Kartoffel Kapers
Latest Posts
Gazing Across The Water – cinch SPFL Review 2023/24
Kartoffel Kapers
Cinch Premiership: It was a memorable season for Rangers as they not only retained the Premiership title but also secured their first domestic treble since 2003. The Light Blues lost just once in their 38 games and were champions by 20 points. Celtic endured a wretched season, drawing a joint-high 13 games and slipping to […]
Some Other Beginning’s End – May 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
Every new beginning comes from some other beginning’s end. Seneca (54 BC- 39) We entered the final month of the season with our promotion hopes hanging by the slightest of threads, the only way to keep the hunt for three successive promotions was to beat Fortuna Dusseldorf away from home. The previous meeting in early […]
Schanzerfreud – April 2024
Kartoffel Kapers
After an eventful end to March that saw our promotion hopes dissolve like that raccoon’s piece of candy floss when they put it in water, we headed to Heidenheim hoping to dish out the thrashing we should have to Greuther Fürth. Ironically, that result for Fürth meant that Heidenheim now had to look over their […]
Judgment At Nürnberg – March 2024
Kartoffel Kapers
After a humiliating end to the month at the hands of a resurgent Freiburg, the scheduling of our next game at home to Holstein Kiel being the Sunday evening game on this particular round of fixtures meant we had to stew in our frustration and anger slightly longer. The top nine sides in the league […]
In Your House: Mainz Games – February 2024
Kartoffel Kapers
After two successive wins following the winter break, we entered February 2024 on a high with a crucial, money-spinning cup clash with Bundesliga side Mainz awaiting us. But before we could think about Mainz, we faced a tough test in the form of Dynamo Dresden. Coming into the game, the visitors sat top of the […]
Drei January – January 2024
Kartoffel Kapers
With the winter break (and 2023) in the rearview mirror, it was time to look at the squad to rejig it in the transfer window – although there wasn’t any desperate need to sign anybody. There were departures, though, and probably the most significant one was that of Braydon Manu after a disappointing loan spell […]
Triple D(ecember) – December 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
As has been the case since moving to Germany, December is short and sweet, with just three fixtures and a winter break of about four weeks until the third week of January. The games this month followed the final international break of 2023, which concluded with Steve Clarke resigning as manager of Scotland after a […]
You Reeperbahn What You Sowperbahn – November 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
After a hectic September and October, I was most grateful that November featured only two fixtures before an international break, between the beginning of this month and the end of the next, we play only five games with long absences. Which will, in all honesty, help our recent injury crisis as well as hopefully find […]
Aachs And Pains – October 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
Our first game in October was a trip to leafy Bavaria to take on Greuther Fürth in what was a milestone game for me, my 100th in charge of the club since taking over three and a bit years ago. Now, the Kleeblätter may be struggling in the league this season, but the city will […]
Reality Check – September 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
September opened up with two of the toughest fixtures of the season as we took on two of the three sides relegated from the Bundesliga in the last campaign in Bochum and Freiburg. Ultimately, we were given something of a reality check as our unbeaten record fell, what could easily have been a much heavier […]
Mention The VAR – August 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
July brought us a great pre-season that carried on with our win at Hannover to begin the league season, but we were under no aspersions that the real stuff started this month. Our first home game in the second tier was against SV Sandhausen, a side very much expected to be fighting along with us […]
Baach To Work – July 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
With the summer holidays over, it was back to work after another successful season, one I certainly wasn’t expecting. Successive promotions were a brilliant achievement – but the hard work has been put in on the training ground as we prepare for our first season in the second tier of German football since 2012. Financial […]
A Postcard From Scotland – cinch SPFL Round-Up 2022-23
Kartoffel Kapers
Greetings once again, Dear Reader(s)! Here’s the final update, if you can really call it that of my 2022-23 season with Alemannia Aachen where I do my best to be Darrell Currie, Ally McCoist and Chris Sutton all at once to look over what happened in Scotland while I managed in Germany. I hope you […]
The Run-In – April/May 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
The most important game in the run-in to this suddenly very dramatic end to the season was arguably the first one as we made the trip to Munich to take on the Bayern youngsters. Although ineligible for promotion beyond the current level they are at, the Bayern kids have been more than alright and have […]
There’s A Chance? – April 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
It would be fair to say that my blood pressure was through the roof as we picked March to suddenly stop scoring goals in a season where there was a possibility of stealing automatic promotion for a second consecutive season. I suppose you could say with justification that at least we remained unbeaten, but we […]
Drawing Blanks – March 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
After remaining unbeaten in February, we entered March in a confident mood with some potentially favourable fixtures alongside a couple of very important ones – all of this being done in the continued absence of top-scorer Jannik Mause, the main man still struggling for fitness after his injury. Our first opponent were fellow shock-troops TSV […]
On The Road – February 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
With four of our six games in January being at home, the shoe was on the other foot in February with three out of five games in league and cup being away from Tivoli. The transfer window was closed and still smarting from our surprise defeat at the hands of Freiburg II at the end […]
Curate’s Egg All Over My Face – January 2023
Kartoffel Kapers
There’s plenty to like about January, once you get past the first week and a bit, at least. Life returns to normal after the vexing situation of festive opening and closing hours for business, the weather is cold, but not cold. In some ways, to me at least, an almost enjoyable cold, the kind that […]
Halbzeitgeist – December 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
By the time we kicked off in December, the World Cup was reaching the quarter-final stage, our Mittelrheinpokal clash with Siegburg taking place between the last of the ties in the round of 16 and the quarter-finals kicking off. Buoyed by watching Denmark eliminate England from the World Cup on penalties, I opted to rotate […]
Zwick Off The Mark – November 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
With the World Cup in Qatar approaching, fixtures are becoming few and far between ahead of the opening matches of the tournament on the 21st of November, with only six fixtures this month and in December before the winter break until the middle of January. Our first opponents this month were FSV Zwickau, one of […]
Cat And Mause – October 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
After September ended on a sour note with a bruising defeat at home to Braunschweig, the onus was on us to regroup when we took to the field for our first game in October away to Saarbrücken. The hosts have had something of a checkered past, having at one stage been exiled to France as […]
Anfangxiety- September 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
After a pause to the season for some international football, we returned to action in September with a visit to one of the most iconic clubs and venues in German Football when we faced off against fallen giants FC Kaiserslautern. Although much more successful than ourselves, the hosts have been plagued by severe financial issues […]
Learning How To Lose – August 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
You can’t win unless you learn how to lose Kareem Abdul-Jabbar July had gone really well, in some ways a little too well and as a result, we looked forward to August and our first meeting with a top-flight opponent in the cup with a degree of trepidation.Preparation for the Stuttgart game came in the […]
The Scenic Route Back – July 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
The best way out is always through Robert Frost Football clubs are an embodiment of the mantra that all greatness is precarious. Indeed, for Alemannia Aachen, that greatness has been largely elusive, Once runners-up in the Bundesliga and finalists in the German Cup on three occasions is as good as it has got in terms […]
The Luck Of The Draw – Pre-Season 2022/3
Kartoffel Kapers
Hello once again, my dedicated reader(s), I am glad to be back writing the blog once again, I wanted to take a break to focus on doing my own January transfer update that will hopefully make FM players in Scotland experience a more realistic game. Now that the explanation is out of the way, let […]
A Postcard From Scotland – Cinch SPFL Round-Up 2021-22
Kartoffel Kapers
Cinch Premiership The 2021-22 cinch Premiership was won by Celtic, giving new manager Ange Postecoglou a season to remember in his first campaign in charge as they edged rivals Rangers in the end by just two points, two derby victories in league and cup in five days in April were the pivotal results for The […]
In The End, It Doesn’t Even Matter – May 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
With glory in both league and (regional) cup secured, just two fixtures remained before we could put our feet up and look forward to next season in the third tier for the first time in almost a decade. The first of those two was at home to Lippstadt, a final chance for the players and […]
Keeping Our Köln – April 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
After masterminding a 20-game unbeaten run, it came down to this, victory in our first game of an action-packed April would secure the league title and promotion back to the third tier for the first time in almost a decade. Our opponents were Oberhausen, who we defeated 3-1 back in October with three goals in […]
Closer To God – March 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
After another month packed with goals and wins that saw us extend our lead further in the league to point of pushing us to the brink of the title and promotion, March began with a test under the lights on a Friday night against Preuβen Münster. The high-flying visitors made the trip to Tivoli hoping […]
Schalfwandeln – February 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
With the transfer window closed and the players back, well, playing, the focus was now on a pivotal month ahead with crucial fixtures in both league and cup that would define just how successful or otherwise this campaign would be. It began with the visit to Tivoli of Fortuna Düsseldorf II, struggling in the league […]
Aldi It – January 2022
Kartoffel Kapers
After a lovely winter break, we returned to training in January keen to get back playing and securing promotion as quickly as possible. Before we returned to competitive action, we had some friendlies lined up to try some new ideas to hopefully keep us from our noticeable in-game slumps. First up were second-tier side Heidenheim, […]
Going In Drei – December 2021
Kartoffel Kapers
One thing I must admit is that I enjoy the way Germany does the whole football thing better than Scotland both on and off the park. In Scotland, only the top-flight teams get a winter break while the rest of the leagues, half of whom are part-time have to soldier on with a hectic festive […]
Rödinghausen Blues – November 2021
Kartoffel Kapers
With 20 goals scored and six conceded in as many matches, it was fair to say that October could be filed under thrilling. But there was no time getting misty-eyed over such moments as our 7-1 triumph against nine-man Rheinbach or even the stunning four goals that Hamdi Dahmani scored as we won 5-2 at […]
Feed Me Goals – October 2021
Kartoffel Kapers
Although September saw us continue on our good run of form, remaining unbeaten in the league in the process, there were concerns creeping in about the levels of our performances that saw us nearly drop points to struggling Straelen. And that’s before getting to the game against Münster where we actually did drop points.October was […]
Wake Me Up When September Ends – September 2021
Kartoffel Kapers
Author’s Note: First things first, I want to wish every single one of my readers a Happy New Year, it amazes me that any of you actually enjoy reading my stuff but it also warms my heart. A little bit longer than normal break for me over this time of year as I tested positive […]
Near Then Far – August 2021
Kartoffel Kapers
We began our competitive 2021-22 season with a very short trip across town to take on fellow Aachen-based side Eintracht Verlautenheide in the Mittelrheinpokal. A capacity crowd of just over 1500 crammed into the tiny Sportplatz Heider-Hof-Weg, with the faithful Kartoffelkäfern watching on with bated breath as they saw me, nervously, take my seat in […]
Training Day(s) – Pre-Season 2021/22
Kartoffel Kapers
One final thing on the whole editor data situation is that in this specific one it’s much better because it has the different local-level cups, meaning that our competitive season begins in the Verbandspokal-Mittelrhein. This is a regional cup consisting of clubs from the Central Rhine from the third tier to depths of the local […]
An End Has A Start
Kartoffel Kapers
Before I begin, I would just like to say thanks to everyone who read and left feedback on the original posts made here, I really enjoyed writing them and knowing folk enjoyed them really made me feel good about myself. This makes the decision today to have to delete the old posts and start a […]
About The “Author”
Kartoffel Kapers
While there will be a lot of fakery going on in the virtual world of Football Manager, here’s a little bit of reality to get to know a bit about me. I’m 31 (at the time of writing) and from Glasgow in Scotland, when I was 21 I was diagnosed as having High-Functioning Autism, so … Continue reading About The “Author” →