Posts filed under ‘Rapid’
11:1 für Rapid, 7 x Krankl!
Johann Krankls legendäre 7 Tore gegen den GAK
Vor 46 Jahren, am 22. Juni 1977, feierte der SK Rapid Wien den bisher höchsten Sieg eines Vereins in der seit 1974 bestehenden österreichischen Bundesliga. An diesem Tag hat der SK Rapid den Grazer AK im kurz davor neu eröffneten Weststadion (dem späteren Gerhard Hanappi-Stadion, das 2016 durch das heutige Allianz Stadion ersetzt wurde) mit 11:1 geschlagen! Dieses 11:1 ist bis heute unübertroffen.
Hans Krankl, Rapids legendäre “Nummer 9”, erzielte 7 Tore gegen den armen GAK-Tormann Brod, darunter einen Hattrick innerhalb von nur vier Minuten.
Mit meinem Freund Hermann war ich damals – als einer von nur ein paar tausend Zuschauern – auf der Nordtribüne dabei. Am nächsten Tag in der Schule haben wir allen, die zu diesem Match in der letzten Meinsterschaftsrunde nicht mitgefahren waren, stolz erzählt, dass sie ein historisches Ereignis versäumt hatten. Und das war es tatsächlich: ein Rekord-Sieg, der bis heute hält.
Hans Krankl (Original-Bild vom damaligen GAK-Spiel!) war in diesem Jahr überhaupt in Schusslaune: Bei Österreichs 9:0 gegen Malta in Salzburg (Quali für die WM 1978 in Argentinien) schoss er 5 Tore. Krankl wurde in diesem und im nächsten Jahr österreichischer Schützenkönig und holte sich 1978 auch den Goldenen Schuh für Europas besten Torschützen.
Nach seinen beiden Toren beim legendären 3:2 gegen Deutschland bei der WM in Argentinien (21.6.1978; hier der Kommentar von Edi Finger) wechselte Krankl zum FC Barcelona, wo der dort zum “Goleador” avancierte “Hansi” 1979 den Europapokal der Pokalsieger gewann. Im Endspiel in Basel steuerte er beim Sieg gegen Fortuna Düsseldorf ein Tor zum 4:3 Sieg der Spanier bei. Auch mit Rapid Wien erreichte er 1985 das Finale des Europapokals der Pokalsieger, in dem die Wiener trotz eines Tores von Hans Krankl mit 1:3 gegen den FC Everton unterlagen.
In einem Gespräch mit meinem Sohn Johannes und mir legte Hans Krankl übrigens Wert auf folgende Feststellung: “I haß net Hans, i haß Johann!”
Two Cup Finals And A Triple Call For VAR
West Ham have ended a bad run of three defeats with a 2-2 draw against Leicester – that‘s what will be on record when someone looks up the last third of Manuel Pellegrini‘s first season at West Ham Stats in years to come. It’s just a pity though that there won’t be a footnote to this result stating that West Ham would have won the game if the assistant ref hadn’t got it wrong with Lucas Perez’s second goal! But never mind, now we’ve got two cup finals and a trip to London to look forward to!
With only minutes to go and West Ham 2-1 up against the Foxes, courtesy to goals by Michail Antonio and Lucas Perez, the latter one had latched on Pedro Obiang‘s pass and rounded Leicester’s keeper Kasper Schmeichel to kill the game off with what seemed to be the 3-1 for West Ham, only to be wrongly flagged offside by the linesman. And after that incorrect decision, fortune was hiding again from the Irons when Leicester substitute Barnes put his team level in injury time!
New carpet, old mistakes
Therefore that draw tasted like defeat to the West Ham faithful on a bright sunny Holy Saturday which had brought us a new claret carpet around the pitch of the London Stadium; a carpet which had got caressed by goal scorer Michail Antonio who put West Ham up with a brilliant header in the first half. But in the end the carpet didn’t play a main part and wasn’t so supportive to West Ham’s squad as we had thought it would be, following Slaven Bilic’s remarks about the difficulties the players had with assessing the size of the pitch with the former green carpet under his tenure at London Stadium.
Nevertheless I am already curious about what the ground will look like with its new dress when we are going to be back to London Stadium in two weeks time for the last game of the season against Southampton! And we’re also looking forward to the unveiling of the 2019 Hammer of the Year, who in my opinion will be Declan Rice quite certainly.
But much more certain is that last year’s HOTY will not play any role in this season’s contest: Marko Arnautovic hasn’t scored since his “China saga” in January, and he and the team have been inconsistent (to put it mildly) since Arnie’s premature waving good-bye when he was substituted throughout the second half in West Ham’s win over Arsenal. That was the last game I have watched in the London Stadium so far, and I think I haven’t missed very much during my absence before coming back to Stratford at the beginning of May. Apart from the Liverpool draw, a game which the Hammers would have won if a blatant offside goal for Liverpool had not counted, West Ham have more or less underachieved in most of the games since that famous 1-0 victory over the Gunners with Declan Rice’s first goal for West Ham just two days before his twentieth birthday.
Back in January we had thought that a good cup run was on the cards and that manager Manuel Pellegrini’s pledge to fight for 7th place in the Premiership could be successful. But a lot has gone wrong since, with West Ham tumbling out of the FA Cup against much lower opposition, and they never regained the winning mentality Manuel Pellegrini had seemed to have instilled into the squad back in autumn and December. Well, one of the reasons quite certainly were the usual series of injuries that have plagued the Hammers all season (short and long term), but maybe it was also the club’s handling of Arnie’s transfer request which had a detrimental effect on the squad. And we haven’t got an in-form natural born striker in the team with Andy Carroll injured (again), Chicharito inconsistent or injured too, and Arnie … well, he’s far from being our talisman, as he was last season when his goals kept us up. The “China saga” has turned his head, and no turnaround is in sight so far. West Ham thoroughly miss a forward to score the goals you need to win a game!
Can’t wait for VAR now
Having already spoken about the offside incorrectly given in last weekend’s game and the wrongly ignored offside in Liverpool’s opening goal in the aforementioned draw with the Reds, that leads us to the recently much repeated call for VAR. Being a traditionalist I wasn’t so sure if I was happy with the implementation of the video assistant in the Premier League next season, with all the interruptions of the game and the wait before we will know if a goal is going to stand or not. But in recent weeks, with Manuel Pellegrini rightly saying Manchester United’s penalties in West Ham’s 1-2 loss at Old Trafford a week ago would have been overturned with VAR, and having watched that blatant misjudgment this weekend on TV, also for me VAR now cannot come quick enough. It’s obvious that the referees need assistance and our beautiful game will become more fair with VAR. I think with VAR already implemented in the Champions League and in Germany it‘s overdue in the Premier League now!
So this season will not only be remembered for the beginning of a new area for West Ham United, dubbed the “Pellegrini Revolution“ by me in a former post (maybe a little too early taking into consideration the bumpy ride that followed towards the end of this season!). It will also be the last season without VAR. Well, I now hope and expect that the video assistant having the last word in tricky decisions will help the referees to get right what they have got wrong much too often this season.
An inconsistent campaign
And what has went wrong with West Ham and the “Pellegrini Revolution”, as we will in all likelihood not reach the target of finishing in the top ten of the Premier League? I know many say that we should be happy with mid table security and the fact that despite a really bad start (with 4 games lost in a row) West Ham never was in danger to be dragged into the fight against relegation. But with quite a lot of money spent last summer and a high calibre manager at the helm the Irons should have done better and been much more consistent throughout this campaign! Now I think the gap that has opened between 10th place and the Hammers’ points tally will be too big to be bridged with just three games to play!
I think we will need more steel in midfield next season as Declan Rice and Mark Noble haven’t got enough support in the middle of the park, and we will have to buy a proper striker in summer. Throughout the season I had hoped that the trio of Felipe Anderson, Arnie & Nasri could develop a real threat to our opponents, but due to various facts that never materialised. And also the defence needs improvement as opposition goals have gone in much too easy, not only in recent games! I like Zabaleta and Masuaku going forward and beating their opponents in wing positions, but their crosses frequently lead to nothing and they are beaten themselves much too often in counter attacks. And unfortunately Cresswell and Fredericks haven’t delivered much better either imo. Issa Diop has played very well as a central defender especially in the partnership with “General” Balbuena, but he’s still young and seems to be “overplayed” and out of form recently. Finally MP will have to be more open to develop some kind of “plan B” for certain matches if his “plan A” is not working. I hope he will get a decent transfer kitty, our long term injuries will come back in the summer, and West Ham will be able to offload some of the fringe players and buy wisely; then a new season and a fresh attempt to become a real force in our big claret carpet stadium can start!
Two Cup Finals and a conference ahead
As regards football here in Austria my favourite club Rapid Vienna has done much better in the domestic cup than West Ham have. Sorry, West Ham’s men’s team, I should have said! Because the „honorable ladies“ in claret&blue have sensationally reached the Women’s FA Cup final, West Ham women v Manchester City women in Wembley: only to be played the same day as West Ham’s final home game at the London Stadium! So it won’t be possible that we watch both of these games in London, much to my wife Eva’s pleasure though, as she can avoid a “football overkill” on our trip!
Back to the mighty SK Rapid Wien whose club pastor Christoph Pelczar I have been able to meet recently (in the pic with midfielder Dejan Ljubicic): After a disappointing Bundesliga campaign in which Rapid have not reached the “champions play-off” of the best six clubs in Austria’s new league format, they won a thrilling penalty shoot-out in the cup semis against LASK Linz, and now we’ve got a cup final ahead just days before we fly to London. Fortunately there isn’t a conflict of schedules with this final, so I will be able to watch Rapid on Wednesday and West Ham’s Premier League team on Saturday, and then participate in the LC19 leadership conference in Royal Albert Hall on Monday and Tuesday!
Rapid Vienna take on Red Bull Salzburg on the 1st of May in Klagenfurt, hoping to win their first silverware since 2008! Two years ago Rapid have lost the final against the same opponents at the same venue – now this is an other chance to beat the odds and defeat RBS, the club that have dominated Austrian football for years now. As Rapid is the only club which already has beaten Salzburg in Austria this season, why not do that in the Cup final again?
So I do hope to come to London in high spirits at the beginning of May, and then we’re going to cheer on the West Ham and help them finish the season in good mood, too. I’m sure the LC19 conference will inspire and motivate us then anyway, regardless of the outcome of the football games, though I have some doubts about how it will feel to know that this visit to the UK will be the last one before Brexit comes into effect. Albeit we’ve already thought that of our last stay, back in January !
But you never know with West Ham, and with Great Britain either nowadays …
Come on you Irons!
Das ist Rapid!
Mit einem verdienten 2:1 (0:1)-Auswärtssieg gegen den russischen Rekordmeister Spartak Moskau hat der österreichische Rekordmeister vorübergehend den ersten Platz in der Europa League-Gruppe G erobert und hat nun am 13. Dezember ein Endspiel um den Aufstieg gegen die Glasgow Rangers.
In der Meisterschaft kommt der SK Rapid trotz des Trainerwechsels von Gogo Djuricin zu Rapid-Legende Didi Kühbauer noch nicht in Schwung. Aber nach zwei Auswärtsniederlagen in der EL hat Rapid in den letzten beiden Europa League-Partien wirklich überzeugt: vor drei Wochen haben die Grün-Weißen uns (meinen Sohn, meine ältere Tochter und mich) bei einem packenden Match, dem nur die Tote fehlten, begeistert. Das 0:0 gegen Villareal bedeutete zwar den vorläufig letzten Platz in der Gruppe, aber da alle vier Klubs so knapp beisammen liegen (mit einem Tor hätte Rapid die Tabellenführung übernommen!), war klar, dass Rapid mit einem nachfolgenden Unentschieden in Moskau im Rennen um den Aufstieg bleibt. Und dann nach 0:1-Rückstand der tolle Sieg in Moskau durch Tore von Müldür und dem endlich wieder gesunden Schobesberger! 1:2 bei -12 Grad!
Beide Tore in der Rapid-Viertelstunde, die Mannschaft hat trotz Rückstand nie aufgegeben und beherzt weiter angegriffen. Die Handschrift von Didi Kühbauer wird sichtbar.
Das ist Rapid!
Wie sagte Didi zuletzt im Klub der Freunde des S.C. Rapid:
„Rapid muss immer agieren, nicht reagieren!“
Und genau so spielten die Grün-Weißen in Moskau!
Ich sag’s mit großer Freude:
Das war Rapid, wie es sein soll! Und jetzt bitte weiter so auch in der Meisterschaft!
The Liverpool Defeat: Will It Be Another Turning Point?
The Liverpool game was my first “live game” in London this season. Together with three friends we had planned to spend a weekend in London at the beginning of November and watch those boys in claret & blue under the lights on Saturday evening. And maybe, well maybe, we were going to be entertained by our Austrian “hero” Marko Arnautovic. However, as we now know, we witnessed another disappointing game – the last one of manager Slaven Bilic in charge of the Irons. Have we witnessed a turning point in West Ham’s fortune too?
The trip from Vienna could not have started better. British Airways had us sitting almost three hours in the plane on the runway before we were able to take off for London Heathrow. We were told about heavy fog in west London this morning, but I was sure: if it hadn’t been West Ham we would have been there in time …
The weekend was going to start with a concert of blues legend John Mayall on Friday. On the Sunday we wanted to join a service at Holy Trinity Brompton. And on Saturday we thought we were going to be entertained at the London Stadium by West Ham United. Well, John Mayall at Cadogan Hall in South Kensington really was an inspiration. The 84 year old radiated positive mood playing his rhythm’n‘blues and one really could feel the joy he takes from standing on stage in front of his audience and playing together with the musicians in his band.
What a contrast to this evening the atmosphere one day later in the London Stadium was! We had been slightly optimistic before the game, thought it would be “so West Ham” to beat the Reds against all odds to kick-start this Premier League season at last. We also tried not to let the sad impressions from the detour we had made on the way to Stratford stand in our way: having decided not to travel directly to the ground from central London, we got to Upton Park to catch a glimpse of the current state of the site that had been the Boleyn Ground. Afterwards we would take the bus 104 from the Boleyn to Stratford.
It was a very strange view when we walked down Green Street from Upton Park station, coming across just a huge heap of excavated earth where the West Stand had towered over the car park only a year ago. There still stands one post painted in claret where in former times the impressive landmark of the John Lyall Gates had been. The narrow Castle Street behind the former Bobby Moore Stand now looks like a wide but deserted avenue, and with Ken’s Café closed and the Boleyn Pub far from overcrowded it almost seemed as if there never had been that theatre where Bubbles were blown and dreams been dreamt to be fulfilled or shattered with the final whistle …
Nevertheless the Catholic Church of Our Lady of Compassion, the numerous barbershops and Queen’s Market are still there, and the World Cup sculpture is in its place at the junction of Barking Road and Green Street – where in my opinion it should remain, in commemoration of West Ham United’s history at the Boleyn Ground, and not be moved to Stratford. The Champions Place in front of the London Stadium deserves to get a new statue, as new Wembley has got a Bobby Moore sculpture of its own.
Well, at Stratford there was no church but a group of singers seeking to evangelize by performing songs in the street. And we couldn’t have a pint in an overcrowded pub like the Boleyn or the Queens where you can hardly understand a word talking to your fellow supporters about the upcoming game. Instead of this we got us a treat and a tea at the quiet Caffé Concerto, sitting table to table with Markus Weinzierl, the former Schalke 04 manager. Just some hours later we learned that he had not been the only manager sniffing around West Ham seeking a new job this evening. Then we managed to book a table at Jamie’s Italian for dinner after the game and then we headed for the ground.
The atmosphere was slightly optimistic, as I said before, and “Bubbles” rang out like always when the players graced the pitch (without Austrian Marko Arnautovic in the starting IX, as expected). Remembrance Day celebrations were impressive and created a festive atmosphere, but from the start of the game West Ham seemed to be very nervous and lacking confidence and the players hardly were able to string some passes together. Compared to John Mayall’s spirit the evening before, West Ham’s attitude seemed quite uninspired and everybody was wary of making mistakes. The Irons’ continual backward passing instead of making quick runs and troubling Liverpool’s defence left us and our fellow supporters at growing unease, and after the Irons’ first good chance had been spoilt, minutes later a West Ham corner resulted in a fast counter attack and Liverpool scored. That felt “so West Ham” in a negative way. Then Liverpool got a corner and scored again, just 3 minutes after their first goal.
“The natural state of the football fan is bitter disappointment, no matter what the score,” the famous quote from “Fever Pitch” says. But in modern times it seems that being disappointed much too quickly leads to turn one’s back on the team. When Liverpool had scored, a lad in front of us in motorbike clothes seized his helmet and left his seat with immediate effect. He wasn’t seen on the terraces again.
During the interval we moaned about the “cheap goals” and the drama of two corners, and we wondered if Arnautovic would be given a chance to come on in the second half. But first it was Andy Carroll who Slaven Bilic chose to lead the line together with Chicharito. And things livened up from the start, the crowd got involved a little more, and with Manuel Lanzini’s goal the London Stadium became a noisy place and hope rose from the terraces. But only to get slammed in the face just a minute later with Liverpool’s next cheap goal!
With Liverpool having restored their two goal lead and the score 1-3, Mark Noble came off and Arnautovic got the nod. He showed some good moves immediately and seemed to try to bring West Ham back in the game, but it didn’t take long and he disappeared for the rest of the match. Finally bringing Sakho 20 minutes from time just seemed a last desperate act from the manager whose time was over for sure with this defeat. In the 75th minute Liverpool’s 4-1 rang the final signal for West Ham’s supporters to leave their seats and let poor Slaven and his squad almost walk alone for the rest of the game, much in contrary to Liverpool’s away support celebrating their win by singing a song with this title.
Usually I say that I like the English kind of support which is much more spontaneous and depending on the events on the pitch than the support from the European “Ultras” (as Rapid Vienna’s “Block West”) whose support is performed throughout the whole game almost no matter what the score. But this time there was almost no spontaneous cheering or singing, the atmosphere in the stadium was quite lifeless most of the time and it seemed the fans had come to the conclusion that this team was not worth being cheered on with “We’re West Ham’s claret and blue army”. They could have needed some permanent ultra-like support, but instead of this the white spots on the terraces got bigger and bigger with the supporters heading for the exits.
My thoughts went back to the old Boleyn Ground: there have been dire games and pathetic performances which I have witnessed at Upton Park too, but I hardly remember such a melancholic and sad atmosphere after a West Ham loss at Upton Park. With the current state of the site in mind which was West Ham’s former ground and the empty seats of the current stadium, this trip to London was quite a depressing one as far as football was concerned.
But as always I’m trying to take some positives from my memories and I told my friends at Jamie Oliver’s afterwards that I remember having witnessed another 1-4 defeat more than a decade ago which proved to be a turning point and the beginning of a very successful time for my home town club Rapid Vienna. I had been on the terraces together with my son that game, having taken him to his first game at our home ground. Rapid Vienna lost 1-4, and this also became the last game at home before their manager was sacked.
When I looked up that result on the internet it was quite baffling that the name of Bilic appeared alongside the score. Well, of course it wasn’t Slaven playing for Rapid but his fellow Croatian Mate Bilic, but the departure of the then manager shortly after this defeat lead to the appointment of Rapid’s most successful coach within the last decade. With Peter Pacult at the helm Rapid Vienna was able to win the Austrian Bundesliga and to qualify several times for the Europa League, twice eliminating Aston Villa in the process.
Therefore I think that this 1-4 will also be a turning point for West Ham, as it was for Rapid Vienna 11 years ago. Though David Moyes wouldn’t have been my choice as West Ham’s new manager things can only get better now, and when I will be back to London in four weeks time for the Chelsea game I will watch a different team, that’s for sure, I think!
Hopefully a team showing the commitment and spirit that makes them worth to be cheered on again by the brilliant support I know from former games! Let’s hope the new manager (and the future results) are going to instill some confidence and the players find a new way of playing together in a positive way instead of nervously passing backward again and again.
Going back to the example of John Mayall, whose inspiring concert we enjoyed so much more this weekend than the poor performance the trip had been planned around: Let’s hope there will be a radiation of positive mood around the London Stadium instead of the negativity that has been produced from the beginning of this season. Mayall’s first gold album in 1969 was called “The Turning Point”. Let’s hope the 1-4 against Liverpool will also have been a turning point with respect to West Ham – something this season is in desperate need of.
There is a German proverb which says, “Hope is the last to die.” This proverb goes with the “West Ham way”, always blowing bubbles, pretty bubbles in the air. See you in December, reaching for the sky!
Come on you Irons!
Curse and Magic of a “Parallel Campaign”
The plot of one of the best known Austrian novels, Robert Musil’s “The Man Without Qualities” (Der Mann ohne Eigenschaften) is about a so-called “Parallel Campaign” (Parallelaktion) meant to celebrate the Austrian Emperor’s 70 years of reign in the same year 1918 in which the German Emperor would be ruler of his country for 30 years. In my case almost 100 years later another “parallel campaign” is taking place in Vienna and London, concerning football clubs Rapid Vienna and West Ham United – a “Parallelaktion” that most recently started with two goals, conceded by both clubs in the 94th minute of their respective games five weeks ago.
I live in Vienna and, of course wanting to watch football live more regularly than my travels to London allow, I also follow a team of my home town, SK Rapid Vienna, as most of you will know. Therefore any given weekend there is always a chance to overcome the disappointment of a West Ham defeat with a win of Rapid, and vice versa of course. But in recent weeks it’s like bewitched: there seem to be more parallelisms between the two clubs than ever, and unfortunately they have not been positive ones.
Well, from the very beginning until today there have been surprising similarites between these two clubs which I have followed for many, many years: at the end of the 19th century both of them were founded as “workers‘ clubs” (Thames Ironworks FC and First Vienna Workers FC). And at the beginning of the 2016-17 season both clubs started to play in a new home! But with the coincidences having increased within the last weeks, it looks as if this season is really going to be some kind of a “parallel campaign” for the two clubs I support.
The cruelty of the 94th minute
The latest parallel action started almost five weeks ago when West Ham played West Brom in the London Stadium and Rapid Vienna played Austria Vienna in the Vienna Stadium (aka Ernst Happel Stadium). Both clubs lead with a small margin of one goal until the beginning of injury time. Their fans were nervously awaiting the final whistle in a nail biting finish, but exactly in the 94th minute of the respective games of this very weekend late equalisers were scored: Gareth McAuley made it 2-2 in London, and an other defensive mistake in Vienna allowed Lukas Rotpuller to score the 1-1 for Austria Vienna, cruelly destroying Rapid’s hope of a win against their local rivals and a successful start into the spring campaign after the Austrian winter break.
The next weekend none of our clubs scored. West Ham was not able to kick a ball because they had already departed from the FA Cup with a heavy defeat in a match back in January we all want to forget. And Rapid Vienna was not able to hit the back of the net in their league game against Admira (0-0). A sad weekend with West Ham not able to play in the FA Cup anymore and Rapid again unable to win.
Well, one week later West Ham had to play Watford away achieving another draw (1-1). This time that would have been a result which I would have been happy with in Rapid’s away game in Carinthia against Wolfsberger AC. West Ham and Rapid had to trail a 0-1 in their respective games and really, both of them were able to equalise (through Andre Ayew and Mario Sonnleitner). But in the 80th minute the similarities unfortunately came to an end when Wolfsberg scored a late winner and the „Greens“ had to travel back to Vienna without any points, still rooted to a disappointing 5th place in the 10-clubs-Austrian Bundesliga.
Versus the leaders of the league
Next weekend saw West Ham and Rapid play the leader of the English Premier League as well as the leader of the Austrian Bundesliga at home. Rapid have a new manager in Damir Canadi since November who has made a lot of changes in the team’s system of playing, still waiting for his first win of 2017. But again on a cold Sunday afternoon in the Allianz Stadium we had to taste defeat, losing out 0-1 to Red Bull Salzburg.
And West Ham, as I had feared, didn’t do any better one day later, also being defeated on Monday evening in the London Stadium with a one-goal-margin by Chelsea with Manuel Lanzini scoring a late consolation in injury time (1-2).
Winless weeks to continue?
And the winless weeks still have not come to an end, neither in London nor in Vienna: last weekend saw West Ham lose to Bournemouth away on Saturday, and therefore I was almost sure that on the Sunday Rapid would be defeated in Graz by Sturm Graz. Again it was the same goal margin by which the clubs were seperated from their opponents, West Ham losing 2-3 and Rapid 1-2.
Now since this cruel 94th minute equalisers by mid February, West Ham and Rapid have been waiting for a win for five weeks now. The clubs have dropped back in the table to 6th and 11th respectively. Especially Rapid, still the record champions of Austria but their last title dating back to 2008, are very disappointed with this first season in their new Allianz Stadion aka Weststadion. And also West Ham should do better in their new home, aiming for eighth (as we were told by David Gold lately). Rapid are still hoping to qualify for Europe, though now this seems almost impossible via the league. Nevertheless Rapid is still playing in the Austrian cup, but their last win of this competition is ages away.
Will the “parallel campaign” continue next weekend, and to what end? West Ham will host Leicester in the London Stadium on Saturday 3 p.m. and Rapid are also playing at home at the same time against Mattersburg. Both opponents were already close to or in a relegation spot this season, but both of them have had a revival within the last weeks with new managers. And Mattersburg also has a new key player, veteran striker Stefan Maierhofer aka „The Major“ who played for Bayern, Rapid, Wolves, Bristol FC and Millwall in former years. He suffered a break of his cheek bone two weeks ago but has promised to come back against Rapid and play against his former club with a protective mask on his face. (Back in 2008 he also played with such a device and helped Rapid win their last Austrian Championship!)
Well, West Ham and Rapid cannot hide behind a mask next weekend. They have to come out and start some kind of revival themselves to make us happy again after five weeks without a win. „The natural state of the football fan is disappointment“, Nick Hornby says in his novel Fever Pitch, adding: „No matter what the score“. But if the score was in our favour on Saturday afternoon it would really help to improve our mood, that’s for sure!
Still a lot to play for
Robert Musil’s novel “Mann ohne Eigenschaften” has remained unfinished though it contains of more than 1000 pages, and also this season is far from being finished. There is still a lot to play for in the coming weeks. Relegation or winning the title are not up for dicussion, therefore playing well, scoring goals, making the supporters happy, climbing up the table, and ending the season on a positive note are what we are expecting from our clubs. This would really be a “parallel campaign” I’d like to see!
Then, later in the year, the transfer window in the summer must be used much better this time than it was last year. Another thing that went wrong with both our clubs last time! Well, and like every year there will be hope for the next campaign in London and in Vienna – to have a team with the quality and capability of playing the way we’d like to watch in our new grounds! Then the positive magic of a “parallel campaign” with two “teams of quality”, and not of “Männer ohne Eigenschaften”, will unfold again in autumn 2017 …
Your nightmare returns
Good times for Austrian West Ham supporters: the season has not started yet, but in Austria we have already been able to watch four games of our beloved Hammers without having to travel the 900 miles or so to England. I am going to contribute to “West Ham Till I Die” with a monthly column from now on, reflecting an Austrian West Ham fan’s point of view, after having written a first blog post a year ago ( click here ).
Three pre-season friendlies were played in the Austrian provinces of Styria and Burgenland where West Ham held their training camp at Bad Tatzmannsdorf. And the Europa League qualifier against NK Domzale took place just 60 miles from the Austrian border in Slovenia’s capital Ljubljana.
Hence the members of the supporters club “Austrian Irons” and quite a few other West Ham supporters from Austria were able to watch our heroes live at these matches last month. Now we are looking forward to travel to our first games in the London Stadium – though the start of the season on Monday is going to be celebrated in a Vienna pub called “The Tube Station”, run by Barry, an Essex born lifelong West Ham supporter.
I seized the opportunity to watch the Hammers in the neat, fairly new Stozice Stadium in Ljubljana against NK Domzale, combining the game with a business trip to the Wörthersee Stadium in Klagenfurt in Southern Austria. The upper tier of the Klagenfurt Euro stadium was meant to be disassembled (like the London Olympic Stadium) after the Euro ’08, but (like the London Olympic Stadium) that decision was overturned, resulting in long lasting administrative procedures in which I have been involved over the past years, to make the 30,000 stadium permanent.
I linked up for the trip to Slovenia with guys from the “Austrian Irons” and an Austria based fan from Indonesia. And I really can prove that we were there – the “Austrian Irons” banner could be seen on TV every time a corner was taken from our end!
Unfortunately the Hammers played well only in the first half; from the second half hardly an attacking move from the Hammers can be reported. We saw a lot of action though, and it was Andy Carroll who got on all the headers in the box in front of the away end – albeit it was the West Ham box, and in the end we were on the losing end and had to overcome a 1-2 deficit in the second leg (which we convincingly did, as we all know!).
Now in the Europa League play-off West Ham was drawn again, like last season, against Romanian side Astra Giurgiu. I hope Astra Giurgiu will not be able to do the same feat that my home town club SK Rapid Vienna did against an other club in claret and blue in 2009 and 2010: Aston Villa was eliminated twice in two consecutive years by the green-whites, their fans bringing a banner with them stating: “Your nightmare returns”.
But in fact Rapid Vienna bears more resemblance to West Ham United than to Astra. Though I know that not all Austrian West Ham fans will be happy with that (because a lot of them will support a different club at home), having chosen the username “rapidhammer”, I have to tell you that there are a lot of similarities between the Hammers and the Greens from Vienna: Both of these clubs are very well know and respected for their passionate support. And both clubs have moved with the start of this season to their new grounds, and interestingly Rapid played its first game in their new “Allianz Stadium” against Chelsea FC, West Ham’s opponent on Monday. Let’s hope West Ham will achieve a similar result: Rapid beat Chelsea 2-0.
Also in their history the clubs from Vienna and London have a lot in common: Rapid Vienna was founded in 1898 as “1. Wiener Arbeiter Fussball-Club” (First Vienna Workers FC) while West Ham was founded as “Thames Ironworks FC”. The clubs initially played in colours which are different from today’s kits (Rapid’s original colours were red and blue – unfortunately not claret and blue). Both clubs have played in two European Cup Winners’ Cup Finals; West Ham won the Cup in 1965 and lost the final in 1976, SK Rapid played in the finals 1985 and 1996 and unfortunately lost out on both ocasions. West Ham and Rapid both lost their finals in Brussels in 1976 and 1996 respectively.
But that’s enough of Rapid Vienna for now, because I don’t want to risk what happened in a pub in Graz some years ago when West Ham also held a training camp in Austria. I joined fans from east London and Styria singing “Bubbles” there, but when I mentioned “Rapid” one of the other Austrian guys rose in front of me stating: “Rapid – we’ll kill you!” But I was lucky, a fan from London saved me, saying “But he’s West Ham”, and all ended up with another round of the fantastic Styrian beer.
I promise not to mention the club from Vienna in this column in the next time – bar if West Ham and Rapid are drawn into the same Europa League group, of course! But first West Ham has to overcome Astra and also make a good start into the new PL season against Chelsea on Monday. The Austrian Hammers are optimistic and looking very much forward to the start of the season. Especially the game which has been played in Kapfenberg against Karlsruher SC was a great opportunity to get in touch with the West Ham players, and that’s what many Austrian fans did. Of course not being able to have a season ticket at West Ham’s new ground, we are a little unsure if we will be able to get tickets for games this season as they are expected to sell out quickly. Having to book flights and accommodation not too late and being unsure if we are going to be allocated with tickets will cost a lot of nerves, I think. But anyway, having managed to get to a lot of West Ham games at the Boleyn in the past, we will come over to London E20 too in the future!
I will report back in September with an other column, having got on board some wins and points by then, and hopefully not having to write about the “return of a nightmare” when Astra have been back to London.
Come on you Irons!
PP: Der Schleifer mit dem “guten Schmäh”
Max von “ABENTEUER FUSSBALL” brachte am 4. Mai dieses Interview mit dem RAPIDHAMMER. Fast zur gleichen Zeit wurde Peter Pacult offiziell als neuer Cheftrainer von Rasenballsport Leipzig präsentiert. Hier das Interview von “ABENTEUER FUSSBALL”, zugleich ein “Farewell” an Peter Pacult
Peter Pacult
Spätestens seit dem Debakel der Leipziger Bullen gegen Holstein Kiel Mitte Februar war auch dem letzten Optimisten in der Messestadt klar, dass es auf der Trainerposition eine Veränderung geben müsse. Trotz großzügiger Mittel war es Trainer Tomas Oral nicht gelungen, in der Mannschaft ein Feuer zu entfachen, der Aufstieg in die 3. Liga wurde verpasst. Damit geriet das Projekt RB bereits im zweiten Jahr mächtig ins Stocken. Doch wer sollte diese schwierige Aufgabe übernehmen, bei der man als Coach die Pflicht (Aufstieg) erfüllen muss und ansonsten eigentlich nur verlieren kann?
Im April kam dann Bewegung in die Sache: Zunächst wurde bekannt, dass Peter Pacult – früher bei 1860 München und Dynamo Dresden der Übungsleiter – in Gesprächen mit Red Bull über ein Engagement in Leipzig ist. Dies wurde von Pacults ehemaligem Arbeitgeber Rapid Wien jedoch schnell dementiert, doch nur zwei Tage nach der Meldung war Pacult dann plötzlich entlassen. Vertrauensbruch war der Vorwurf. Vergangene Woche dann verkündete zunächst Tomas Oral seinen definitiven Rücktritt zum Saisonende, letztes Wochenende meldeten diverse Medien, Pacult sei fix in Leipzig und plane schon für die neue Saison. Alleine die offizielle Bestätigung von Seiten des Vereins stand bis Mittwoch Nachmittag noch aus.
Seit Anfang April wurde also schon über Peter Pacult diskutiert. Die Frage wurde gestellt, ob er geeignet sei für die Rasenballer. Wie das klappen soll, mit dem “Grantler” Pacult beim Familienverein RB Leipzig. Als Außenstehender lassen sich diese Punkte nur schwer beantworten. Deshalb habe ich mir Hilfe geholt von Wolfgang, im Netz bekannt durch seinen Blog Rapidhammer. Er ist seit langen Jahren Fan des SK Rapid Wien, hat die Ära Pacult hautnah miterlebt und hat mir dazu einige Fragen beantwortet – mit interessanten, neuen Einblicken darauf, wie die Trennung in Wien abgelaufen ist. Außerdem kennt Wolfgang auch die andere, freundliche Seite des Peter Pacult und berichtet über dessen Trainingsmethoden.
Abenteuer Fussball: Am 9. April brachte die LVZ exklusiv die Meldung, dass Peter Pacult zur neuen Saison in Leipzig das Traineramt bei den Rasenballsportlern übernehmen wird. Schnell folgte ein Dementi aus Wien, wenige Tage, fast nur Stunden später war Pacult doch entlassen. Wie hast du diese ereignisreichen Tage erlebt? Hast du die Meldung für ein wildes Gerücht gehalten oder sie von Anfang an ernst genommen?
Wolfgang: Pacults Position war seit Monaten umstritten. Rapid kam in der Tabelle nicht so recht vom Fleck, Pacult traf nicht nachvollziehbare Personalentscheidungen, immer wieder hörte man vom schlechten Klima zwischen Mannschaft und Trainer. Das Verhältnis zum harten Kern der Anhänger, dem „Block West“, war schlecht wie schon lange nicht. Und nach dem Rücktritt von Sportdirektor Hörtnagl wollte Pacult keinen neuen Sportdirektor neben sich akzeptieren und ließ keine Gelegenheit aus, die „Unsinnigkeit“ eines für die erste Mannschaft zuständigen Managers aufzuzeigen. Und dann kam noch das Abendessen beim „Pfarrwirt“ in Döbling, das die Gerüchte über einen Wechsel zu RB überkochen ließ. Ich habe daher so wie die meisten Rapid-Anhänger nicht mehr geglaubt, dass Pacult seinen Vertrag bis 2012 erfüllen wird. Aber dass es so schnell mit Pacults Entlassung gehen würde, hat mich doch überrascht. Zuerst gab es am Sonntag, dem 10.4., die Pressemeldung, dass Pacult bestätigt habe, dass nichts an den RB-Gerüchten dran sei … und Montag Früh dann plötzlich die Entlassung wegen „Vertrauensverlust“! Auch wenn das Dementi am Sonntag niemand mehr so richtig geglaubt hat, die Entlassung nur einen Tag später war schon krass!
Abenteuer Fussball: War der ausschlaggebende Grund für Pacults Entlassung nur die verschwiegene Weinverkostung mit Didi Mateschitz, oder hat Rapid die Chance genutzt, sich einem Problem zu entledigen?
Wolfgang: Die Weinverkostung war sehr unschön, schließlich ist „Red Bull“ das erklärte Feindbild jedes aufrechten Rapid-Fans einschließlich Klub-Präsident Edlinger. Aber es war nur die Spitze des Eisbergs, in Wahrheit war das Verhältnis Präsidium – Trainer schon seit einiger Zeit nicht mehr das beste. Und ich halte die Sache mit der Pressemeldung vom Sonntag für eine taktische Meisterleistung von Rapid: durch die klare Absage an Red Bull, die man Pacult in den Mund gelegt hatte, tappte der Trainer, dem Ehrlichkeit sehr wichtig ist, in die Falle und war genötigt, dem Klub gegenüber zu sagen, dass man das „so nicht schreiben kann“. Damit musste PP sein Versteckspiel aufgeben und als er am nächsten Tag auch nicht zum Training erschien – ob entschuldigt oder unentschuldigt, wird von beiden Seiten unterschiedlich dargestellt – konnte Rapid mit gutem Grund von „Vertrauensverlust“ sprechen und die Entlassung verkünden.
Abenteuer Fussball: Pacult war knapp fünf Jahre Rapid-Coach. Wie beurteilst du diese Zeit aus sportlicher Sicht?
Wolfgang: Aus sportlicher Sicht hatte Rapid eine sehr erfolgreiche Zeit unter Pacult. Der 32. Meistertitel und die zweimalige Qualifikation für die Gruppenphase der Europa League, wobei jedes Mal mit Aston Villa ein Klub aus der englischen Liga ausgeschaltet wurde, sowie ein 3:0 Heimsieg gegen den HSV sind Erfolge, die uns in den letzten Jahren sehr viel Freude bereitet haben. Zu meiner Aussage in einem Artikel für ein schottisches Fanzine, „Pacult is the most successful manager of Rapid since Otto Baric and Ernst Dokupil who both reached a European Cup Winner’s Final in 1985 and 1996 respectively”, stehe ich nach wie vor, auch wenn man sich abgesehen vom schon heute legendären 3:0 gegen den damals ungeschlagenen deutschen Tabellenführer HSV in Wien in den EL-Gruppenspielen nicht gerade mit Ruhm bekleckern konnte. Pacult hat Rapid mit dem Erreichen der EL-Gruppenphase, in der Rapid jeweils die meisten Zuschauer aller beteiligten Klubs hatte, und dem Einbau junger unbekannter Spieler in die erste Mannschaft, die dann um hohe Transfersummen nach England, Schottland und Italien wechselten, viel Geld verdient. Heute steht der Klub nach vielen Jahren wieder schuldenfrei da – dafür ist Pacult keinesfalls allein verantwortlich, aber ohne ihn hätte es diese Erfolge sicher nicht gegeben.
Abenteuer Fussball: Menschlich gilt Pacult als schwieriger Typ, bei youtube finden sich Videos von Wortgefechten mit Journalisten. Karsten Oswald, unter Pacult Spieler bei Dynamo Dresden, bezeichnete ihn als “menschliche Katastrophe”. Was gibt es aus Wien zu diesem Gesichtspunkt zu berichten?
Wolfgang: Pacult ist ein äußerst eigenwilliger, aber auch ehrlicher Mensch, der sich wenig darum kümmert, wie das wirkt, was er sagt oder tut. Er hat immer „sein Ding durchgezogen“ und sich wenig darum geschert, wie das wirkte und wie andere damit zurecht kamen. Auch Erklärungen waren seine Sache nicht, weder beim plötzlichen Austausch seines Assistenteams vor zwei Jahren noch beim Wechsel des Tormanns im letzten Sommer. Solange die Erfolge da waren, kein Problem! Auch dass die Spieler angeblich von einem Tag auf den anderen nicht wussten, wann am nächsten Tag das Training stattfand, und dass Pacult bei Interviews gerne die Journalisten rüffelte, waren eben Pacult’sche Eigenheiten, die man hinnahm und auch amüsant fand. Aber seit es sportlich nicht mehr ganz so rund lief, stellte man den immer einsamer wirkenden Coach durchaus in Frage.
Auf die Spieler bei Pacults neuem Klub wartet sicher strenge Disziplin und ein hartes Training – Pacults Konditionseinheiten vor Saisonbeginn (Stichwort „Lauftraining“) sind gefürchtet – sowie ein eher wortkarger, autoritäter „Chef“, kein Kumpel. Pacult hat unter der harten Schale aber einen sehr sympathischen Kern, einen guten „Schmäh“ und kann abseits der Fernsehkameras sehr nett sein. Nach dem Training oder bei Fanklubtreffen konnte man einen durchaus freundlichen, zum Scherzen aufgelegten echten Wiener treffen. Wer auch diesen Pacult kennt, bedauert seinen wohl für beide Seiten unrühmlichen Abgang von Rapid umso mehr!
Abenteuer Fussball: Ist der Trainer und Mensch Peter Pacult verträglich mit der Red Bull-Philosophie? Glaubst du, er würde beim RB-Projekt in Leipzig Erfolg haben?
Wolfgang: Pacult ordnet dem Erfolg alles unter, hat bewiesen, dass er junge Spieler erfolgreich in die Mannschaft einbauen kann, und kennt auch den deutschen Fußball aus seiner aktiven und seiner Trainerzeit sehr gut. Für den geplanten „Durchmarsch“ von RB Leipzig in die Bundesliga könnte er der richtige Mann sein. Ich glaube, dass er in Leipzig durchaus Erfolg haben wird. Sobald das Ziel erreicht ist, wird sich aber Red Bull wahrscheinlich einen Trainer mit höherem „Glamour-Faktor“ holen.
Abenteuer Fussball: In Leipzig wächst der Bullen-Verein nur langsam, muss hart um die Gunst der Zuschauer kämpfen. In Salzburg ist es nun schon sechs Jahre her, dass sich Red Bull bei der damaligen Austria eingekauft hat. Ist dort dahingehend eine positive Entwicklung zu verzeichnen oder herrscht eher Stagnation?
Wolfgang: Seit die Bullen heuer weder in der Europa League noch in der österreichischen Bundesliga besonders erfolgreich ist, hat man in Salzburg mit einem Zuschauerrückgang zu kämpfen. Die Red Bull-Fans sind für mich zum Großteil „Schönwetter-Fans“, die bei Misserfolgen schnell das Interesse verlieren. Das Ziel, sich für die Champions League zu qualifizieren, wurde noch nie erreicht und in dieser Saison war man auch in der Europa League sehr schwach. Die Salzburger Mannschaft ist ein „Durchhaus“, jeden Sommer wechselt man das Spielerpersonal aus und kauft großteils Ausländer ein, da ist keine Kontinuität erkennbar. Kein Wunder, dass man mit einem solchen nicht eingespielten Team noch nie in die CL kommen konnte. Also: Stagnation und sogar Rückschritt. Man hört allerdings, dass sich das nun ändern soll, vielleicht sogar der aktuelle „Interimstrainer“ dauerhaft installiert werden soll. Mal abwarten…
Abenteuer Fussball: Zum Abschluss noch ein Blick zurück zu Rapid: Wie geht es bei den Hütteldorfern nach Pacults Abschied weiter?
Wolfgang: „Interimstrainer“ Zoran Barisic hat Pacult bis jetzt gut ersetzt, wird aber wohl nicht zum neuen Cheftrainer bestellt werden, zumal ihm die notwendige UEFA-Lizenz noch fehlt. Ich wünsche mir den besonnenen, zuletzt in Österreich sehr erfolgreichen Ex-Rapidler Peter Schöttel oder auch Eli Guttmann von Hapoel Tel Aviv als neuen Trainer. Die Bestellung wird wohl noch ein paar Wochen auf sich warten lassen, aber dann sollte wieder Ruhe im Verein einkehren, damit man die Vorbereitung auf die nächste Saison rechtzeitig und ungestört in Angriff nehmen kann. Viel hängt natürlich davon ab, ob man sich für den Europacup qualifizieren kann (ein 3. Platz in der Bundesliga oder der Cupsieg sind dafür notwendig). Am Mittwoch muss Rapid im Cup-Semifinale auswärts gegen Ried antreten. Da MUSS ein Sieg her, das ist klar! Und nächste Saison gehen wir natürlich auf den 33. Meistertitel los!
Vielen Dank an Wolfgang für die ausführlichen Antworten und interessanten Einblicke. Ihr könnt ihn auch bei twitter folgen, unter dem Account @rapidhammer.
PS: In Ried hat der SK Rapid das Cup-Semifinale gegen SV Ried “natürlich” verloren (1:2 nach 1:0-Führung)! Jetzt könnte es sehr eng werden mit der Qualifikation für die Europa League!
“Fußball und Intelligenz schließen einander nicht unbedingt aus”
Gesendet auf OKTO TV, Dezember 2010
55 years ago: West Ham United 1-1 Rapid Wien
Durch den Fußball-Blog RAPIDHAMMER sind sie seit dreieinhalb Jahren im Internet vereint: der ursprünglich als 1. Wiener Arbeiter Fußball-Club gegründete “Sportklub Rapid” aus Wien-Hütteldorf und die bei ihrer Gründung als Thames Ironworks firmierenden “Hammers” aus dem Londoner Eastend. Im wirklichen Fußball-Leben sind die beiden Kultklubs aber erst- und letztmals vor genau 55 Jahren auf dem selben Rasen gestanden.
Ein einziges Mal trafen die beiden “Arbeiterklubs” bisher aufeinander: vor 55 Jahren im Londoner Upton Park-Stadion von West Ham United. Am 15. November 1955 endete ein Freundschaftsspiel zwischen West Ham United und Rapid mit einem auch für heutige Verhältnisse typischen Ergebnis: unentschieden.
Beim 1:1, über das in einem heute vor genau 55 Jahren erschienenen Zeitungsartikel aus der “Arbeiter-Zeitung” vom 17. November 1955 berichtet wird, erzielte Robert Dienst in der 10. Minute den Führungstreffer für Rapid. (Wie heute: West Ham liegt im eigenen Stadion meist schon bald nach dem Anpfiff hinten!)
Der Ausgleich in dem “under the lights” ausgetragenen Match – West Ham hatte zwei Jahre zuvor Flutlicht im Boleyn Ground installiert – fiel noch in der ersten Hälfte. Torschütze war Billy Dare (siehe den englischsprachigen Zeitungsartikel, in dem besonders Rapid Torhüter Gartner und Gerhard Hanappi hervorgehoben werden). Die offenbar recht hart geführte Partie (“Mehr Kampf als Spiel” schrieb die AZ!) endete schließlich 1:1, wobei Rapid vor 20.000 Zuschauern mit folgender Mannschaft spielte:
Gartner; Halla, Golobic, Hanappi, Höltl, Dienst, Probst, Bertalan, Bilek, Riegler, R. Körner
Am Wochenende vor dem Freundschaftsspiel hatte Rapid übrigens gegen die Admira auswärts 5:3 gewonnen (Tore: Bertalan, Dienst 2, Riegler 2) und 14 Tage später demolierte man auf der heimischen “Pfarrwiese” Sturm Graz mit 7:1 (Tore: Bertalan, Dienst 4, A. Körner, Riegler). Aber während Rapid in diesen beiden Spielen nur 7000 bzw 3500 Zuschauer sehen wollten, spielte man in London vor 20.000! Die vom großen Gerhard Hanappi geführte Rapid wurde in der Saison 1955/56 mit 43 Punkten (26 Spiele) österreichischer Meister vor Wacker Wien und Vienna, die höchste Zuschauerzahl erreichte man mit 45.000 im Wiener Stadion gegen Wacker (3:3).
West Ham dagegen war 1955 ein Zweitdivisionär und sollte das noch bis zum Aufstieg 1958 bleiben. Vor und nach dem “friendly” gegen Rapid spielte man gegen den späteren Absteiger Hull City und verlor auswärts 1:3 (Tor: Ken Tucker). Am Wochenende danach gegen Nottingham Forest setzte es eine 1:2-Heimniederlage (Tor: Harry Hooper). 1955/56 wurde man in der Second Division schließlich Sechzehnter von 22 Klubs mit 39 Punkten aus 42 Spielen.
Credits: Die Information über den Zeitungsartikel aus der “AZ” verdanke ich Herrn Pichler vom Rapid-Archiv. Das Foto des Programms und des englischen Zeitungsartikels stammen aus dem Matchday Programme vom Europa League Spiel WHU – Rapid am 30. September 2021. Die Daten von West Ham United können durch Klicken auf die obigen Jahreszahlen abgerufen werden!
“Rapid kennt man überall in Europa”
Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink: “West Ham hat ‘Bubbles’, aber Rapid hat Andy Marek!”
“He appears to have a heart made out of the sun”, kommentierte Freund Sam von Football United dieses Foto von Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink und dem RAPIDHAMMER.
Nun es handelt sich zwar nur um das reflektierende Symbol des Sportartikelherstellers, dessen Dressen der SK Rapid trägt. Aber der frühere holländische Teamstürmer (19 Einberufungen), der seit September für den SK Rapid Wien spielt, hat wirklich ein sonniges, freundliches Gemüt und ist für mich ein echter Sympathieträger.
Der “Klub der Freunde des S.C. Rapid” lud Adte Nuhiu, Raimund Hedl, Thomas Hinum und eben Jan VoH zur Mitgliederversammlung und der Holländer stellte sich dabei als im Deutschen durchaus sprachgewandt heraus. Vor allem am Ende des Abends plauderte er frisch drauf los, sodass man glauben hätte können, Jan sei schon seit Jahren – und nicht erst seit elf Wochen in Wien.
Vor Kurzem flatterte aber endlich eine Mitteilung der Staatsanwaltschaft Ried ins Haus: Das Verfahren wurde eingestellt – und das, ohne dass Jan VoH zu einer Einvernahme gebeten worden wäre. Anscheinend hatte sich der Staatsanwalt das Video vom Ried-Spiel angeschaut und befunden, dass da von einem strafbaren Tatbestand überhaupt keine Spur war. (Leider konnte die StA bei dieser Gelegenheit Adte Nuhius reguläres, vom Schiri aber nicht gegebenes Tor nicht nachträglich anerkennen – dann hätte der junge Rapid-Stürmer “Nutschi” [Bild] endlich seinen ersten Bundesliga-Treffer auf dem Konto!)England ist eine andere Welt, aber österreichische Spieler sind “sehr fit”
Wieder ein Johann bei Rapid 
EXTRA TIME 
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