It's getting better and better. Any thoughts on the upcoming games?
I think that we will get at least another 3 points and advance in the cup.

_________________
veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!

Bielefeld another local derby and they are doing well - so far!

Fancy drei punkte against them AND Nurnburg AND advance in cup against the Duisburg blue hoops as well - gotta be optimistic

Mid table finish I think

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Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

Here in the UK we have recently been lucky enough to see on TV 2 games involving Gemany teams in the bottom half of the Bundesliga. We had Eintracht Frankfurt only drawing against Newcastle United when only a win was good enough for them, and Hamburger SV losing 3-1 against Arsenal despite putting up strong opposition for 75 minutes.

Neither Hamburg or Frankfurt looked very special. They both looked to be difficult to break down when they dug their heels in, but no better than one would expect of a Bundesliga side. If that is all Die Roten are up against, we should have no problems climbing the table.

It is often the teams that get narrow wins and hang onto draws that do well in the cup. Diusburg is not an easy game, but if we get past them it could all get very interesting!

So we drew yet again, still good result against an over achieving team like Beilefeld. Be nice to get 3 points instead of the usual 1 but thats the way the bundesliga has been going for years now - far too many draws. A victory would give us a little breathing space in mid table. Roll on Nurnburg!

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Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

Into the Winter break within spitting distance of 6th place. That cannot be bad given the start we made.

I would suggest that Hannover 96 fans will be having a much happier Christmas than those of SV Hamburger (but perhaps not quite so happy as Bremen fans).

2007 looks like being a year to get behind "die Roten" as lift them up to greater levels, particularly as Air Berlin have brought back their Saturday morning flights from London to Hannover.

I don't what to get too excited yet, but does anyone know where the DFB Cup Final is being played this year? (It sure ain't gonna be at Wembley)

Would be cool to walk over the Dietmar Hamann Bridge to see the dfp-cup final.

YOu could'v taken an educated guess, but that chance is over now: It's played in the Olympiastadion of Berlin, before Hertha was promoted in the mid 90ies it was the only good football they saw in Berlin :-D

_________________
veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!

Nice 1 regards Berlin football - oh for the glory days of Tennis Borrusia Berlin lol

On to more serious matters - what happened against Nurnburg?
Just as we getting decent performances we hit the brakes just b4 the winter break.

Merry Xmas/Frohe Weinachten

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Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

We didn't play that bad, more unlucky, one bad referee decision... not that bad of a loss. Unlucky and unfortunate and avoidable, but not heart-breaking.

_________________
veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!

1-0 in the cup is good enough!

Dont care who we get next we have a great chance of a trophy

Anyone got details of the game please?

Frohe Weinachten

_________________
Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

I saw the highlights. A classic Hanover 96 homegame of this season: A lot of chances, better side. Only difference is that we actually managed to use one chance (who really wasn't one, just a lucky shot) and didn't get a goal (thanks to Enke, who's contract is running our and who's rumored to be connected with Stuttgart :-/

_________________
veni vidi vici
Gegen Rassismus
Remember Lara!

Thanks for the info Squig - a win is a win!

You think Enke will go to Stuttgart?
I bet we don't have anyone to replace him?

Do you know who we got in next round? I know Bayern are out(yesssss)!

_________________
Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

Some Newspaper reports tell us, that Enke wants to stay in Hanover. He will sign a contract for the next 3 or 4 years. We are not sure, but everything seems to be truth.

I hope everybody can understand my bad English!

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Proud to be a red

www.die-roten-news.de.tl

Thank you ManinRed - danke mein freund!

I hope you are correct about Enke?

Das Englisch spricht ganz gut - ich sprecher ein klein bissen deutsch aber ich versteher fast alles!

Are you a Hamburg fan? ON Hannover forum???

Frohe Weinachten

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Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!

No! I´m a 96er, on Hannover Forum

_________________
Proud to be a red

www.die-roten-news.de.tl

I got home only this-morning from Wednesday night's game due to the fog at London Stanstead Airport, but the trip was well worth while! As Squig has said , 96 were in complete control of the game. We had a goal wrongly disallowed for off-side and the Duisburg goalkeeper made an unbelievable save from a Brdaric header, but we were always going to win. The Balitsch shot that won the game was hit from about 25 meters with awsome power. The goalkeeper may be a little disappointed he didn't save it as it was aimed at the centre of the goal but just under the bar. Perhaps he didn't see it coming.

However, the highlight of the night for me came after the game had finished! I must have seen many hundreds of matches in my time, but I have never seen anything that linked the players and the fans together as closely as what I witnessed at the AWD arena after this game.

At first we had the normal post-match politeness. Players shook hands, Duisburg players clapped their fans, the club song was played, etc, etc. All quite normal. But then the Hannover players plus the substitutes gathered in the centre circle, formed a line, and held up a long banner thanking the fans for being their 12th man. Like a boxer showing a newly won belt to his celebrating fans, the banner was shown to each side of the stadium in turn. First the East side, then the South end, then a 90 degree right turn towards the West side. With each turn of the banner the fans opposite showed their appreciation of this gesture by the players. Finally, the players turned to line up on the half way line to face the North side.

The cheer they were given by the Rote Kurv was deafening! In response the player, still holding their banner in front of them and in perfect formation, began to slowly walk towards the goal. The noise got even louder. Finally, the players reached the penalty area where, with perfect discipline, they stopped their advance, laid their banner on the ground in front of them and sat down in a line on the ground. The lads in the Rote Kurv section responded to this by copying their heros and also sat on the ground!

A strange hush then came about. The drums on the terraces went quite and the fans put away their flags. Elsewhere in the ground only a few fans made their way towards the exits. Some of the players took this opportunity to stretch out their leg muscle, otherwise they just sat looking into the fans behind the goal. 60 seconds went by, then another. Not a singe fan moved as a kind of stand-off developed between players and fans. The scene brought to mind the famous Christmas in the trenches of 1914 when peace broke out between opposing ranks. Were the fans and the players going to start singing Christmas carols to each other? Was a game of football going to break out!

Then, some kind of signal must have been given as the fans acted as one by jumping to their feet and erupting with noise. The players responded by also getting back up onto their feet, waving and clapping the fans in front of them. The fans were singing again and the flags were held up high as the whole of one end of the ground was bouncing! The players joined hands and raised their arms in time to the cheers from the crowd in the way that German players do. Normality had returned!

This whole show of gratitude by the players towards their fans was something I have never seen in England and would never expect to either. It was something trully emotional and part of the reason why I go to such trouble to be part of the German football scene.

Thank you to all the fans and players for letting me witness their appreciation of each other and "well done" to Hannover 96 for seing the fans as a part of the club as a whole and not simply as a source of income.

You have witnessed a magnificent gesture and think you described it very aptly - the fans ARE part of any club!

Let us hope in 2007 that 96 continue where they left off at the break.

Frohe Weinachten und ein gutes neuer jahr!

_________________
Followed Hannover 96 since the 1960s as a kid.
My English team is Sheffield Wednesday.
Used to live in Hameln.

PLEASE return the 96 to green shirts, black shorts and white socks!