Chapter 048: Vihawk Returns to Millermen
Come October.
The ninth round of the Bundesliga is back in smoke.
Because of the momentary top, Magnum can only watch the match between St. Pauli FC and Kaiserslautern from the stands of the Miller Gate Stadium.
There was another hiccup before the game.
As a player, Magnum got a red card in the last game, and it is understandable to be suspended, but he is the coach of St. Pauli, so can he sit in the coach's seat?
It wasn't until the day before the game that the German Football Association sent a fax to St. Pauli, and after an impromptu discussion, it was finally decided that he could only sit in the stands and could not command as a coach.
It can only be said that compared with the romantic and casual French, the rigidity and rigor of the Germans have been engraved in their bones.
There are no loopholes at all.
St. Pauli and Kaiserslautern were just three points behind before the game, sitting seventh and fourth in the league respectively, and the final result reflected that position.
1 to 1.
Facing St. Pauli, who was in full form, the visiting team that once created the myth of Kaiserslautern did not hold it up, and when Ryo Miyaichi scored the first goal, there was no impatience, and finally scored a goal and got a point in the second half when the home team was lax.
It also ended St. Pauli's crazy September four-game winning streak.
Magnum, who just won the double award of best coach and best player in the Bundesliga in September, can only be anxious in the stands in the end.
This feeling of being so hard to use is really uncomfortable!
After the game, the major media also changed their style and began to criticize St. Pauli as a team that was only an almighty one-man team, and without him, he was immediately beaten back to its original shape.
In the face of such comments, Magnum is not happy, and he does not feel that he is the savior of the team.
He doesn't overly harsh his players either.
Without the two main players of Zobich and Sobota, they can still play back and forth with the fourth-ranked Kaiserslautern, which shows that the team has formed a certain combat effectiveness.
You must know that at the end of last season, the opponent was also in this position, which was more than a step better than St. Pauli.
If there is anything to be dissatisfied with, it is not on the field, but another player who, like him, received a red card and was suspended.
Hanno Bechelens.
He's been distracted in training lately, and it stands to reason that even if he is suspended, he should be like Magnum, sitting in the stands cheering for the team, after all, this is the home field.
But Bechelens not only did not show up, but also asked the team for leave a day in advance, saying that he would leave the team for two days because of family matters.
It's the first time I've seen such a professional player.
………
A few days later, on October 9, Premier League giants Liverpool announced that manager Brendan Rodgers had stepped down and was replaced by German Jurgen Klopp.
In fact, as early as May this year, Uncle Scum had already announced that he was leaving the bumblebee he loved so much, but at that time he announced it in advance, just so that Dortmund could find a successor in advance.
On the contrary, it was he himself, who had been at home for a few months, before he officially became the new commander of the Red Army.
A red hurricane is about to blow across the British mainland.
Magnum has always wanted to compete with him, but unfortunately now it seems that this goal is drifting away.
In the 10th round of the Bundesliga, St. Pauli traveled to challenge Paderborn, who eliminated them in the German Cup.
This time, under the leadership of Magnum, who returned to the starting line-up, they cleanly slashed the opponent 3-0, proving with practical actions what it means to be a reliable coach to change a team.
If this coach can still score two goals in the first thirty minutes, it will be more stable.
Paderborn was in the Bundesliga last season, but their form has plummeted this season and they are on the verge of running for the relegation zone.
This also reflects from the side what the previous level of St. Pauli was.
In the next round, St. Pauli returned to their home stadium against Nuremberg, who were one place below him.
Despite the loss of two quality players, Phil Krueger and Hanno Bechlens, Nuremberg's overall performance was not bad.
Dutch striker Johan Vihawk, who was acquired in the exchange, fits the team's tactics well and has scored five goals, equalling last season's tally.
He also took advantage of the situation to sit firmly in the main position.
The only thing that made him feel unhappy was that St. Pauli, who lost him, was promoted all the way from the relegation team to the upper middle of the league, and was still in front of Nuremberg.
So Vihawk was very energetic in this game, and he was very positive when he returned to Miller Gate for the first time, obviously trying to prove to St. Pauli that giving up was definitely the wrong choice.
Not long after the start of the first half, Bechelens, who had not yet entered the form, made a careless mistake that allowed Nuremberg to seize the opportunity to counterattack, and Vihawk scored a goal in front of goal.
After scoring the goal, he defiantly rushed to the St. Pauli fans in the South Stand and celebrated wildly.
This can annoy the fans who still supported him before.
In particular, those young fans of the "Glorious Front" thought that they had gone to the club's training ground to make trouble in order to fight for him, and their faces were flushed one by one, and then they booed and abused Vihawk with all kinds of shouts.
One of the most scolded is Aldorf Hoppe, who has taken a 180-degree turn in his attitude towards the manager since the last home win over Union Berlin, becoming the biggest blow in the South Stand.
It is said that he is already thinking of writing an exclusive cheering song for Magnum.
Vihawk's goal not only angered the fans, but also woke up the St. Pauli players.
Originally, everyone looked up and didn't look down, just be okay, but if you don't talk about martial arts and sneak attack, and stick your face over, then don't blame us for being polite.
Just five minutes after his goal, St. Pauli broke through Nuremberg's central defence through a series of agile runs and small links up front, and it was Phil Krueger who finally scored the final word.
In stark contrast to Vihawk, Xiao Huoya only smiled implicitly after scoring the goal, and then raised his hands, indicating that he did not want to celebrate after penetrating the door of his old club.
The two of them made a judgment.
Vihawk, who was still elated, turned gloomy in an instant.
Although he still worked very hard, St. Pauli, who had fully woken up, did not give them any chances, and in the 51st and 76th minutes respectively, Ryo Miyaichi and the substitute Magnum scored two goals to lock the score at 3-1.
The team told Vihawk why St. Pauli had scored more than half of last season's goals less than a third of the way through the league.
We're not what it used to be!
What surprised the media even more was that through this wave of six wins and one draw, St. Pauli's ranking has climbed from the bottom of the league to the fourth position quietly.
They are just two points shy of third-placed Bochum.
The rules of the Bundesliga are that the top two teams qualify directly, while the third place finishers play two play-offs against the bottom three in the Bundesliga.
In other words, St. Pauli, who was thought to be struggling to survive in the relegation zone at the beginning of the season, is now qualified to attack the Bundesliga!
Their opponents in the next two rounds, Fortuna Dusseldorf and Karlsruhe, are both mid-table in the league and it looks like it will be difficult to stop the pirate legion.
Later, in the fourteenth round, St. Pauli will go to Bochum to directly challenge the competitors on the way to the promotion!
Now everyone's focus is no longer on whether St. Pauli can win or not, but when they will lose!