After Friday's debacle, I waited to post about the match as I knew something had to give after Dortmund took Arminia to the woodshed. An exhilarating start to the season has turned into a complete nightmare, and I knew heads were going to roll. In class this morning the seniors were rather subdued in their football talk, except for the Manchester United bandwagoner, who crowed about United's 4-1 win over Derby County. I ended said crowing by mentioning United were the first club all season to allow an away goal by Derby. Class went on as usual after that, albeit on a more sombre tone.

A dejected Ernst Middendorp during Arminia Bielefeld's 6-1 loss to Borussia Dortmund on Friday (Image: GettyImages)

I was sitting down for lunch in the cafeteria when the school secretary came up and told me that my mother had called saying that my uncle from Bremen had called and all he said was " 'Allo. Middendorp aus! Tschuss!" and hung up. The secretary thought that this was an important enough emergency ("A family crisis is something that should be handled immediately!" She lectured. If only she knew my uncle was a Werder supporter...) that I called my uncle directly from school, and he gave me the news that Ernst Middendorp had been sacked as manager and Reserves manager Detlef Dammeier would coach the team against VfB Stuttgart, and would search for a permanent manager during the Winter Break.

Ernst, it's enough! says Bielefeld supporters. Apparently, the Arminia board got the message. (Image: Kicker.de)

I tried to make the call sound important enough that no one would think that I was calling Germany during school hours simply because the club I support sacked its manager. It worked, as I was even told that if I needed to I could go home if I needed to travel over there to take care of things. I shrugged them off and said "Eh, things won't get much better if I'm there." Which is true, when you think about it.

When I got home, the Inbox was full of links to the Soccernet, Kicker (link auf Deutsch), der Spiegel (link auf Deutsch) and the Club's official website (link auf Deutsch) articles with what has proven to be the reaction to the sacking: We love Ernst and tank him for all he's done, but we seem to need a change, and unfortunately he had to be the one to go.

Interim manager Detelf Dammeier (Image: der Spiegel)

My initial thoughts on the whole thing? Well, as much as I like Ernst, something had to happen, as Arminia are on the verge of a complete collapse and subsequent relegation. The club has a Bundesliga-worst (-21) goal differential and only a single road win, which was on the season opener at Wolfsburg. As director Reinhard Saftig stated in the press conference, "The facts don't lie - we have only five points from the last 11 matches... I don't even want to start counting up the goals we've allowed."

Despite the doom and gloom, there is a silver lining. If the season ended today (Ah, the wonderful Americanism), Arminia would survive, albeit barely. With a game to go until the Winter Break, the club will have six weeks to find a manager to keep the club afloat, as well as bring in players during the transfer window to reform the back four, who have been the weak link for the club all season, as well as perhaps jump-start the lethargic attack.

I'll keep everyone updated on the situation, as well as try to get some perspective from some local journalists. Of course, if you want to share your thoughts on the matter, E-mail the blog at dieblauenblog@gmail.com with "Ernst Middendorp Sacking" in the Subject Line. Catch you tomorrow for the beginning of your Winter Break entertainment (aside from the manager search, that is...)

In an earlier post, I posted a column by Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger which sang the praises of manager Ernst Middendorp on ESPN Soccernet. Well, the lovefest for the mercurial manager continues on the official Bundesliga website with not just one, but two articles of our Fearless Leader.

Article number one is an article which shows the extent of Bielefeld's turnaround. Among the stats listed (Before Saturday's match against Schalke, of course)...

• Only Bayern München have scored more goals so far this season (12) than Arminia (11, like Dortmund)
  
• Bielefeld have a dangerous duo up front in Eigler/Wichniarek, with seven goals between them. That matches the other top pairings - Bayern's Klose/Toni, Hertha's Pantelic/Okoronkwo and Dortmund's Petric/Klimowicz.
  
• Arminia have committed less fouls (81) than any other side and received the fewest yellow cards (5).
• Seven goals from substitutes. The only coach who can match that over the last 15 games is Bremen's Thomas Schaaf.

Not too shabby if you ask me.

Article number two is an interview with Middendorp where he calls the Bundesliga "a special league," gives credit where credit is due for the remarkable start by Artur Wichniarek and Christian Eigler, as well as discussing the future of the club and its European ambitions. Despite being a short, by-the-numbers interview, it's a very good read.

Now, if we can only get an English interview where he calls a reporter a dolt for asking a dumb question or referring to a match as "not unlike a bad day in a trench in Flanders in 1915." like he's done in the past. Like the recently-departed Special One, an interview with Middendorp is never a dull one.

Bundesliga.de: A Remarkable Turnaround

Bundesliga.de: "The Bundesliga is a Special League" 

Despite my best efforts, mastery of the German language has eluded me. After all, it isn't the easiest language to learn, and as Mark Twain summed the experience up:

Whenever [a] German dives into a sentence, that is the last you are going to see of him till he emerges on the other side of his Atlantic with his verb in his mouth. (For the record, he had a lot more than that to say about the German language)

It's not for the faint of heart, especially if you're entering the world of football in Germany. 

So, there was great joy here at die Blauen Blog when on the club's new and improved website, a news story appeared today that went as such:

Dear Arminia-Fans,

We now offer a special section on arminia-bielefeld.de devoted to our English speaking supporters and guests. Here you will find basic information on ticketing and your way to the SchücoArena. We are planning on gradually expanding this section, so check back later for more on “Die Blauen”.

What can I say? I'm stoked, or rather Ich schürte... I think.

Link: Arminia Bielefeld's English page