Oh, Hello There!
*sprays kit green-white*
Some leave - or more precisely, are "made" to leave in a rather unfortunate, classless style, like it happened to poor Daniel Jensen the other day. While other's join the flock, like Mehmet Ekici today! He got signed by Werder, according to KICKER. Going by his name - as well as his stellar talents - he'll be in charge of, among many, many other things that need someone knowledgeable to be in charge of at WB: corners!
So let's shout out a warm-hearted welcome to Mehmet!
Bremen is good at welcoming new players, but apparently less good at proper goodbyes!
Here is a poor sad-faced Daniel Jensen, last week with his adorable son!
Shame on you KATS for ending it on a bad note with Daniel Jensen. Dede got his five minutes of play from Klopp, even someone like Hanke got a proper goodbye at 96 ;). Why couldn't Schaaf bring himself to do the same for merited, now terribly sad-faced Jensen? Or at least select him on the squad for the last homegame this season against BVB? Idgi. Irdgi. That is a bit low, considering Jensen's unspoilt past for Werder. Sure, he had the sicks often and sometimes made less wise decisions, like when playing for Denmark's NT while still recovering from his injuries (which is pardonable imo). But this is sending the wrong signals here! Looks like the shrink/mental coach needs to come back pronto and teach a basic lesson here to oblivious KATS!
The whole affair last weekend was a bit ugly, I am afraid. I mean, when both KATS and players have been complaining of lacking the right kind of team spirit this season, even explicitly naming this as one of the key factors why Bremen hit bottom real hard, they might as well treat their players better when they are parting ways, especially when they have an otherwise flawless attitude/record and contributed to the teams overall successes too!
Sure, Vranjes won't get that treatment, I get it. There are degrees. But Jensen? But why not doing something inspite of yourself and field Jensen properly for a lil' while at the end of the the second half? Give him his proper, deserved goodbye! It's not like WB would loose the match due to an unfit player (honestly, we have seen a lot of that in WB's games this season, so that can not be a criteria, can it?). Edit: I just read that Schaaf even suspended Jensen alltogether. Unless there was some other serious internal dispute, I really can't follow him on this one. Really. Sure, Arnautovic deserved suspension, but Jensen for speaking up? Wrong.
Anyway some leave us - unfortunately in a rather ugly fashion. And new one's join in. So once again, let's welcome Mehmet properly. He can play the tenner position - how sweet does that sound? Ekici has been trained throughout his youth by Bayern Munich and is currently on a loan at Nürnberg. Naturally, penny-pinching Bayern increased/skyrocketed the asking price - they needed to scrape money together to pay for their shiny new goalie from Schlacke, I understand, so they made Allofs fork out 5 Million Euro from his WB pocket money, according to kicker. Well, they also know we are in rather desperate demand for a player like Ekici. You get the picture.
So WOW! He was rumoured to cost 2,8 Million Euro and suddenly his price doubled! *rubs eyes* Can you believe we payed for Arnautovic almost 7 Million Euro? And look at the measly results so far! So let's hope by adding Ekici to the mix, this comparatively speaking, rather costly Austrian diva bitch will come in shape finally. Or else it get's the boot! Well, tbf, he also plays better with a proper playmaker (and a functioning defense). So it's not all his fault that we have a score draught this year. This transfer might in fact be Allofs last chance here! If this seasons transfers don't make a lasting impact, it might be getting harder for him to keep all his various jobs at Werder, jobs that other clubs share and divide onto various shoulders...just saying...
Back to Ekici. Unlike Mesut Özil and Sahin, he is NOT managed by Fazeli (thank god!) which could mean we won't lose him to Real anytime soon. Among other things, he has recently graduated from high school (=Abitur)! He is single, so I read. After having played for Germany's youth national team throughout his youth (U17-21), he eventually opted to play for Turkey in 2010 and got fielded in their recent qualifying matches for the EC. Van Gaal (don't snicker) never gave him a chance at the beginning of the last season, after he had joined the summer training's camp, he subsequently went on a loan to 1. FC Nürnberg, where he immediately fulfilled a crucial role in their midfield alongside Gündogan, who is leaving for BVB. No other than Hermann Gerland, who among others spotted also Müller's sensational talent, discovered Ekici at Bayern. He can play the eight as well as the tenner position. Fun fact, he already scored against Werder...Well, who didn't this season!
Welcome to Werder Bremen, Mehmet! I suppose Ecki will be your new nick?
In related news, Frings' might get an extension and stick around for another year - but only if he drastically cheapens his package! A Frings from the One Dollar shop!! Oh my. We'll see. Apparently there are talks underway and they will hash something out by the end of the week. You want my two cents to this crucial matter of personnel? I'd rather see a young one, like Aleksandar Ignjovski from 1860, to throw in a likely candidate here, on his postion. Ideally, we would have a more experienced player available for free transfer like Baris Özbek from Galatasaray for instance. Niemeyer, who is leaving for Hertha, could have been that option too. But things turned out differently since Hertha were being promoted into Buli. Frings can stick around, but I am not really sure if he is exactly the type for some patient benchsitting... So this should be worked out before. It would also mean a shift in capitancy - from Frings to either Mertesacker or Fritz, imo. This might also help the young one's on the team - new dynamics etc.