Our second team went into the winter break as team of the hour.  The boys collected 10 points from a possible 12 under their new trainer Daniel Farke – more than any other team in the league in the last four games of the autumn round.

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The football tutor, who arrived at BVB at the beginning of November, labeled the 4:2 victory over Fortuna Düsseldorf II as “the perfect end to a difficult year”. The team played superbly well for long spells during the match.

They spent the winter in 10th place in the Regional League West, with just a 2 point gap between themselves and the relegation places, albeit with a game in hand. Nonetheless, given the positive trend towards the end of the year, this should in no way be considered a catastrophe.

What’s still possible in the round of games this spring, which kicks off with the game at Verl on Saturday?  Farke is careful not to get carried away: “With our current levels of self-confidence, it is first and foremost about getting as many points on the board and putting distance between ourselves and the relegation zone.” No euphoria then, rather, a realistic appraisal of the situation as well as their own capabilities.

Preparation has gone exactly according to the plan set out by the trainer. Daniel Farke consciously chose to undertake a challenging series of friendly-matches, against Lippstadt of the Oberliga (2:0), third-division side Fortuna Köln (2:1), Regional League North East frontrunners Nordhausen (0:2), second-division side SV Sandhausen (0:1) and Austrian first division side SV Ried (1:1), in order to ascertain what is already working well, and where there is room for improvement. “We are now prepared, both with regard to our fitness levels and the convincing way in which we approached the games”, judged Farke after the training-camp held in Lara, Turkey.

The new additions to the squad over winter also made a good impression: Centre-half Patrick Mainka (20) from the Werder Bremen Under-23s has signed a contract until the end of 2018, while attacking player Marco Hober (20) from the Second Bundesliga side Arminia Bielefeld has been brought in on loan until the end of the season. Daniel Farke was complimentary about both: “The boys will help us out a lot, they’ve already established themselves as cornerstones of our squad.”

Udo Stark