SchalkeUK

Hey- the cheapskates have asked if the can 'loan' him rather than pay inflated cash. Not sure even HSV will fall for that!

The biggest problem will be getting the boss on the field and the guys in the office to agree which is most important of the three - a front man, a defender or the bank manager. Having just been given a contract extension the field man has had his influence reduced to zero, co my bet is that it will go into the accounts! After the result against the Italians in which the 'new' man from Berlin scored and the defence held the also-ran second string team to a nul score, they will decide they have enough for now - then the window will close and unless they can borrow someone, we will have to wait until Christmas but by then we will be out of the CL and struggling in the lower half of the table. That will end up with a new boss on the field and a rethink of the team for the January window. Sorry that is not future planning it is exactly the recent history of 04 (more than once) and history does often (according to the Propellorheads) repeat itself. Having a weekend away before we get ready to visit you in NC at the end of September! Carole King had the right idea about the weather in Gelsenkirchen!

Only in the BL could a Werder fan ask and an 04 fan reply to a problem with our arch-rivals! The news is good. The scan revealed no ligament damage and only severe bruising to the knee. It will, however take a little time to clear and he will return to training as soon as the problem has been passed Ok by the medics. We are left wondering what VAR would have done - not only to this problem but the treatment Robert L received from the Frankfurt thug with the captain's armband on! Glad we weren't involved! Hope the birthday headache has gone

Now that my fav young guy has left Germany I have changed my pic to his new home. I still have the BL at heart, but will watch what he and Roy gets up to with eager anticipation of success. Best wishes to Palace this season

Max's Medical went well and now all they wait for is international clearance before Palace announce his deal to join them and former England Manager Roy Hodgson who has a habit of adding qualities to good players. One thing he will do is play Max in his best position but it may take a few games to be convinced after the Tedesco reluctance to deal honestly with him. Money has been agreed so we await the final Club announcement.

He seems to be just the player we want to frighten Burgstellar into action. Last season he played 27 games and scored 1 goal and was credited with 1 assist - great choice from Tedesco - as usual! Oh Sorry, he is listed as a defender - didn't he contribute to relegation last season? Another good choice!

Aue 1 v Schalke 0 - oh dear! A totally pathetic, unorganised group of old men for the first half - quicker but pointless in the second part and zilch from midfield all game - and as for the 'attack' against a lower ranked team it would have been difficult for a neutral to determine which was the lower ranked side. All very sad really but predictable after the end of last season and Tedesco's inability is showing already. Still a slight chance as long as Naldo stays fit!

Sadly listening to an old CD taken from the singles I had of Tab Hunter - great , brave guy who died three weeks ago. Starring in many films I met him for the first time in 1958 for an Interview for Radio in Hong Kong and, after an evening of 'screwdrivers' he sort of admitted that his leading ladies were all aware that they were not his favourite pastime! He kept that out the public eye - illegal of course back then, but was brave enough to come out later in life. We stayed in touch and I have just received the memorial service details as a last momento - hence playing his old tracks - one of which he declared to be his favourite at the time which summed up his relationship with his friend - 'I'm Alone Because I Love You' When another of our friends (Danny Rap of Danny and the Juniors) took his own life Tab knew why but kept it to himself to stop the gossip, but such was the problem at that time in the US. At that time Danny was friendly with Johnnie Ray who kept his situation safe until he died in 1990 - despite a couple of 50's court cases in Detroit. How many others went through life living a lie is unknown, but Tab should always be remembered as the tough-guy 'ladies man' who was more honest than most. 'Young Love' 'Red Sales' '99 Ways' and many others are worth a listen if you are into music from the 50's. A great singer he was not - but a great guy nonetheless.

Sadly the Opa of one of my young friends in Herne died this week and I will be flying over for his funeral on Friday. I fly back from Duss on Saturday late afternoon so may be a chance for a drink at the Airport with TN is you are able to get there for an hour or so! Would be at least a mini-meet-up for 2018

No doubt no one in Gelsenkirchen was watching tonight's game against Brazil when our two key 'strike force' were hopelessly exposed against a decent defence. The Complacency after the AGM was pathetic and the 'team building' under the 'superb' leadership of the coach will cause problems in the South when the Pokal comes around again. It's a long time since we went out in the first round, but unless someone has an attack of reality it could be time for that to happen.Despair seems to be the key word. Sad about Leroy's omission and bewildered about Gomez being included - perhaps he thought is he might be overlooked now that our man Sterling has become better at cheating and lying than he ever was! It's gonna be slightly interesting in Russian- particularly when our lot walks off the pitch after the abuse from the crowd!

Very strange all this activity is unusual. A recent TV programme with Sir David Attenborough contained the following piece of informtion quote: "At this time of year the genus Teeus Effus Effus tend to become more dormant and in a light state of stupor almost akin to full hibernation. The lack of intent by their brightly coloured male members of the clan seems to signal a period of total inactivity. However, once every four years they welcome other species to their territory and try to kick the shXX out of each other for about a month before resuming their sleep pattern before the new mating season comes round. Onlookers are amazed at how much time and money they spend before realising that it is all in vain and the black and orange striped members of the species will triumph as usual. Even after almost a century of acitivity they seem unable to grasp the fact that the dominant stripies will return triumphant ready for the Munchkin members to start all over again and dominate the whole clan. Those who live in the west of the territory will mutter things like 'C'est La Vie' and 'merdre' before resuming their normal lifestyle." Planet Earth is the series and the next episode - "The rebirth of the Bundesliga" will be screened at the end of August! Have a happy summer folks!

Now here's a suggestion! Once you have settled in and got up and running, post the details of room rates and any special offers on here so that we can check out when we can come and see that bootiful countryside you have been showing us! We are bound to have some free time before the end of the year but for such a long journey my better half will insist on coming too!

You are a very naughty, rude boy. I think an hour in detention would be appropriate!

I'm confused now! Maybe it's my age but is she your missus or the bike? Last post is not quite clear

You lucky lucky person to be living in what looks like paradise. No chance of your coming home for any sort of meet-up and leaving that

Max to Hoffenheim?

So - we have lost Leon to Bayern and Max to wherever and have a midfield which will rely upon the 'skills' and 'ability' of Bentaleb next season. So to bolster the quality we sign a second string Mainz player - Suat Serdar -18 appearances this season out of 34 so he's well positioned to join 04's also rans. It get more and more pathetic as the days go by. How do we defend against the jibes and laughter from the South or across the way at BVB? Our defeat against Frankfurt in December will be shown for what it was tomorrow night when Bayern score freely in Berlin. Watching the subs spend the second half running behind the goal while Tedesco picked his nose through the half and no one on the field had any idea where the goal was summed up most of this season - poor play by others left us in second place in the league and no one on this site would accept that it was deserved. I will watch the U-19sagainst Berlin in the final and try hard not to feel sad for the young guys who have obvious talent in that team and who will - after the final be ignored by all except the supporters - but the we don't count anyway!

The kids are doing great again - beating Hoffenheim 4-1 at the moment in the U-19 cup. Sad to note that the 'heirachy' are not yet seen - after a fine display 5 miles from here, Sead left for Germany and home and is very visible supporting the team he played in as a youngster. Will be interesting to see how many of these young excellent players are given a chance next season - even more of a question will be which club will give them the chance!

Now here's a sad thing. I have nearly finished watching the end of series 1 of Young Sheldon and can't wait for the next set. Looking forward to the big wedding on Thursday here in the UK! Bound to be better than next Saturday! Edit: Great that CBS have finally confirmed booking Series 2 (talking since January) and my copies of Ep 21 and 22 have arrived - thought it only went to 20!

English and German are two languages full of beautiful adjectives. I can think of lots and lots which are more suitable than 'vertikal' which would apply to sport rather than building large engineering projects! As a young Benny said to a young Mesut some years ago in an English class: "Du solltest zuerst Deutsch lernen" Come to think of it I thought we were not playing in the correct direction - now I know why.

Faithcore's post is great - the rantings of a highly qualified engineer who seems totally lost in the other world of football and unable to deal with problems which even the least qualified supporter is able to spot. Like last week he will continue to believe in the lack of ability which some of his favourite guys have an we will now start to descend the table starting with Sunday's defeat to the old man ad his guys in yellow. I only hope that I will not have to sit in the stadium next Wednesday and watch the better players sit at the side whilst the lesser ones run around like headless chickens. Problem is even the young American is so far out of his depth that he will probably play every game until the end of the season our clever Croatian loanee will wonder why he ever signed on! I need a lie down!

Many thanks to you all for your kind comments - we are back from two days of brilliance in a superb North Yorkshire Hotel (yes we do actually have one!) The food was so good I didn't even get chance to get back to the room in time to see Tuesday's game, but I gather I did not miss much. Now I have only two weeks before I fly to Duss for the game against Eintracht. It will be a hectic visit but there might be a small chance to meet up with anyone who has the time - those who remember Lucas from the meet-up will remember the guy who now is a wiz-kid in the hospitality and IT business and he will be taking me to the game where we will meet up with Thea (liverbird) and husband Danny. Joan and I intend to come over during the summer to meet up with other friends and if anyone wants to set dates for a get together we will make sure out visit fits. I know there are new guys who were not with us when we first met, but those who were will, I'm sure, confirm what a special few hours we had and to repeat that would be very special. I still have the picture on my room wall with the flags of the countries underneath which sometimes seems incredible to the locals here who see it that we were able to do that - all because of footy! Again thanks for the messages and to all my usual farewell! Be nice!

Sorry folks I am away to avoid any celebrations as today is Manuel Atsuto and my day today. Will be watching 2 games tonight on this new thing which h I have been given as a pressie

Interesting day - Marco and Joshua sign new extensions and Max sits on the bench with no offer worth even considering! At least there is still hope for the young ones in Dortmund and Munich!

Should now be referred to as Joshua Lahm! Ready to take over the role with the National Team as well!