And so it didn’t come to pass.

Less than two hours before the LOK fans were due to depart Leipzig,  Aue called-off the opening match in the 09/10 NOFV Oberligasued season.

Overnight, unknown miscreants applied an awful lot of weedkiller to the grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, and, in doing so, rendered the pitch “unplayable”.

In the various forums the followers of the former SSV Markranstädt are already being blamed

But, and  joking apart, we can think of no-one, other than the police or NOFV, who could possibly have an interest in the match being cancelled. Other than any fans who on account of work commitments couldn’t make it.

Interesting, however, is the regularity with which matches between Aue and Lok are cancelled at short notice. We remember a couple of years ago sitting in the office in Probstheida a few days before LOK were due to travel to Aue, and one of the leading figures at LOK predicted not only that the match would be cancelled, but also when and for what reason. So sure was he, the team bus was only provisionally booked.

His suspicion proved 100% correct.
We didn’t speak to him ahead of this match as even we were fairly certain that no snow would  fall in August … but weedkiller!!

No one, seriously, thought that the match would pass-off without incident this evening and so the cancellation is a relief for the authorities who can now safely reschedule the match for a day when Aue I are as far away from Aue as possible.

Got lucky. Again.

God alone knows what they’re going to when Aue I and LOK are in the same league.

The grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, Aue. Nice motive, if a little bit "old hat"

The grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, Aue. Bat or bowl? We'd bowl...

And so it didn’t come to pass.

Less than two hours before the LOK fans were due to depart Leipzig,  Aue called-off the opening match in the 09/10 NOFV Oberligasued season.

Overnight, unknown miscreants applied an awful lot of weedkiller to the grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, and, in doing so, rendered the pitch “unplayable”.

In the various forums the followers of the former SSV Markranstädt are already being blamed

But, and  joking apart, we can think of no-one, other than the police or NOFV, who could possibly have an interest in the match being cancelled. Other than any fans who on account of work commitments couldn’t make it.

Interesting, however, is the regularity with which matches between Aue and Lok are cancelled at short notice. We remember a couple of years ago sitting in the office in Probstheida a few days before LOK were due to travel to Aue, and one of the leading figures at LOK predicted not only that the match would be cancelled, but also when and for what reason. So sure was he, the team bus was only provisionally booked.

His suspicion proved 100% correct.
We didn’t speak to him ahead of this match as even we were fairly certain that no snow would  fall in August … but weedkiller!!

No one, seriously, thought that the match would pass-off without incident this evening and so the cancellation is a relief for the authorities who can now safely reschedule the match for a day when Aue I are as far away from Aue as possible.

Got lucky. Again.

God alone knows what they’re going to when Aue I and LOK are in the same league.

The grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, Aue. Nice motive, if a little bit "old hat"

The grass in the Erzgebirge Stadion, Aue. Bat or bowl? We'd bowl...

I just realised that I’d forgotten to look over in the ‘compilations’ section lately. There are a few banked up that I’ll chuck into the mix over the coming weeks (so as to break up the long streaks of same-artist reviews).

Candle Records was the home of Aussie acoustic pop from 1994-2007. This was the second of their compilation CDs. The neat thing is that they didn’t just chuck together songs fans probably already owned. Instead this release includes 22 tracks from 11 acts, none of which had yet appeared on recordings. In fact, this CD saw the debut of a few new faces, including one who would become the label’s biggest name (at least down under).

Part of the thrill of Candle for me was that these were bands I was very regularly seeing play around the pubs of Fitzroy (and sometimes even North Fitzroy). Some of the songs were familiar from live sets, others were little tasters of bands from far afield (Sydney, Brisbane, Perth). Songs were typically very well crafted, some with a strong humorous element, many earnest and daggy.

Highlights: the Lucksmiths‘ T-shirt Weather, the debut tracks from Darren Hanlon (especially the hard-to-find-elsewhere Funpark Fugitives) and country-chicks Fibrotown who sadly never graced another Candle release. One of my bugbears with Candle was that the artists often lost their vitality and uniqueness over time. These sampler albums are wonderful reminders of them at their freshest. It is sad the label is no more…

File under: A very tasty sampler

“Jürgen wird Bayern-Trainer?! Ich kotze!!!” – Lothar Matthäus’ erste Reaktion auf die Verpflichtung Klinsmanns als Bayern-Coach

Jetscht isch es also amdlich: dr Jüargehn wird dr neuje Koohtsch bei den Bayern. Hanoi, wer hätt au des denkt. Oiner ganz bestimmt nicht: der Loddar. Des isch nämlich der wo den Klinsi überhaupt net leide koa. Außerdem hat der Loddar immer auf den Trainerjob bei den Bayern spekuliert. Daraus wird wohl jetzt (erst einmal) nichts mehr. Skandal!

Doch viel größer ist der Skandal, der sich hinter der heilen Fassade des FC Bayern während der Trainersuche abspielte. “FloNet investigativ” deckt auf und prangert das Verhalten der Verantwortlichen an, die wieder einmal ein ganz böses Spiel mit dem armen Loddar spielten und Fußballdeutschland damit einen Bärendienst erwiesen.

10.01.2008; 10.40 Uhr
Lothar Matthäus (im folgenden Text L. M. genannt) wacht auf und begrüßt den morgen mit einem Lächeln. Es wird das letzte Mal für lange Zeit sein, dass L. M. diese Fröhlichkeit ausstrahlt.

10.01.2008; 12 Uhr
Während des mittaglichen “Bier-Frühstücks” mit seinem alten Spezi Udo Lattek (“Bier ist mein Brot”) erfährt L. M. von dem Gerücht, Klinsi solle schon morgen als neuer Bayern-Trainer vorgstellt werden. L. M. ist entsetzt: “Das ist mein Job”, knurrt er, kippt dann noch schnell sein 2. Maß runter und rast zu Uli Hoeneß.

10.01.2008; 12.02 Uhr
Trotz des Müncher Mittagsverkehrs schafft es L. M. innerhalb von 2 Minuten vom Marienplatz bis zur Säbener Straße zu rasen. Rekord!

10.01.2008; 12.03 Uhr
Die Polizei fängt Lother kurz vor der Geschäftsstelle ab. “Wo wolln’s Sie denn so schnell hin, Herr Matthäus?”, fragt Wachtmeister Dimpfelmoser “is a Job als Greenkeeper frei g’worn? Haha.” L. M. findet das gar nicht witzig. Ein Streitgespräch entbrennt und wertvolle Zeit verrinnt.

10.01.2008; 12.45 Uhr
Aufgeschreckt durch die laute Schreierei tritt nun Uli Hoeneß auf den Plan. “Du hast der Schwabensau Klinsi meinen Job gegen! Frechheit!”, L. M. ist stinksauer. “Aber Lothar, das stimmt doch gar nicht. Dein Job ist immer noch frei. Wir würden dem Klinsi doch niemals diese delikate Aufgabe übertragen. Es geht doch hierbei um die Grundlage für unser Spiel und unseren Erfolg. Damit können wir nicht einfach jeden betrauen. Da ist Fingerspitzengefühl gefragt und auch das richtige Augenmaß, um so genanntes Unkraut auszusortieren ohne dabei zu große Löcher reißen.” “Ach Uli, ich wusste, dass wir überein kommen. Wann soll ich als Trainer bei Euch anfangen?” “Trainer?! Ich dachte Du bist hier wegen des Jobs als Greenkeeper.”

Seitdem reden Uli und Lothar kein Wort mehr miteinander. Der Ausgang dieses Disputs ist ungewiss. Aber ein Verlierer steht dabei jetzt schon fest: es ist der deutsche Fußball.