Bundesliga 21. Spieltag

Prinz Poldi is on for Klose..who had a poor match!

Now Huub should bring on VDV!

And VDV is on for Olic! Age-es-vee has looked quite good during the match!

Hahahahahhahahahahaha

VAN BOMMEL is a legend!! Red card for him by giving the ref the finger!

Red card for Van Bommel.

That was hilarious, ref yellow carded Van Bommel for time wasting, and he tells the ref where he can shove it and gets sent off, that's quality.

Van Bommel MotM.

What's up with German refs hardly giving any added time? In the 2nd half we had Guerrero faking a head injury, Rost getting injured and 6 substitutions (not to mention a red card in injury time), yet its only 3 mins. Should've been 5 or 6.

Anyway, Bayern once again waste points at home. They should've gotten victories against Schalke, Bremen and Hamburg. I'm happy with the way they're playing but the results could've been better. All these 1-1s should've been 2-1 or 3-1 victories. Actually today should have been a 2-0. Unfortunate mistake by Lucio giving Hamburg their only clear chance of the match.

Exciting game though.

Fey wrote:van Bommel is such a c**t!! Nearly HT 0-0!

All the German players on the pitch are very poor today...

Fey's prediction skills come to the fore again.

Hate the guy, so stupid too.

Van Bommel is indeed a legend

The Bundesliga reaches its watershed moment

Deteriorating standards of on-field behaviour have done nothing to protect Germany's much-loved highlights show from the axe
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In a bid to maximise broadcasting revenues, the Bundesliga is set to kill-off Germany's beloved Sportschau, the free TV highlights programme that goes out on Saturday at 6.30pm. Over six million people watch it religiously every week, a significant number of them young children and teenagers. You'd think that, in this way, the authorities would be very happy to keep them away from the streets or from stabbing each other. But instead, they want to show the goals way past this age group's bedtime, after 10 pm.

"A whole generation would be lost to the league," warns Sportschau supremo Steffen Simon. There's a suspicion the clubs are plotting to bring about a MOTD-type scenario, where very late highlights and Mark '300 tiny buttons on a striped shirt' Lawrenson-style punditry - "it was a clumsy challenge by Martin Taylor, if anything" - conspire to drive up the subscription numbers for pay-TV channels.

You can call it greed. It is. The way things are currently going in the league, however, there'll soon be no choice but to banish all coverage before the watershed to protect the innocent. Matchday 21 was a little light on goals (16 in nine games) but so heavy on rude gesturing, violent tussling and coarse language that you half-expected this Monday's Kicker magazine to be sold under the counter. Or, alternatively, on the top shelf, next to 'Hot Mamas from Rhineland-Palatinate'.

To be fair to Bayern bad-boy Mark van Bommel, he had tried some mild sarcasm first. After getting booked by the referee in the final minute of the league leaders' 1-1 draw at home to Hamburg, the Dutchman slow-clapped Lutz Wagner's decision. The ref probably thought Van Bommel's appreciation was genuine. In any case, he didn't react until the irate midfielder moved to raise the "stinky fist" (Bild), an obscene gesture more traditionally found in southern Europe. The official was in forgiving mood and only booked him a second time rather than issuing a straight red. "I was angry at myself for getting my fifth booking, [the gesture] was directed at myself," was Van Bommel's half-hearted excuse. He'll miss next week's away game to Schalke and will be fined a few thousand euros by Ottmar Hitzfeld.

The at-times-entertaining draw in the Allianz Arena - Bayern's fourth in five home games - was a very rare kind of result: it suited not just the two teams involved, but pleased everybody else in the upper echelons of the league, too. Huub Steven's men always played for the draw in the first place. Bayern were happy to increase the gap to Bremen to four points, who in turn were relieved that neither Bayern nor Hamburg took full advantage of their 1-0 defeat in Frankfurt. For in-form Leverkusen, the score in Munich made their 1-0 win over Schalke sweeter still. And Schalke, who are only a couple of defeats away from embarking on a deeply divisive inquest into Mirko Slomka's managerial shortcomings, were glad that they stay in contention for Europe.

But the weekend was sadly marred by far less agreeable events. The biggest (and, if you consider his diminutive figure, also the smallest) outrage was committed by Diego, Werder's Zaubermaus (magic mouse). In Frankfurt, the crowd booed him at every touch and he was once again upended and pushed around by opponents without respite. No one's been fouled more in the league this season. In the 40th minute, he was outmuscled - fairly, for a change - by Eintracht's ungentle giant Sotos Kyrgiakos (1.94m, 88kg). But Diego still lost his cool when the Greek defender barked something in English at him. The Brazilian picked himself up and body-checked his tormentor, who went down in a heap before Diego was sent off.

It had shades of Materazzi and Zidane, but without any references to sisters. This was one kept strictly man to man. "I only told him to get up", said Kyrgiakos. "He said 'stand up and f@ck you'," insisted the softly-spoken Diego. TV footage, however, suggests an even worse insult had emanated from the Greek's hairy lips: "Stand up, I f@ck you", is this column's best guess. Ironically, Diego obliged. Shorn of their hot-headed playmaker, Werder went 1-0 down to an Ioannis Amanatidis strike. "I lost my nerve and hurt my team's chances," apologised the Brazilian.

Diego will plead provocation and might escape with a three-week ban. Multi-linguist Kyrgiakos, however, will be free to try this ruse on his next victim. It's not entirely fair, especially in view of the German FA's disciplinary proceedings against Mario Gomez. The Stuttgart striker, who scored the opener in the 3-1 win over Ländle-rivals Karlsruhe on Saturday, wasn't guilty of any pitch-side misdemeanours on Saturday but came out with a scathing attack on notoriously prickly KSC defender Maik Franz after the final whistle.

"I respect every opponent in football but this guy's an arsehole, he's simply an unfair player", the German international said in front of a live camera. Bundesliga pitch-side interviews often make for a more lively and entertaining spectacle - comedy tie-knots and "tough place to come" clichés are far less ubiquitous than in England - but rarely do players go that far. "It's not an insult, only the truth", Gomez added for good measure, "nothing but the truth".

The Swabian did apologise the following day without quite retracting the statement. The German FA, however, won't be placated that easily. Swearing off the pitch cannot be tolerated, it seems, and certainly not in German. Stick to English, managers will tell their mini-Materazzis. But will that be enough to protect the sensibilities of the young and vulnerable? Probably not. "I have two young children and they knew what 'fuck' meant after a couple of years at school", boasted Eintracht CEO Heribert Bruchhagen on Sunday. Congratulations.

Results: Bochum 2-1 Hannover, Frankfurt 1-0 Bremen, Wolfsburg 0-0 Hertha, Stuttgart 3-1 Karlsruhe, Bielfeld 0-2 Duisburg, Dortmund 1-0 Rostock, Leverkusen 1-0 Schalke 04, Bayern 1-1 Hamburg, Nürnberg 1-1 Cottbus

Raphael Honigstein

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/sport/2008/02/25/the_bundesliga_reaches_its_wat.html
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I didn't know they are going to get rid of Sportschau. Would be a shame for it to be replaced by a less accessible programme, but I guess money is a big factor unfortunately.

The discussion about getting rid of the Sportschau at 6.30pm and thus giving the pay TV more exclusivity is pretty old. So far they've always failed to force through an agreement on that and scraped the idea at the end. I don't expect it to be different this time around. At the moment it's just one of the various proposals to maximize broadcasting revenue that are discussed. No more, no less.

That said and I'd never have thought I’d say it, but if we get rid of the Sportschau it wouldn't be such a big loss. The program declines in quality, at least from my perception. Some matchday highlights later on the evening would do it for me too.

The new Kirch TV deal is a joke anyway: Now the Bundesliga gets about 450m per year, Kirch will guarantee 500m Euro per year, but 90% of everything he earns above the 500m he can keep for himself. So basically the Bundesliga gets the same money until 2015...

chrissicross wrote:The new Kirch TV deal is a joke anyway: Now the Bundesliga gets about 450m per year, Kirch will guarantee 500m Euro per year, but 90% of everything he earns above the 500m he can keep for himself. So basically the Bundesliga gets the same money until 2015...

What do you make of the proposal to air 12 matches per season on free TV, chrissi?

IMO it's worth to consider as it would enable (the bigger) clubs to increase their revenues from sideline ads and sponsoring. As you've said, the pay TV market in Germany is a joke anyway, so why not strike a new path?

One of the things they should definitely do in future seasons (although not really related to tv deals) is rearrange the fixtures so that there are more Sunday games following UEFA cup matches. It's farcical that teams can be made to play late on Thursday anywhere in Europe, and then have to get back to Germany and prepare for a game on Saturday afternoon. They should be given the extra day to recover from that. I don't know why the DFB aren't more accommodating in this regard.

Ballhaeschen wrote:

chrissicross wrote:The new Kirch TV deal is a joke anyway: Now the Bundesliga gets about 450m per year, Kirch will guarantee 500m Euro per year, but 90% of everything he earns above the 500m he can keep for himself. So basically the Bundesliga gets the same money until 2015...

What do you make of the proposal to air 12 matches per season on free TV, chrissi?

IMO it's worth to consider as it would enable (the bigger) clubs to increase their revenues from sideline ads and sponsoring. As you've said, the pay TV market in Germany is a joke anyway, so why not strike a new path?

I think that might be a good idea, but I`m not sure about the time...I think they´re planning for Saturday 20.15.

Pay TV is indeed difficult in Germany, but if we don´t want to give up the "central marketing" I guess we need some kind of Pay TV.

Now that the DFL want to produce their own Bundesliga televison programme, they could also start their own Pay TV channel for Bundesliga football only.

They could try to demand a relatively small monthly fee, so many people would buy it. With other words: Instead of 1m people paying 40 Euro per month (20 Euro alone for the useless Premiere Standard Programme package which you have to buy as well) maybe 4m people paying 10 Euro per month. They could also try to find a good mix between pay tv fee and commercials, I mean the current Sportschau is full of commercials anyway. Probably they could even reach much more than 4m people this way, 8m should be possible imo, which would make the Bundesliga even more attractive for all kind of sponsors...

Sheffield gunner wrote:One of the things they should definitely do in future seasons (although not really related to tv deals) is rearrange the fixtures so that there are more Sunday games following UEFA cup matches. It's farcical that teams can be made to play late on Thursday anywhere in Europe, and then have to get back to Germany and prepare for a game on Saturday afternoon. They should be given the extra day to recover from that. I don't know why the DFB aren't more accommodating in this regard.

Me neither.

And to arrange Bremen v Bayern and Dortmund v Schalke unnecessarily on the same day is beyond me as well.

chrissicross wrote:

Ballhaeschen wrote:

chrissicross wrote:The new Kirch TV deal is a joke anyway: Now the Bundesliga gets about 450m per year, Kirch will guarantee 500m Euro per year, but 90% of everything he earns above the 500m he can keep for himself. So basically the Bundesliga gets the same money until 2015...

What do you make of the proposal to air 12 matches per season on free TV, chrissi?

IMO it's worth to consider as it would enable (the bigger) clubs to increase their revenues from sideline ads and sponsoring. As you've said, the pay TV market in Germany is a joke anyway, so why not strike a new path?

I think that might be a good idea, but I`m not sure about the time...I think they´re planning for Saturday 20.15.

Pay TV is indeed difficult in Germany, but if we don´t want to give up the "central marketing" I guess we need some kind of Pay TV.

Now that the DFL want to produce their own Bundesliga televison programme, they could also start their own Pay TV channel for Bundesliga football only.

They could try to demand a relatively small monthly fee, so many people would buy it. With other words: Instead of 1m people paying 40 Euro per month (20 Euro alone for the useless Premiere Standard Programme package which you have to buy as well) maybe 4m people paying 10 Euro per month. They could also try to find a good mix between pay tv fee and commercials, I mean the current Sportschau is full of commercials anyway. Probably they could even reach much more than 4m people this way, 8m should be possible imo, which would make the Bundesliga even more attractive for all kind of sponsors...

In principle the idea to let the DFL start their own pay TV is good, but despite the fact that the monthly subscription fee of Premiere already is extremely modest compared to other countries, they are struggling to attract new costumers, so I am not sure if the plan would work. Maybe Germans just don't like to pay to watch football on TV, who knows.

Ballhaeschen wrote:In principle the idea to let the DFL start their own pay TV is good, but despite the fact that the monthly subscription fee of Premiere already is extremely modest compared to other countries, they are struggling to attract new costumers, so I am not sure if the plan would work. Maybe Germans just don't like to pay to watch football on TV, who knows.

Well, economics is not exactly one of my strengths, but for me my idea sounds quite good.

But seriously, I think most people interested in the Bundesliga should be able to pay 10 Euro per month. I mean I have to pay 7.50 Euro for my bank account and don't even know why...

Just saw the Van Bommel incident, I've always said he was a c**t. Did he ever think he would have gotten away with that and Diego sent off for Bremen sorry made me laugh.

Marcus wrote:Diego sent off for Bremen sorry made me laugh.

Well, Frankfurt got what they wanted.

chrissicross wrote:

Marcus wrote:Diego sent off for Bremen sorry made me laugh.

Well, Frankfurt got what they wanted.

Sadly this is frequent in the game, some players will be systematically targeted as they are the main threat, harass them and keep the quiet. Diego normally is a good boy only 2 RC now in his career, would you level some blame on his part.

Van Bommel again, hilarious.