Three defeats in three games have left Schalke 17th but the club have backed their young manager to turn things aroundWhatever Schalke might be lacking, they can be sure that they have a leader of substance. After the final whistle at Borussia Mönchengladbach on Saturday, as some of his players sat dejectedly on the turf and others wandered around looking lost following a 2-1 defeat, Domenico Tedesco came on the pitch and approached the away fans, waving arms and clenching fists, with passion and defiance clear on his face.The 33-year-old manager won an army of admirers in his debut Bundesliga season and, if he can lead his team out of the hole they have started to dig, he can win...
Gladbach could have hauled themselves back into the Champions League race with a win against Leverkusen. Instead they fell to a defeat that effectively ends their seasonThe evening began with a show of respect from the visiting Borussia Mönchengladbach fans. It ended with anything but. As their players emerged on to the BayArena pitch to face Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday, Gladbach’s 4,000 travelling fans held aloft black pieces of plastic, creating a tifo in memory of well-known fan Waltraud “Walli” Hamraths, who recently died at the age of 83.In the circumstances, Gladbach’s players shouldn’t have been surprised at what happened at the end. They were, again, hugely disappointing in a match in which they had the opportunity to haul themselves...
Less than a month after what seemed a deeply underwhelming appointment, it has begun to seem a brighter future is possibleThe fabled ‘new manager bounce’ is one thing. Stuttgart winning away, though? That’s something else entirely and after a first victory on the road since winning promotion back to the top flight, Tayfun Korkut is earning the right to be taken seriously.As the final whistle went on Sunday’s victory at overachieving Augsburg, there was a genuine sense of achievement. Stuttgart’s players celebrated not so much, it seemed, for getting one over near neighbours in Swabia but for the sensation that maybe a corner really has been turned. It has long been received wisdom that only maintaining their strong home form...
A 5-0 thrashing at Dortmund could have been worse, even with a dubious VAR decision, and there are already fears of a situation spinning out of controlJörg Schmadtke rushed out to the Sky truck in the TV compound to pore over every possible angle – and to check his eyes weren’t deceiving him. By that point, the Köln sporting director had already been on the Signal Iduna Park pitch, shoulder to shoulder with the coach, Peter Stöger, protesting to the referee, Patrick Ittrich, over the award by VAR of Borussia Dortmund’s second goal. Before any more fingers start pointing at Effzee about an anarchic end to a chaotic week, we should add that this was a reasonable moment for both...
Dieter Hecking enjoyed his first win with struggling Borussia Mönchengladbach as comeback earned the spoils against another troubled side, Bayer LeverkusenEven after the exploit, approval was far from unanimous. André Schubert’s rise at Borussia Mönchengladbach had been dizzying; from under-23 coach to reluctant first-team caretaker to permanent head coach. From bottom of the Bundesliga to the Champions League. He inherited a team that had lost its first five games of the 2015-16 Bundesliga season from Lucien Favre, perhaps the best coach in the division, but one that felt as if he had run out of solutions.Schubert took that side and infused it with counterattacking zest. Gladbach won their first six league fixtures under the new man on their way to...