OK, not that dramatic, but further reprecussions from the Fortuna-Hertha playoff. Several Hertha players were accused of assaulting the ref during the chaos, and the DFB decided that they needed to be punished. Ring-leader Levan Kobiashvili was slapped with a 7.5 month ban. This is one of the longest bans that the DFB has handed out for this type of issue. (Longer punishments for corruption and bribery…) The original request was for a full year, but the sentence was reduced, perhaps because Kobiashvili admitted he slapped/punched the ref. Actually, since the ban is apparently retroactive, it’s really just a slap on the wrist: he’s banned until January 1, 2013. Still, a poor legacy for one of the Bundesliga’s longest serving foreigners: 336 matches. Other Hertha players received bans as well. Thomas Kraft (4 matches) and Andre Mijatovic (3 matches) were accused of “insulting” the ref. Finally, defender Christian Lell will get some sort of punishment as well, yet to be determined, for allegedly spitting on Fortuna defender Assani Lukimya-Mulongoti.
So Hertha sucks and gets relegated, loses their lame appeals and even gets some players punished for thuggery. Once again a great example of the crap management of this illustrious club.
Time I think for a complete house-cleaning at Hertha. The appeals were just embaressing and I think they’ve probably got a bit lucky with the suspensions. The way they are being run at the moment I’d expect them to fall behind Union in Berlin’s pecking order before too long.
On the bright side at least they’ve picked up a decent coach.
It’s really neck and neck for the worst managed club in the Bundesliga. Maybe we should have a poll? Obviously Hertha, Köln and Hamburg are the main contenders. There are clubs that have had a bad spell, e.g. Wolfsburg or Bremen, but at least management doesn’t seem incompetant, and indeed have shown success at times. I don’t think even the dummies running Hertha would let them fall behind Union though.