What sports teams do you support?

[Heid the Ba]

Oh Lordy, I might be on the free wine soon.

[Lianachan]

I'm sure the officials will pull something out of the hat. You've not even had your penalty yet!

[Heid the Ba]

We’ll need three of them! Which isn’t impossible, just unlikely.
It isn’t over until it’s over, see Amstel Gold Women’s race for proof of that. Marianne Vos just wins things she really shouldn’t.

[Heid the Ba]

And there is the first one!

[Arneb]

Scottish refs have a habit of deliviring what is expected of them, it seems.

[Arneb]

Now all you need is injury time until 90+19 and two more of those.

[Lianachan]

Excellent stuff. A dodgy late penalty, to the surprise of nobody, and 10 minutes of mysterious extra time but it ended:

Ross County 3 - 2 Rangers


Played 155, won 74, drawn 30, lost 51.

[Arneb]

I guess TBTB will have a word with that referee.

[Arneb]

You may be interested to learn that Germany has a new national champion in the men's football Bundesliga, and for the first time in eleven years, it's not Bayern München. Bayer Leverkusen denied them their 12th successive title this time, with a crushing five nil home win over Werder Bremen with five match days to spare. Bayer was the perennial second-placed team, never having woe anything beyond a UEFA Cup in 1988, and always losing against Bayern, Dortmund, Real Madrid, etc. in high-profile bids for a championship. That earned them the moniker "Vizekusen", and nobody really thought it would ever end. Then along came a new manager - Xabi Alonso, who as a player won everything, in some cases, multiple times: Spanish and German championships, Cups, CL, European Champion, World Champion, you name it. He would have nothing of Vizekusen and just coached a fantastically gifted young team from match to match, in his calm, professional, utterly gentleman-like way. It is a joy to watch them play under his guidance. They have not lost a single game this season. They have secured Finals participation in the German Cup and are hopeful to reacht the Europa League semis, being two-nil up against West Ham after the home leg.

So yeah,

[Heid the Ba]

Apparently our twice postponed game happened the other night, just when we needed another fixture rather than weeks ago:

Shitty Waterlogged Dundee 0 - 0 Rangers

Played 156, won 74, drawn 31, lost 51.

[Arneb]

TuS Fortuna Düsseldorf 1 - 0 SpVgg Greuther Fürth

It's OK. They are still fighting for their shot at the Bundesliga while we are trundling down towards an end of season placement between 8th and 12th place.


Played 157, won 74, drawn 31, lost 52.

[Heid the Ba]

Mid-table mediocrity.

[Arneb]

Exactly. Hertha are away to our neighbour in the table today, Karlsruhe. Bit of a character test: Do we make an attempt at the region immediately below promotion territory, just to prove we have the potential (and might have been up there but for the shitty start of the season in post-dodgy-invester chaos), or do we let ourself just drift into mediocrityland and book our summer vacations? We'll know by half past three CEST.

[Arneb]

2-1 down at the half, after a solid but somewhat torpid first 45 min.

[Arneb]

Karlsruher SC 3 - 2 Hertha BSC

OK, thanks for the info. 13 points above the relegation playoff sport with four match days to go, we also know we really, really won't be relegated this season (at least not for sports reason; we don't kow if we'll have a licence for the next one though).



Played 158, won 74, drawn 31, lost 53

[Heid the Ba]

I didn't realise things were as bad as they are, bankruptcy is looming large on the horizon.

[Lianachan]

Mid-table mediocrity.

That's the sun-lit uplands Ross County dream of.

[Heid the Ba]

Rangers 2 - 0 Jambos, through to the Cup Final where we'll contrive to lose to Sellick.

Played 159, won 75, drawn 31, lost 53

[Arneb]

Hertha 1 - 1 Hannover 96

Early lead, stable defense, harmless opposition, one precise pass towards the end of injury time for the very late equalizer, yaddah, yaddah yaddah, mediocrity prevails. Second League mediocrity, that is. Promotion is now mathematically impossible, so we can fire up the barbie, cool the beer and call it quits for the season.

Played 160, won 75, drawn 32, lost 53

[Arneb]

Greuther 3-2 up after being two down at international football giants, SV Wehen Wiesbaden. If we win or draw this, we have successfully avoided relegation for the season, and both our teams are proudly sitting in the sun, side by side in eigth and ninth place of the German men's football second League. How is that for achievement?

[Arneb]

Three all, by a penalty min. 72. We'll botch it in the end, right? As we botched a penalty right 5 min. before...

[Arneb]

SV Wehen Wiesbaden 3 - 5 SpVgg Greuther Fürth

Relegation avoided three match days before the end, in ninth place (Hertha in 8th, with the same 45 pts.), five points above the tenth-placed team - nothing much should happen to our secure and cozy mid-table mediocrity. Last season we were 17th and 18th of the Bundesliga, let's see who takes the cake as Official IrU Continental Champion this time. Also, we may be worse than Hamburger Sportverein (who will still botch re-promotion for the 7th time in a row), but we will probably finish way ahead of deä Glubb, which is good for overall in-law relations. This season could have gone a lot worse than having three friendlies at the end of the season.

Played 161, won 76, drawn 32, lost 53

[Heid the Ba]

Indeed, no stress at the end. None for me either, technically Rangers can still win the league, but we won't. Despair I can take, it's the hope I can't stand; so I refuse to consider it.

Knights of Saint Mirren 1 - 2 Rangers

Played 162, won 77, drawn 32, lost 53

[Lianachan]

Important easy win against the only team in the league lower than us, so....

Livingstone 2 - 0 Ross County

Relegation increasingly looms.

Played 163, won 77, drawn 32, lost 54.

[Heid the Ba]

I suspect our count would be much better if I ignored the mens’ team and counted the womens’ team instead.