Culture Archives ⋆ Page 11 of 12 ⋆ An Old International

Empty Promises

or: Nothing has changed but the surrounding bullshit that has grown; or: Football’s Groundhog Day. Whatever observers and fans of 1. FC Magdeburg will title this period in the club’s history, it appears that bit by bit the promise of a successful future is once more nothing but a fantasy. It has been highlighted last…

Football on TV

There used to be a time when football games went unnoticed because they were not televised. In England highlights of the First Division were only shown since Jimmy Hill revolutionized TV with his Match of the Day programme, while in Germany ‘Das Aktuelle Sportstudio’ at ZDF, the second terrestrial channel, broadcast the highlights of the…

The 12th man or PR gone wrong

Bayern Munich, the best team in Germany have scored a rare own goal last week when they announced to present a new striker, ‘a real bomb’, a player who can ‘always play’, at ‘Barcelona or Manchester.’ Fans of the club were told that the presentation would be broadcast via an Internet channel and had to…

Paris 0 – Marseille 5

The Cup match between Red Star FC and Olympique Marseille turned out to be a home game for Marseille. Each time they scored one of their five goals in Saturday’s match against Red Star FC, Stade de France witnessed an eruption of joy as the majority of the spectators were supporting l’OM. This is rather…

The Circus that is PSG

Ever since their take over by the Qatar Investment Authority in spring 2011, PSG have become a source for rumours and speculation. Most notably the rumours surrounding the future of coach Antoine Kombouar

Crowd Trouble

It has become some kind of an established pattern to batter East German clubs for their violent support, most notably this season Dynamo Dresden for the events before, during and after their cup match against Borussia Dortmund on October 25 at the Westfalenstadion in Dortmund. Even worse, it has become a pattern not just to…

The Dark Side Of The Game

Ralf Rangnick, one of the best managers the game has produced in Germany in the last decade retired from his position at Schalke 04 claiming he needs a break as feels burned out. He has said something similar in March after he left Hoffenheim, only to go directly to Schalke where a manager was needed…

The weakest Link

Football managers are sacked far too quickly these days as owners become increasingly impatient if their club doesn’t top the table after a third of the season of even less. This is ridiculous to say the least. The latest example of owners getting itchy feet was Monday at Leicester City when the Thailand based owners…

Toni Kroos – last of the Mohicans?

It appears that after Michael Ballack has been the last player from East Germany playing for the German national team and who also held the captain’s arm band and for a number of years has been Germany’s best player.Today Toni Kroos is the only one with roots in the former GDR. There used to be…

on being a fan

Nick Hornby once wrote that it is not us who chose a football team to follow but that the team choses you. Jonathan Wilson shared his very own take on this view. … Like father, like son: Thoughts on being a fan Last year, after my dad had died, I stayed holding his hand for…