The Prophet Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Jealous? I most certainly am. It's fair to say in 1990 Hoffenheim were absolute no marks. They were nothing more than a local amateur side languishing in the Baden-Württemberg A-Liga, to you and me the eighth tier of German football. Things began to turn when former player Dietmar Hopp, formally a player of the club, returned as a financial backer. He began to pour his new found wealth into the club and by 2001 Hoffenheim had already jumped to the Regionalliga Süd, German football's third division. Despite their remarkable progress the football club still went about its business relatively unnoticed and the magic seemed to have disappeared with the club spending several seasons rooted in mid-table of the division. However in 2006, with Hopp as the club's owner, the club were on the march again. Ralf Rangnick former Stuttgart and Schalke manager was employed and with Hopp's financial backing the club were promoted yet again to the originally named 2. Bundesliga. Still not content with their rapid change in fortune, the following season Hoffenheim went and got themselves promoted again, this time to the top division in German football, the Bundesliga. And here they are now 16 games in sitting at the top of the pile. So apart factor of wealth what else has prompted the unlikely growth of this football club? Well despite having control first team, the reserve team and the youth academy, Rangnick has worked under and director of football, Jan Schindelmeier, since he took charge since 2006. Now interestingly they have a good working relationship and Schindelmeier continues to find fantastic players from quite frankly no where. Hoffenheim's scouting system is brilliant. Over the last two years they have managed to set up the best youth facilities in Germany. Rangnick and Schindelmeir are both strong believers in youth development, so it's no coincidence the average age of the side is around 22. These young players are plucked from the academies of leading German sides: take the likes of Andreas Beck, Tobias Weis and Salihovic for example. But if you still want evidence look no further than Ibisevic. Last year he was playing his trade for Aachen in Germany's second division, now he's competing for the golden boot scoring an impressive 18 goals in 16 games in the top tier. These signings along with the likes of Carlos Eduardo, Demba Ba and Luiz Gustavo have led the club to play a mouth watering brand of football. It's the stuff of dreams isn't it? And the thought that has contributed to the club's massive growth sounds very familiar doesn't it? Our very own Mike Ashley tried to form a set-up which would bare similar results that of Hoffenheims. For example he, like Hopp tends to stay out of the day to day business of the club, the chairman Peter Hofmann runs the German outfit. Ashley also wanted to buy players who would grow in stature and value something Hoffenheim have also done successfully. So to me it's obvious that it all lies in the execution. With money and the right people in the right positions all sharing a single goal anything can be achieved. With a new 30,000 seat stadium on the horizon Hoffenheim are living the dream. We can only hope that one day our own fortunes will change for the better, but for the time being doesn't it feel good to watch a club, that not so long ago in 1990, achieve what must have seemed like an impossible dream? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Wimbledon MKII tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
WarrenBartonCentrePartin Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 small piece done on them on yesterday's football focus. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/7768679.stm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil K Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Wimbledon MKII tbh. Who cares ? Success is success (being a fellow Newcastle supporter, no wonder you don't recognize it !) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest LucaAltieri Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Yes, but their fans don't have the same "passion" ours do, which gives them time to build. Here there's no fucking chance. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Wimbledon MKII tbh. Who cares ? Success is success (being a fellow Newcastle supporter, no wonder you don't recognize it !) At what point did I say them being Wimbledon MKII is a bad thing? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Phil K Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Wimbledon MKII tbh. Who cares ? Success is success (being a fellow Newcastle supporter, no wonder you don't recognize it !) At what point did I say them being Wimbledon MKII is a bad thing? Whenever Wimbledon is mentioned, it normal comes without saying. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Heneage Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 What I admire about these lads is the fact they bought young talent and are building a sound academy, they didn't just do what Chelsea did and bought up their best Champ Manager team. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 What I admire about these lads is the fact they bought young talent and are building a sound academy, they didn't just do what Chelsea did and bought up their best Champ Manager team. No where near as blatant as Chelsea are. Yes they have a billionaire owner but instead of chasing the world's finest players they choose to do their recruitment largely in South America and Germany. For example, three or four of their players were bought from the Stuttgart academy, they were deemed not good enough by one of Germany's top clubs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
joeyt Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Ibišević seems to be playing fantastically, but unfortunately, he'll end up going to Man Utd or Chelsea, and perhaps not be first choice for them Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kasper Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Plastic club Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newcastle Fan Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 What their doing is fantastic, hope they keep it up. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Prophet Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Plastic club I can see why someone would say this but I tend to disagree, to me any hatred of them would be born out of pure jeolusy. How else are the clubs in poverty (in footballing terms) meant to make something of themselves without spending money. ...and as mentioned above it's not like they've done a Chelsea or a Man City. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benwell Lad Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 I noticed too that their success has come from a squad of players who are relative unknowns. Watched some of their match against Bayern on Friday and they played superb fast attacking football. An incredible story really. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dinho lad Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 obasi is quite good on FM. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Segun Oluwaniyi Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Their three best attackers Obasi, Ba, and Ibisevic were bought in from Lyn Oslo, some poor Belgian club, and Aachen respectiovely. Hoffenheim are hardly going around attracting big name players with massive. They are looking for young talent, and have created a system that young players are keen to join. Take Obasi for example. He received heavy interest from top league clubs in England and Russia, but ended up going to this small second division club in Germany. Many people in Nigeria, and those who had followed him from Lyn or u-20 championships were confused or not happy with this career choice. But it is quite clear that they had a plan they were ready to put into action. You do not get players of the caliber that they did last year unless they believe the club is going places. Do realise that they have only bought I think 2 players that weren't on loan at their club last year. Hopp is building a first class football organization, evidenced by the new stadium the club is already building. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cronky Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Just to make people feel worse, after Souness was sacked, Ragnick was chasing after the Newcastle job. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Syrette Posted December 7, 2008 Share Posted December 7, 2008 Would love it if we got in Sejad Salihovic, would notably improve our midfield. Quality player. Ibisevic will go somewhere far better than us if and when he leaves them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Does their owner fancy buying us ? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cubaricho Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Does their owner fancy buying us ? He'd never get the time, surely. And he's probably a good enough businessman to realize that. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Oh well maybe we could rename to Neucastle to get some Jorman interest. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
clintdempsey Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Does their owner fancy buying us ? The thing is that if such a man was to buy us, our supporters would be critical as fuck as he's "only" worth 1 billion dollars, even less than Ashley. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Stephen927 Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Fantastic stuff, would be great to see them go on and win the Bundesliga. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
hallihg Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Fantastic stuff, would be great to see them go on and win the Bundesliga. Would love to see that but dont think its going to happen... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neil Posted December 8, 2008 Share Posted December 8, 2008 Still, even if they don't win the league they've got a cracking chance of CL qualification. That really would be fantastic. Also pleased to see people recognising they're using their money to build from the grass roots as it were and not buy willy-nilly. It's excellent to see. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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