DangerousSausage

This weekend the headlines have been dominated by the chants and banners aimed at Hoffenheim benefactor Dietmar Hopp, in developments that must seem a bit bizarre from over the Channel. I've seen a few articles in English papers already, but none seem to tell the full story. I'll try to give you the inside track. At the weekend, numerous matches in Germany were stopped while offensive banners aimed at TSG Hoffenheim's billionaire owner Dietmar Hopp were taken down. Most referred to him as a "Hürensohn" ("son of a *****"). Some went further and depicted his face in a gun's target. When banners were unfurled by Bayern fans at Hoffenheim (minus the targets), the players stopped playing and simply passed the ball among themselves for the last 15 minutes (although it should be noted that Bayern were already 6-0 up at this time, so hardly had anything to lose). Players up and down the country refused to play until the banners came down, and engaged in a public show of solidarity with the billionaire. So who is Dietmar Hopp, why does he stir such strong feelings and what brought this all on in the first place? Dietmar Hopp is the co-founder of SAP, one of the world's biggest software companies, and is a very rich man. He often puts his money into charities, local sport, and in particular youth sport. He invested in his village club TSG Hoffenheim in 1989. At that time they played in the Kreisliga A, the eighth level of German football (as the German pyramid is heavily regionalised from the fourth level onwards, this is lower than the Northern Premier League in England. Think Nottinghamshire Alliance). The investment was modest at first, but the big money started to come out from about 2005, when Hoffenheim was in the then third-level Regionalliga. After Hopp tried and failed to merge Hoffenheim with two other local clubs and move them 20 miles to Heidelberg, he decided to financially dope the village team instead and get it into the Bundesliga - which he achieved in 2008. Just months later, Hoffenheim (population 4,000) had a brand new stadium next to the motorway with a capacity of 30,000. OK, the idea of a billionaire taking, say, Bingham into the Premier League is a bit bizarre. But what has that got to do with all the insults? In Germany there is something called the 50+1 rule - a majority share of each club must be owned by its members (50% plus one). While this makes German clubs less attractive to investors, it does mean that the fans' voice is heard. Hoffenheim, who were transparently Hopp's plaything, drove a coach and horses through this rule. The rule was recently weakened to the extent that individuals or companies that sponsor a club for more than 20 years can own more than 50% of the shares, but not before Hoffenheim had gained an unfair advantage. This riled fans before they reached the Bundesliga, but from 2008 Hoffenheim were national news. In 2011, Borussia Dortmund were visiting. The away fans decided to sing a few songs goading Hopp, and for their trouble they were subjected to an "acoustic attack" - to drown out the songs, a Hoffenheim employee played a high-frequency noise on the loudspeaker system at a frequency that could cause hearing damage. Naturally this didn't have the desired effect of stopping Dortmund's songs and banners about Hopp and, a couple of weeks ago, the German FA banned Dortmund's fans from attending their team's fixtures at Hoffenheim for the next two seasons. Hence uproar in Germany's fan scenes and "Hürensohn" banners out of solidarity up and down the country. In my view the banners with Hopp in the target are tasteless and have to go. The "Hürensohn" banners are crass and insulting (I'd prefer a more creative and witty protest, but many ultras struggle with that). But does that on its own justify bans? At Saturday's match I insulted every single Kaiserslautern player before kick-off, I insulted everyone who lives there, I insulted the referee and the linesmen in two languages and I was pretty harsh with two of the home team's players too. I'm sure there were plenty of away fans questioning my parentage too. That's hard to justify in a normal social context, but if we hit ordinary insults with the ban hammer, where does it end? "The referee's a chap who's made a few unfortunate decisions"? This goes deeper too. A couple of weeks ago, a Schalke player was racially abused - he reacted furiously, and for his troubles was shown a second yellow card and sent off. This was not front page news, there were no public expressions of solidarity from clubs or the German FA - and the furore over the insults aimed at Hopp is showing that the football authorities take rude words aimed at a white billionaire more seriously than racism. I've followed the walk-offs and abandonments in England as a result of racist abuse. In Germany, this solidarity seems to be limited to rich club owners, and that sends out a pretty damning message.

Sounds like we did a good, professional job on them. Didn't realise the semi was two-legged but come on, we haven't been to Wembley since 1996!

As this is a new thing, I suppose the risk is that it could turn into something worse. And the sooner it is contained, the less likely it is to happen. As it is, it seems comparable to flu, so we just need to be sensible, look after our hygiene and, if we're vulnerable, maybe keep a low profile. The scariest thing about this now is the escalating panic around it - shutting off whole towns or regions, locking people in their hotel rooms, and now there's even a rising chance that it'll crash the economy. And on the subject of football, in Switzerland all events with more than 1000 people attending have been cancelled, and they've only had one case.

While extreme rainfall can happen and can't really be helped, this is the second last-minute postponement at Fylde. Was it really so hard to see this happening in advance? Aside from all those wasted trips, it's also a shame for the team - yesterday would have been the chance to show a quick reaction to Saturday's debacle and put it behind us

Sounds like a depressing day for us. To be honest I feared the worst when I saw the line-up. The calls for the manager's head were predictable, but what's the point in losing our heads now? We're still in a ply-off spot. Let's dust ourselves down and move on.

This a brilliant insight into how the man thinks and also what was going on behind the scenes at the time. Thanks for sharing! The almost tragic thing about Moniz is that he's big on establishing a philosophy at a club, but never seems to be kept on anywhere long enough to see it through. Part of that is the nature of modern football, with clubs always looking for that magical quick fix. But how much of it is due to his choice of employers? As he wants plenty of control over signings and wants to be a manager rather than just a head coach, it was a bit of an odd decision to join a club like Notts where there were clearly people upstairs with a great deal of control (and who were unwilling to relinquish it).

Sounds like it was quite the afternoon's entertainment, looking forward to seeing the highlights. How did the new keeper look?

Someone shared a Twitter post in the Facebook today suggesting that we were going to sign the Wimbledon keeper Joe McDonnell. If this is true, it would appear that McDonnell has been on NA's radar for a while, as an internet search reveals that we were interested in him last January too. And secondly, it indicates that NA can't get shut of Fitz quickly enough. It'll be very interesting to see who's in goal tomorrow.

This one's a banana skin, especially with Chesterfield having picked up a couple of results recently. Hopefully we can beat the TV curse. I think Jimbo will return to the midfield alongside Rose. It'll be interesting to see if Bakayogo gets the nod at left back again, as he had a bit of a mare last time out... How long is Slocombe out for?

Thanks for the article @Alexlevy0908, I've been hoping to see an article about away grounds and I enjoyed that! I've always preferred more old-school grounds with character and a sense of history, so I feel I'm missing out a bit this season. Looking at the highlights this season, we've always had a good following, and I have a nagging suspicion you're all enjoying yourselves far too much Are there any remaining away grounds you're looking forward to visiting? Chorley and Fylde will be new (although the latter has more than a touch of Rushden & Diamonds about it). Barrow and Wrexham could be good as well, and the stakes will be very high. By the way, out-of-date beer is perfectly fine as long as it's within six months or so!

I'm glad we went through, the last thing we needed was a replay. It keeps the squad players happy if everyone is getting games (not to mention match fit) and keeps confidence high. How did we actually play? Any stand-out performers? How many went?

We should definitely be looking to rest some players. It could benefit us, as it's an opportunity for some fringe players to get 90 minutes under their belts and get sharp. I'd like to see Bird and Crawford playing. Crawford might not have impressed last time, but he had had very little match practice beforehand. We're a bit thin in central midfield with the injuries, so having another match fit player we can call on would do us good. Oh, and we can get to Wembley! That's not a bad motivation surely...

We are unbeaten throughout the whole of 2020 Keep that up and I'll be happy enough. A win would be a great result bearing in mind where they are in the league and would put us within shooting distance of them. They had us well beaten in September from what I remember, but hopefully we've come a long way since then. Fingers crossed.

Here's the winning goal from the Notts Facebook page. Listen to the roar on that! How many did we take?

Get in! I've got to admit I was sceptical when I saw the team sheet, but it seems NA was spot on once again. Now we can go at Maidenhead again and consolidate our place in the play-offs.

Well that sounded pretty marvellous on the radio. Clinical in the first half, totally shut them out in the second. And it sounds like Osborne and Dennis made the most of their call-ups too, more of the same please! You're our new lucky charm!

Delighted with the win. We certainly looked lively on the highlights. I know there's been a lot of redevelopment at the Shay, but the big empty seated stand looks depressing. Not sure why Halifax need a ground that big.

@AmericanPie It's an unwelcome distraction and/or a very realistic chance to go to Wembley, depending on your point of view. Personally I think it's a great chance to go to Wembley and win an actual trophy, and we might as well grab it while we've still got the chance.

Sounds like we didn't exactly cover ourselves in glory, but we won, that's the main thing. Who were the best performers? I liked the fancy dress concept, with so many fans coming disguised as blue seats. Is that you Neal?

What a disappointing result, and one that puts the play-offs out of reach for us. I knew this season wouldn't be easy, but had started to warm to the idea of us cementing our place in the top five. Should have known better. Neal Ardley is entitled to be disappointed with his players if they aren't playing with the desired intensity and the opposition want it more. But there have to be consequences for players who don't perform - and that means making changes. Naming an unchanged team after a 3-0 home defeat sends out the wrong message. Our squad is big enough and good enough for there to be genuine competition, and no-one should be able to rest on their laurels.

I quite like Aldershot. Jimmy Sirrel used to play for them (the original club) and they used to have a fridge glued to the roof of their stand. Or was it a washing machine? I hope we get back to winning ways and get back into the top seven. I'd prefer to see Rose on the bench and Booty in the middle.

I've got a feeling Enzio and Thomas will score, and that we'll go seventh.

Chesterfield were one of the bookies' promotion favourites, but purely based on the name. They've had a torrid start to the season but seem to have picked up recently. The club has reported that we've sold the away end out, which should equate to 2,100 travelling fans. That's brilliant support! Hope you all enjoy the short journey and report back here with your experiences

I wouldn't make wholesale changes, but I might rest two or three players and give those who are "knocking at the door" a go. If Wootton can't play it might be an opportunity to get Tyson match fit again. I don't subscribe to the idea that a cup run doesn't matter. We've taken part in more FA Cups than any other team. We haven't been missing from the first round of the cup since the Victorian era, and frankly I'm not ready for another first. We need to get through this round and show some League clubs that we're alive, kicking and will be back very soon. And winning football matches is fun, too Here's hoping to a good crowd, a good following from Derbyshire and of course a win for Notts!

This will be our first meeting with Torquay since the final day of the 2009-10 season. There was a bit of an invasion that weekend. I'm glad that Torquay came back up, but they've won their last three so it'll be tough. I predict a hard-fought draw but hope for another win.