Yes folks, you've asked for it, and you've got it! The inaugural edition of Die Blauen Mailbag is up and running with a couple of questions from the dozens of adoring fans out there. (I kid, I kid) There were plenty more in the Inbox, but I chose these softball questions to answer, and some of the other ones will be in upcoming die Arminiageschichte articles, as well as some upcoming die Blauen Maibag articles...that is when I get the answer for them. If you've got a question about the club, the blog, or anything else, fire off an e-mail to dieblauenblog@gmail.com with "Die Blauen Mailbag" in the subject line. So away we go!

Dear Die Blauen Blog,

First off, your blog is excellent and it is great to see someone talk about football clubs around the world that most people don't read about in English, much less ask folks for questions. Anyway, here's an easy question for you to answer:

Where has Ernst Middendorp coached outside of Germany? I know he was at Kaizer Chiefs when he took the job in Bielefeld this past season, but has he been anywhere else?

Thanks for your answer and keep up the great work!

Brian (Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire)

Everyone's favourite manager has his EU passport pretty full when it comes to coaching. Apart from 3 stints with Arminia, and a variety of jobs in Germany from Eintracht Nordhorn to KFC Uerdingen 05, Middendorp has coached in Ghana, Iran, and South Africa. In Ghana, he's coached the two domestic giants Kumasi Asante Kotoko and Accra Hearts of Oak, Iranian second division side Teraktor Sazi FC, and most famously, Kaizer Chiefs in South Africa, where he won the ABSA Cup (a mini FA Cup for South Africa) as well as the Supa 8 Cup (a knock-out competition with the top 8 clubs from the previous season, an expanded Liga Pokal, if you will).

Hey Man!

I'm on OleOle and I saw your blog. I would make fun of you for you liking a team that sucks but I cheer for Spurs! (lol!) Anyway, has Arminia Bielefeld won any German League titles? Keep it up man, it's a fun read.

Jonathan (Buffalo, New York)

Well, I'll forgive you for being a Spurs supporter, but to answer your question, Arminia Bielefeld has a pretty full trophy cabinet... but nothing from the 1. Bundesliga... yet!

In the early days, Arminia won several regional titles and flirted with national success, most famously reaching the quarterfinals of the now-DFB Pokal in 1923.

1922-23 West German Regional Championships (Picture courtesy of arminia-bielefeld.de)

After this golden era was quite a long period of relative mediocrity, but since the Bundesliga was formed in 1963, Arminia Bielefeld have bounced around the lower divisions quite a bit (see next question), but won league titles in the following seasons, along with automatic promotion:

2. Bundesliga (Nationwide): 1999

2. Bundesliga (Nord): 1978, 1980

Regionalliga West: 1995

Oberliga Westfalen (Amateur): 1990

Dear Die Blauen Blog,

I must say that I am highly impressed that someone would care for my club enough to write a blog about them... in English! I was born and raised in the Bielefeld area, and spent plenty of days at the Alm supporting our club, but I have lived in the United States for the past twenty years and have only been back twice. Thankfully the Internet has been able to allow me to follow die Arminen closely again, much less let me find your blog!

Perhaps you can help me with something. With the club's 100th anniversary a few seasons back, the club released an all time starting eleven. Do you know who they are? And if you do, please let me know. Once again, thank you for your blog and Schwarz-weiss-blaue Ich liebe Gruesse!

Jan (Florida)

First off, thanks for the compliments, and to answer your question, here's the Arminia Bielefeld 100th Anniversary Starting XI (in a 3-4-3 Formation):

Goal: Uli Stein

Defence: Günther Schäfer, Dieter Schulz, Thomas Stratos

Midfield: Thomas von Heesenm, Walter Claus-Oehler, Frank Pagelsdorf, Norbert Eilenfeldt

Forward: Bernd Kirchner, Bruno Labbadia, Ewald Lienen

Manager: Ernst Middendorp

One last thing for this blog entry...

WE FINALLY FREAKING WON! WOOHOO!!!

Texas-sized Kudos to Christian Eigler for the double this evening, especially the match-winner in extra time. I didn't get back home until just after the match ended, and I don't think I could have watched it anyway considering the DFB Pokal's lack of coverage here in the States. It'll be a boost going into the match in Leverkusen on Saturday, so here's to at least a point, if not 3 then, an easy draw in the next round, as well as not being Hertha or Nürnberg, who both crashed out to lower division sides today!

Much like everyone else, I don't look forward to international breaks. Now, don't get me wrong, I like International football, but whom am I to support when it comes to players from Bielefeld? Jorg Böhme hasn't gotten a call up from Germany in a while, Artur Wichniarek remains a mysterious omission from the Polish national team, Abdelaziz Ahanfouf is in a similar situation, and Sibusiso Zuma played for South Africa in August in their match against Scotland, but left in the 14th minute due to poor match fitness. Well, this lack of international stars will at least save Ernst Middendorp from complaining how having so many internationals on his squad means the schedule should be overhauled to fit his whims. But I digress.

I only got to see the first half of the match on Saturday, as activities kept me away from my PC (and all day Sunday for that matter), but I have to say that what I did see wasn't much to see. Both sides seemed entrenched in midfield, and both sides managed two shot apiece, and the only serious effort by Christian Eigler until Bielefeld went up 1-0 on an own goal off of a free kick by Jorg Böhme. It wasn't the first time Bielefeld scored in the game, however, as Christian Eigler scored in the 19th minute, but the goal was called back after the referee said Eigler handled the ball before scoring. Replays showed the call was correct, but denied Eigler a hat trick (more on that later).

The second half, however, was a crazy half of football, with Rostock drawing immediately level in the 46th minute with a Bicycle Kick by Enrico Kern. Rather than folding, Bielefeld inflicted on Hansa what they experienced in their last match against Duisburg. Eigler scored in the 50th and 55th minutes, and Wichniarek put the game out of reach in the 59th minute. Rostock finished up the scoring in the 63rd minute by a brace from Kai Bulow. Even despite that goal, the result was not in doubt as Rostock showed why they're propping up the table with 0 points.

With the win, Bielefeld took second place in the Bundesliga after Eintracht Frankfurt's 2-1 win over Hamburger SV and Bayern Munich's hard-fought 1-1 draw with Schalke. Here's what the top of the table looks like:

(1) Bayern Munich: 3-0-2; 11 Points; +10 Goal Differential
(2 [tie]) Arminia Bielefeld: 3-1-1; 10 Points; +3 Goal Differential
(2 [tie]) Eintracht Frankfurt: 3-1-1; 10 Points; +2 Goal Differential
(4 [tie]) Three teams tied with 9 Points

Champions League Group Stage spot. Let's keep it that way. 

Before the game, however was a special ceremony for defender Marcio Borges, who retired after eight successful seasons with the club. The mercurial defender was a lynch-pin of the back line, and will be missed. Click on the link below for a short tribute to him, as well as his emotional reaction to the ceremony. He will be greatly missed.

Marcio Borges Tribute

Picture of the Week:

Marcio Borges thanks the fans after his retirement ceremony.

Next Week's match: Home vs. Hannover 96 on Wednesday 26 September die Blauen Blog Weekday Special. Woohoo!

I knew it was coming.

Being a Bielefeld supporter means your natural pessimism is fine tuned to the point you know that a disaster is coming long before anyone could notice. After last week's victory over Hertha Berlin, I knew that today's match against MSV Duisburg would be difficult. I knew it was certain that they would drop points on the road, but at halftime the rather dull match seemed to me that at least they would get a point over the newly-promoted Zebras. Statistically, total shots were close, and though Duisburg had a small advantage in possession, the match seemed to be finely poised.

Even through the first fifteen minutes of the second half, the status quo remained. Then everything fell apart, in a fashion even worse than the collapse against Frankfurt. For the last thirty minutes, Duisburg took eleven shots, scored three goals, and set up shop in front of Mattias Hain and took a tea break to pass the time. All Bielefeld could do in response was a poor shot in the 75th minute by Wichniarek, and a final parting shot by Masmandis in the 90th minute.

What made this worse was the fact that I thought I was going to be able to watch the match, but the channel instead decided to show Werder Bremen-Eintracht Frankfurt instead. So instead of watching the disaster unfold before my eyes live, I had to witness it in text form. It went something like this:

61st Minute: MSV Duisburg takes a free kick
61st Minute: MSV Duisburg takes a shot on goal.
64th Minute: MSV Duisburg scores a goal!
65th Minute: MSV Duisburg scores another goal!
66th Minute: MSV Duisburg takes a shot.
66th Minute: MSV Duisburg takes another shot.
70th Minute: MSV Duisburg scores yet another goal!
71st Minute: MSV Duisburg takes another shot!
72nd Minute: Arminia Bielefeld stops a passer-by to ask them where they were supposed to score.

Well, you get the point. It was awful and depressing, as I know it wasn't from a lack of trying, but a stretch like that was just hard to watch. With that said, Bielefeld's place in the league is the same as it was before the game, though with a little more company:

1. Bayern Munich 3 GP 9 Points +10 GD (Plays Sunday vs. Hamburger SV)
2 (tie). VfL Bochum 4 GP 7 Points +1 GD (Lost to Hannover 96 3-2)
2 (tie). Arminia Bielefeld 4 GP 7 Points +1 GD (Lost to MSV Duisburg 3-0)
2 (tie). Eintracht Frankfurt 4 GP 7 Points +1 GD (Lost to Werder Bremen 2-1)
2 (tie). Werder Bremen 4 GP 7 Points -2 GD (Defeated Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1)

Considering the other results, a draw would have been nice, but I guess that was out of the question since I knew disaster was on its way. Here's to the feeling of dread going into hibernation for a while.

Next Match: Home vs. Hansa Rostock on 15 September.

ESPN Soccernet columnist Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger is a rather swell fellow. His columns are always entertaining and informative, and most of all, he actually mentions Arminia Bielefeld from time to time, and almost always in a positive light, which makes him one of the world's greatest English-language football writers automatically. Unlike previous mentions of die Blauen, Hesse-Lichtenberger gives Arminia, and in particular manager Ernst Middendorp, a column all to their own.

Without quoting the column in full, he names Middendorp the Bundesliga manager of the year, and goes into detail as to why he is Bielefeld's Manager of the Century.

Enjoy!