by Sheffield gunner Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:18 pm
Newcomers Karlsruhe boar their way up to third
After notching up a fifth win, newly-promoted Karlsruhe look set fair to become this season's Bundesliga overachievers.
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Congratulations to Germany for winning the Women's World Cup in Shanghai, but commiserations to Willi Wildpark, the Bundesliga's least-known mascot. Millions of TV viewers must have wondered about the strange beast bouncing up and down excitedly on the touchline in Karlsruhe's stadium on Saturday - after all, Winfried Schäfer, the equally furry ex-manager, left the club long time ago.
To be fair to Willi, it's really not his fault that he's anonymous. It's only his first season in the top flight; when Karlsruher Sport-Club Mühlburg-Phönix e. V last graced the Bundesliga in 1998, they still had Swinny the Fox scaring little children. Despite the obvious allure of the alliteration, the choice of a wild boar is certainly a brave one. These animals are a German delicacy, but they're also pig-ugly, very shy, and famous for being little more than the favourite food of Asterix and Obelix.
If his team continue the way they have started, however, Willi will soon be accepted into the rank of famous German football pigs, like ex-Schalke legend Marc "Willy the War Hog" Wilmots and Bastian Schweinsteiger. As one happy KSC player after another was interviewed following their emphatic 3-1 win over Dortmund, Willi had a field day in the background. He waved into the camera, stuck up two thumbs and raised a fist in jubilation. He had finally arrived.
And so have the team. After their fifth victory, the newly-promoted Badeners find themselves in third place in the table, behind title-chasing Bayern and Schalke, and look set to be this year's beloved plucky over-achievers. Not even a punch-up between keeper Markus Miller and South African Bradley Carnell following their 1-0 away victory in Frankfurt has proved detrimental to their progress. Miller had complained about Carnell's lack of defensive discipline; Carnell didn't like Miller's goal-kicks. When the argument turned a little physical, the goalkeeping coach got involved just in time: Miller, a keen hobby boxer, was close to knocking Carnell out.
The German FA saw no need to punish these intra-team fisticuffs, however, and manager Edmund "Ede" Becker also let the brawlers off lightly: they had to apologise and pay for the team's breakfast the next day. Whatever they were serving up in the Wildpark Stadion (insert your own wild boar sausage joke here, please) must have done the trick. KSC fans and players were delirious on Saturday, some were even talking about Europe.
"We are only accumulating points to stave off relegation," warned manager Becker. A KSC loyalist since 1990, the 51-year-old models himself on the reassuringly cheerless Werder boss Thomas Schaaf. "Passion trumps talent," he explained in old-school terms after the demolition of Dortmund and he added that "football is a running game" for good measure. Before the season, Becker thought he was already "60% fired in statistical terms", but both he and the intelligently-structured team seem good enough to stay the course.
The same cannot be said of Thomas Doll, however. Three defeats on the trot have put poor Doll's head firmly on the chopping block. Borussia president Hans-Joachim Watzke remained silent in Karlsruhe but admitted to "puking" after Dortmund's 3-0 home defeat during the week. Even their own sponsor made fun of the team's ineptitude in a newspaper campaign.
Once again, their performance was really quite revolting. Karlsruhe striker Sebastian Freis, who scored the home side's wonderful third goal, joked about the opposition's geriatric defence, Robert Kovac and Christian Wörns, who are a combined 68 years old. He called them "mature gentlemen with problems catching up". Roman Weidenfeller in goal has never conceded less than three goals, either.
"Dolly" can point to injuries to key players like Sebastian Kehl and Alexander Frei, and he wasn't solely responsible for the composition of the squad, either - sporting director Michael Zorc has been buying duds for a many a year now. For Frankurter Rundschau, Borussia resemble only "a caricature of a class team" and the Ruhr Nachrichten has simply called them "a team of failures". The players have decided not to talk to the press - Schalke did the same last season - but that's only enraged the local media even more. "For many weeks, captain Wörns has been playing like the leading actor in his own silent movie," thundered the Ruhr Nachrichten. They were thinking of Laurel and Hardy, not Valentino.
But the manager is still the main culprit in the eyes of public. Doll, whose friendly, guy-next-door attitude nearly got Hamburg relegated last season, has always resisted calls to be more authoritarian. He simply does not look convincing when he now talks "of a tough team meeting where tough words were spoken". He quickly cancelled a planned trip to the Oktoberfest beer festival in Munich, but can offer neither explanations nor genuine hope. In his desperation, he came over all biblical in Karlsruhe. "We are walking through a deep valley but we will get out of it," he said. The vultures are circling.
Stuttgart, though, have fallen perhaps even harder. Their 2-1 defeat in Rostock compounded the joy of their fierce local rivals Karlsruhe, and confirmed their own terrible start to the season. All their confidence seems to have dissipated over the summer break and the defence, in particular, is an unmitigated disaster. Next up are Barcelona in the Champions League, so no worries there. "I think they might get some chances against us," said manager Armin Veh sarcastically.
Bremen, on the other hand, "are beginning to heat up" quite nicely, according to sporting director Klaus Allofs. An 8-1 thrashing of Bielefeld proved that ridiculous results are not the prerequisite of Pompey and Reading, and the result has emboldened them to look at leaders Bayern with renewed confidence. Bremen not only covet the Bavarian's No1 spot but also one of their players: Lukas Podolski. The German international is unable to break up the Ribéry-Klose-Toni trident and cuts an increasingly forlorn figure.
General manager Uli Hoeness has criticised his pedestrian playing style and lack of attitude on the pitch. In his home town of Cologne, "Poldi" was hyped up as a superstar, but at Bayern, people are less prone to "blow powdered sugar up his arse", as Hoeness delicately puts it. Werder, specialists in salvaging the careers of players (Diego and Boubacar Sanogo, for example), have offered an escape route in the winter break. Podolski will have to think about it - in Munich, he's in danger of becoming of becoming the best-paid spectator. Even Berni the Bear sees more action in the Allianz Arena these days.
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2007/10/01/newcomers_karlsruhe_boar_their.html
His second goal was brilliant. 
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