carlos Zambrano, Fabian Boll, and Gerald Asamoah with two assists.
Saturday's Hero!
Nobody really disappointed for the home club, and the returning Davidson Drobo-Ampem even got a few minutes of play at the end of the match.
Koln had been playing relatively well before Saturday. I am not sure what to make of their performance. Was St Pauli that good or did they just manage to catch a club starting to fall on very hard times?
Unfortunately, supporters of St Pauli can’t revel in this victory too long because there is a certain “other” club in Hamburg that has a date with us on February 6th.
Super Bowl be damned, this Sunday is the Hamburg derby!!!!!!
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In just a few short months the fate of St Pauli will be decided. Their presence in either the top flight or the 2.Bundesliga next season could be influenced strongly by this Saturday’s outcome at Millerntor.
Sitting even in points with Cologne and trailing them by -2 in goal differential, the importance of this match is not lost on a single player or supporter on either side.
Here are my keys to a 3 point day for St Pauli:
#1: Take advantage of the FC Cologne drama –
A couple of weeks ago, Cologne manager Frank Schafer demoted Youssef Mohamed from his role as captain and named the enigmatic Lukas Podolski as the clubs new on the pitch leader. Naturally, Mohamed has not been extremely happy about this decision and he claims Shafer has been dishonest with him. Moves like this often have an adverse affect on team chemistry. Plus, one has to wonder if Lu-lu-lucas Podolski is ready and mature enough to assume club leadership.
The New Captain
#2: Find ways to keep the ball on the feet of Gerald Asamoah -
The Ghanian born, German international is on top of his game and looks to be reliving some of his glory days from the past decade. I believe his creativity and passing will create some serious problems for an often porous Cologne defense.
#3: Navigate the pitch -
As is the case in much of Northern Europe, the harsh winter has taken its toll on playing surfaces. Add to this a lot of rain in Hamburg and things could be a mess. Look for the winning side to be the one that masters the aerial game on Saturday.
Muddy Pitch???
My prediction: St. Pauli wins a sloppy one by a 2-1 margin.
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St Pauli has a problem. I am not just talking about their inability to put the ball in the net. This problem is unprecedented amongst other clubs and is unique to the Hamburg brown and whites. The problem lies in finding a way to harmonize the ideology of the supporters with success on the pitch.
Perhaps no other club in the world holds as strongly to their defining values. Hardcore St Pauli supporters care more about their social and political ideals than they do maintaining their place in top flight German football. Yet, at the same time, everyone wants to see their club perform well. The St Pauli Ultras have been defined by their strong leftist, anti-racism, anti-fascism, socialist worldview. The Bundesliga, like all other major leagues in the world, is driven by money, corporations and the capitalistic desire for more, more, more.
A Familiar Face At Millerntor
What it comes down to is this; for long-term success the club needs to get into bed with big corporate sponsors and sell every inch of available space for commercial advertising. They need trendy restaurants in the stadium, luxury boxes and LED boards surrounding the touchlines. If they don’t they will once again begin touring the lower levels of football.
What is a St Pauli supporter to do?
There is currently a group called the Sozialromantiker that has gathered over 2500 signatures since the end of 2010 of St Pauli supporters who are threatening to start boycotting home matches if the commercialization doesn’t stop. These fans are being heard. They are willing to sacrifice winning football to stay true to their beliefs.
Agree or disagree, it is nice to see people choosing principles over money. This is an idea that has long been lost in soccer (i.e. Sepp Blatter) all over the world.
Not Exactly A Moral Ethicist
St Pauli’s official list of “principles” says this for point #12:
12. Sponsors and business partners of FC St. Pauli and their products should be in harmony with club policy and the social responsibility of the club. More detailed specifications will be found in the club’s Vermarktungsrichtlinien [Marketing Guidelines].
Fans are left scratching their heads at how Suzi’s Showbar pole dancing in the stadium qualifies under this principle!
The good news is that the advisory board is willing to listen and is reaching out to the Sozialromantiker to try and find some common ground.
Stay tuned. Things at Millerntor are never, ever boring!
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The words of 4 guys named John, Paul, George and Ringo say much about the current state of St Pauli’s offense.
(Do you need anybody?)
I just need somebody to love
(Could it be anybody?)
I want somebody to love
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends
Mm going to try with a little help from my friends
Oh I get high with a little help from my friends
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends
With a little help from my friends
St Pauli seriously needs a little help from their Bundesliga friends this January. The two most popular thoughts out there are that maybe…just maybe, cross-town rivals Hamburg or perhaps Leverkusen will be our friends.
Could Hamburg possibly find it in their hearts to loan out Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting to their fellow Hamburg brothers? Choupo-Moting is not being used much at the time and St Pauli could guarantee he gets major experience trying to create offense at Millerntor.
What about Leverkusen? It makes sense for them to get their young, speedy Danish forward some extended Bundesliga experience. Nicolai Jorgensen would add a great deal of speed and creativity to the worst offense in German football.
Please, please, please! Someone let us borrow a goal scorer!
Or, as the Beatles would say…”Please, please me!” (Whoa, yeah)
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Winter break in the Bundesliga is always a good time to reflect back on the calendar year. Two things stand out above all others for the Brown & White: Promotion to top flight football and a reinvigorated partnership between Celtic fans and the faithful at Millerntor.
The insanity that accompanies all things St Pauli was at an all time high last spring as the club celebrated its promotion into the top flight Bundesliga. The supporters at Millerntor are always exuberant, but being thrust into the big time of European football always sends the Ultras to a new level.
Of course, this year St Pauli celebrated its 100th anniversary and its informal ties with Celtic FC have never been stronger.
A celebratory friendly with their Scottish/Irish brothers was one big party that gave us a blueprint for how nations should handle international diplomacy. Get together, play soccer, and drink beer!
2011 can be an even better year for St Pauli if the fall fixture list has them playing matches once again in the top flight. For this to happen, we have to see a resurgence in scoring and perhaps a little bit of luck.
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How often is it that a manager is more entertaining to watch than the club?
In July we could say this was the case with Argentina. There are times I also feel this way with Arsenal. Nowhere, is it more the case than with the 2010-11 St Pauli club.
In a press conference leading up to the weekends David v Goliath, Capitalism v Socialism, Rich v Poor, Bayern v St Pauli match, Holger Stanislawski was in top form.
Bayern v St Pauli
Talking about Bastian Schweinsteiger, Stanislawski remarked, “We don’t need Schweinsteiger, he is too good. He would only become a worse player if he played for us.”
Brilliant! The St Pauli manager has a remarkable gift in knowing how to ease the pressure off his players and keep things light in the locker room. There is no doubt the squad will go into Allianz Arena with the pressure off. They are expected to lose by a large margin and coming out with a point would equal a monumental upset.
As Fabian Boll said, “We are not going to Munich just to swap shirts after the game”.
Last week we won on an own goal…can the streak of luck continue into Munich????
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…but we’ll take 1 point!
St. Pauli is in the midst of a stretch of 3 games that are very winnable. Last week 3 points slipped away at home versus Wolfsburg. This week is away at Bremen and then the following Friday things move back home for a clichéd “must win” against Kaiserslautern.
In the last 5 matches, Bremen has been outscored 15-2 while St Pauli has been dominated at a rate of 10 goals allowed to 2 scored. Not exactly a couple of teams doing much to secure their future in top flight Bundesliga football.
The good news is, somebody has to get a result. At worst these ineffective offenses should find plenty of good opportunities to score.
Player to Watch:
I am hoping to see Markus Thorandt continue his excellent form.
Thorandt: Playing In Top Form
Player Who Needs to Step Up:
Mathias Lehmann
Heading into their 14th match of the season, St Pauli doesn’t have a goal scorer with more than 2!
The 4-5-1 formation is keeping the games close but is really starting to take its toll on the frequency of goals being scored. Maybe these next two weeks are a good time for Stanislawski to experiment with throwing more attackers forward!
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This past week saw a big change in the front office of St Pauli. Corny Littman is no longer the club president as Hamburg entrepreneur Stefan Orth is set to take over. After a landslide of 431 yes votes to 53 abstentions and 40 nay’s, Orth will inherit a club in the top league and moving in the right direction.
New St Pauli President
The club also released the final financial numbers for the 09/10 season and showed a loss of $1.9 million dollars. This figure is a bit misleading since last year it was necessary to pay out $2.87 million in player bonuses for advancing to the 1.Bundesliga. The projected figures for this season are looking very good, prompting CEO Michael Meeske to describe the club as “economically healthy”.
Meanwhile, back on the pitch, St Pauli gets ready to host Wolfsburg this Sunday. We sit only 1 point behind Wolfsburg in the table despite our -7 in goals to their -1. Accuscore has run a thousand simulations of this match and they have St Pauli as the solid favorites.
Chances of a draw – 26%
Chance of St Pauli win – 42%
Chance of Wolfsburg win – 32%
With a new president and solid finances, lets get this season back on track and get 3 points this weekend!
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