“We are running out of fingernails to hold on with…” – Anon, BSC Dynamo HQ, March 2026
Coach came out of his office, looking a bit more animated than he usually did. The past three months had worn not just him, but everybody in the building down. In the past people used to joke about how during the old days West Berlin always seemed sunny and cheery, an island of light an sunshine surrounded by a sea of gray, said sea usually being building in the Brutalist Architectural theme of some sort.
“Miss Becker, can you have Otto Kurpjuhn come to my office as soon as possible.”
“He’s not in trouble, is he coach?”
“What, no, not at all. I was just going thru the data packet he put together for our last three matches. Whomever he is, he’s a very good analyst, and not only that, he writes a good report. I usually know when I am being snowed by how many multi syllable words show up but this,” he shook the papers he had in his hand, “Is well done. Good graphics, great tables, concise, clear interpretation of the data…I want to go over some things with him.”
Secretary Becker looked away for a moment, clearly caught between delivering good news and bad news. Coach saw her look and slumped where he was standing.
“He was let go in the last round of layoffs?”
“No coach, he’s…” Secretary Becker stopped talking, and looked away for a moment until she saw coach staring at her, using one of the looks he gave a ref who made a particularly egregious call on the pitch.
“He won’t be here till 430ish, coach.”
“Is he on the road?”
“No coach-“
“Is he at the next opponents game?”
“No coach he’s-“
“Then where is he?” Coach interupted.
Secretary Becker looked at her watch.
“At this time of day, Organic Chemistry class.”
“What!?” Now Coach was thoroughly confused
“He’s 16 coach, still in school. He does that-” She gestured towards the papers he was holding “In his free time. Technically he’s an intern-“
“Say no more,” Coach said with a sigh. The he looked at her again with that stare.
“Tell noone else. Does he come to the building at all?”
“No Coach,” she replied
“Good. Do me a favor, ring Herr Meyer and have him come see me soonest.”
“The Club Lawyer Coach?”
“Yes. I need to get Otto signed to a work contract even it means paying him out of my own pocket. I’ll never forgive myself if he works for another team. Thank you for your help.” He finished with a smile, turned and walked back to his office, muttering to himself. Secretary Becker heard him say “Sixteen!” more than a few times before the door shut behind him.
In the Immortal Words of Bart Simpson, “The start of 2026 Sucks and blows….”
To Whit:
Coaches previous…conversation with the Board and the Club President worked, as they all saw the writing on the wall if they didn’t commit to saving the club. The good news is they all dug the hole they are in together, and do not lack for company
The bad news is I am not sure if anyone knows the way out…
The transfer window wasn’t exactly a massacre:
This screenshot is from a bit later in the save, as at the time I was so miffed at what was going on with the finances I didn’t cut and paste…
Anyhow, the big loss/not a loss was Tim Meyer, who went to 1 FC Koln, but I took a gamble and they agreed to a loan back for the remainder of the season, and they paid his salary. Ogbaidze was now in a league he just didn’t fit in, and when Jeju came calling, away he went. I don’t blame him, it’s a very pretty place to play football.
Reher wasn’t getting enough playing time to justify his salary, and that meant he was out.
In response to my turning down a job interview with Wolfsburger in March, the board gave the club another 725K to stay afloat.
The Youth Intake was better than average, which I will take:
I don’t know that any of them will see first team playing time, but I think Uhlig can be a solid D(C).
End of March, Genk offered me a chance to interview, but given that Belgium is a country created for the express reason of giving England and Germany something tangible and away from both of them to fight over, why risk it?
Schedule wise, it was rough. The goal was to not lose as much as possible. And we did our best to not lose. And we did pretty well.
The big take away for me is that we aren’t losing by a lot, and goal differential could be pivotal as the seasons winds down.
The losses to Kiel and Regensburg though, those were annoying. By this point, it was still mathematically possible for us to be relegated, noone believed it. I am in the Terry Pratchett School of odds: If they are a million to one, I’ll hit nine out of ten times…
This is actually a good finish for us. Bochum, Osnabruck, 1860 Munchen, all finished below us. Dusseldorf finished 3rd in the league, and it took 95th(!) goal for them to win.
We finished strong, the win at K-town was quite nice, and we finished higher than anyone thought we would:
11th Place is nothing to laugh at, and neither is the 10.38M Euro’s that was deposited to our accounts, and then sent right out the doors a few minutes later to cover the club debts…
Dragan Pavlovic was a hero between the sticks for us, 36 appearances, and a 7.11 rating. Cvetkovic also has a good season, 2 goals and 4 assists in 28(1) appearances, while Sanogo lead the team with 13 goals.
The teams overall performance was above average, and considering the quality of the players we have, the financial troubles, and the chance for it to go “BOOM!’ in our faces more than once, this is a season to be proud of. We weren’t relegated, we hung in there, and we’re better prepared for next season.
We’re improving, slowly but surely. All we need now is a Keeper, D9C), maybe another M(C) and a Striker up top who plays above his perceived skill level, and we should be good.
It’s all debt.
We’re no longer drowning in it, just barely treading water. The way things are going, out stay in the Bundesliga 2 could be a long one…
Time to get down into the weeds with scouting…
THE FOOTBALL MANAGER BLOG OF FM_JELLICO 