He spent the past five years as manager of Eintracht Frankfurt, before leaving at the end of last season. At Frankfurt, he got them up, kept them up, and even brought them to Europe via a cup final, so he has the sort of firefighter qualities that Hertha are looking for. He was also known for being pragmatic and cautious over all else, more concerned with not losing than with possibly winning.

But, he does know how to keep a somewhat-mediocre, patched together with no funds team together, and in the Bundesliga, as that’s what he did at Frankfurt for five years. Eventually his system and his style quit working there, but they did for long enough to hope that he can turn Hertha around. Style, as always, can wait. His contract, interestingly enough, is just until the end of the season. If he succeeds and Hertha stays up then it’ll be extended.

Of course, he’s saying all the right things- calling Hertha a “top club” and talking about how excited he was when Preetz called him. But he also says how we shouldn’t be expecting miracles and he’ll work on things piece by piece to affect a turnaround.

So that’s it, then. Funkel will be on the bench tomorrow against Hamburg.

In general I think he’s a decent, if perhaps not exciting, choice. His time at Frankfurt shows that he’s what Hertha probably need right now, and he’s certainly a better selection than a few others I heard- Lothar Matthäus, for example. And I’m glad that the search wasn’t drawn out for very long. Having a new coach and a bit of stability going into the next game is better than the alternative. I remember Schalke’s manager search at the end of last season. Better to have it all in place as soon as possible. And “Friedhelm” is kind of fun to say.

The ousted Lucien Favre will be holding a press conference on Tuesday to talk about his future, a subject that I’m still interested in.

But before then, there’s still a game to play. Let’s see if Funkel, or just the motivation of a new manager, can hold back Hamburg.

A tough stretch awaits Hertha BSC Berlin, a stretch that would be tough even if we weren’t in the position we find ourselves in. It’s off to Hoffenheim on Sunday, followed by a trip to Lisbon, and then we’re back at home against Hamburg. Even if we were in good form it’d be hard to expect anything from that stretch. But we need it badly.

We’ve got some reinforcements, in the form of a new goalkeeper. Sascha Burchert may yet become a good goalkeeper, but he’s only 19. With our savior Jaroslav Drobny out for what might even be 2 months, and official second-choice (and 21-year-old) Christopher Gäng still injured as well, picking up a new goalie is not the worst of plans. So we’ve gone out and signed Timo Ochs. The 27-year-old German was a free agent after leaving Red Bull Salzburg, where he apparently had some issues with fitness that he says are resolved. Still, a new player is a new player, and let’s hope that he can make things a bit better for us.

The importance of a good goalkeeper was clear at the DFB-Pokal game on Wednesday. It was as heartbreaking and frustrating as anything this season. 1860 took an early lead from our own Rasmus Bengtsson, who scored his first goal in a real game for Hertha. Unfortunately, it was on Burchert’s goal, not (ex-Herthaner) Gabor Kiraly’s. American Kenny Cooper gave them a second early in the second half, and we looked as sunk as ever, only to come back in the 77th minute through Adrian Ramos. Just a few minutes later Valeri Domovchiyski found an equalizer, and we were alive again. We bombarded the Bavarians for the entirety of the extra-time, but despite all the world’s chances couldn’t find another goal. And it was man against boy for the resulting penalty shoot-out. Kiraly saved one (Gojko Kacar’s, fortunately back), Christoph Janker sent another high, and we were out of the Cup.

I’m not sure exactly what to take from the game, especially since I was at work and didn’t watch. Going down like that wasn’t good; coming back was. Dominating extra-time was good; not finishing wasn’t. And the penalties, well, they weren’t good at all.

So let’s hope the team at least gets the good stuff from it. There is still quality in the squad, they just have to remember that it’s there. I understand a lack of confidence but I also feel like they just need to get on with it already. Wallowing in self-pity listing to Xiu Xiu doesn’t help anyone.

There won’t be any room for slacking at Hoffenheim. Hopp’s team are in fine form, particularly coming back from 2-0 down at ‘Gladbach to win 4-2. They’ve also got one of the most missed of the ex-Herthaners, Josip Simunic. Joe leaving was only a surprise inasmuch he’d been trying to leave since I’ve been writing this blog and I didn’t think it would actually happen, but after a fine season last year Hoffenheim stumped up the €7 million that was written into his contract as enough to take him, and he left. It was a bit of a surprise, as they weren’t offering significantly more than Hertha, and aren’t in England like he always said he wanted, but there wasn’t much we could do once he decided on it.

Getting anything from Joe and his teammates will be hard. There’s nothing else to say about that. But they do say that teams in desperate situations can be a surprise.

Let’s see.

Tell us something we don’t know, Milan Kacar.

I love Gojko Kacar very much- he’s a wonderful player, a fantastic find, and he’s already having a great season that looks like it’ll get better. And as much as I want to think that he loves Hertha and Berlin and will lead us onto future glory, realistically, I know that he’s not going to be with us for the long term. He wants to be at a big club. (He probably should be at a big club.) The hope for us is that he plays himself into a massive deal at one of those title-chasing teams that he wants to be a part of. A continuation on the season he’s having and I could see us having €20 million or so to work with next summer.

Anyways.

One of football’s best haircuts, Carlos Valderrama, has been talking up our new Columbian Adrian Ramos. Fast, technically skilled, dangerous in front of goal, able to play on left and right…well, hopefully, Valderrama is right. But perhaps more interestingly, his ex-club America de Cali is on a US blacklist, with their money supplied by a notorious pair of drug-dealing brothers. So, uh, yay?

Also eyebrow-raising is a rumor that we were inches away from signing Roman Pavlyuchenko on loan. The Russian striker is definitely talented, but hasn’t entirely settled in London. With Michael Preetz refusing to deny, it does seem that there was something there. If it had gone through it would have been something of a sensation. But as it hasn’t, I suppose we ought to take a page out of Preetz’s book and not go on about it.

And speaking of things that we no longer have to talk about, Marko Pantelic has signed for Ajax. Good luck to you, Marko, and thanks for the memories.

But that was last season, and this is now, and we haven’t quite got back that mentality that made us so difficult to actually defeat. Still, though, this was an improved performance from the prior two games. Not that that’s saying much. And now it’s been 3 in a row in the Bundesliga without a win.

The first half was fast-paced, if not always noteable. We actually had the first good chance, with Tim Wiese in the Bremen goal saving well from Max Nicu. Our own Jaroslav Drobny got his own chances to shine, saving well from my favorite name on the pitch Philipp Bargfrede and Werder’s new signing, the elf Marko Marin. But the teams were level going into the half.

Emboldened, we came out strong in the second, certainly the better of the two teams. The most noteable moment of the opening bits was the non-call for the ever-unlucky Artur Wichniarek. The Pole looked to be racing through on goal when he was felled by Wiese, but no whistle was given. Watching it from where I was, and the replays, it looked like a clear penalty, and the Spanish commentators on ESPN 360 seemed to agree (although I haven’t taken Spanish since high school, and never learned any football commentary words). But the Pole’s bad luck continued. Another good spell from us ended in a goal from Bremen.

It was a sucker-punch, to be sure, a quick counter-attack resulting in a goal for another one of German football’s great young hopes, Mesut Özil. It threw us for a loop and we didn’t quite recover until after the returned Tim Borowski doubled the lead. Then we seemed to remember that we, too, could once make things happen, and Lukasz Piszczek – helped by excellent work from Gojko Kacar – made it a game again. 2-1 and we looked like we might still get something out of it, only for Naldo to pop up with a goal quite similar to the first one.

There was just enough time for Patrick Ebert to score a fantastic goal with the last kick of the game, but that wasn’t enough for any points and the game ended 2-3. Sigh.

In general, I thought we were better, more lively, but it’s still the same in the end. To me, the most positive thing was that we didn’t give up- up until the very end, we were fighting back. Against a less-strong team, we could have gotten something. We’re still not where we should be, and we are giving away somewhat-soft goals (watching Mesut Özil slice through our defense was depressing), but there’s the slightest cause for hope, right? Right?

Other thoughts: ESPN 360 is amazing. Thank you, Comcast, for adding it. Even though the game was delayed and in Spanish, it was still awesome. Leagues, take note- this is how things should be done. I would also very much like Artur Wichniarek to score a goal. Even though attacks kept breaking down when they got to him, which was frustrating, I kept feeling for him. The more things didn’t go his way the more I wanted them to. I’m softhearted, I guess, but I think a goal for König Artur would be not only good for him, but good for the team. They need that self-confidence.

But that was yesterday. Today, it’s all about the closing of the summer transfer window, with the big Hertha news being that we signed not one, but three new players.

First, there’s the versatile midfielder Florian Kringe, of Borussia Dortmund. The 27-year-old was finding his playing time on the Ruhr restricted, so he’s now to Hertha for a year on loan. He has a website with fabulous pictures.

Next, there’s the striker that we so need, Columbian international Adrian Ramos. The 23-year-old has scored loads upon loads of goals at America de Cali, but of course there are question marks as to how he’ll do in a higher-level league. (And we’re losing him for the international break.)

The third newbie seemed to come out of nowhere. Brazilian midfielder Cesar (the history geek makes me giggle at us now having a Cesar and a Cicero) joins us on a free from Al Ahli. He’s 30 years old, and not quite entirely matchfit, but he was part of Lulu’s title-winning crew at FC Zürich and seems like he could possibly be a useful squad player.

Whew.

Not to mention that we’ve been drawn into our Europa League qualifying group. It could definitely have been harder. Could it have been easier? Hard to say, really- none of the other groups look like it would be better for us. Our opponents are SC Heerenveen of the Dutch league, Sporting CP of Portugal, and the Latvians FK Ventspils. Doable, certainly, if we step it up a notch from, well, now. We begin against Ventspils on September 17, in the Olympiastadion.

And Ajax is the newest club to be linked to Marko Pantelic.

My anxiety about the team was detailed pretty well on Monday; I’m still feeling that way today. The worry that I have is about goals and how to score them. We seem to have forgotten recently how to get that ball into the net. We were never a high-scoring team, preferring to rely more on defense, but we did get the job done when it needed to happen. Hopefully, back at home for the first time since that 1-0 win over Hannover, we’ll remember how it was done.

Team news is that Artur Wichniarek, who came off early into the first leg, might be back, but Lulu says he’s not yet 100%. In his place is likely to be his countryman Lukasz Piszczek, who’s been mostly deployed lately in defense. However, he did play striker earlier in his career, and desperate times call for whoever we can throw up there. Domo will have the other place up front, being the only fit striker, and the rest of the team will likely be much as what we saw at Bochum.

News is that there are still plenty of tickets left, even considering that Brøndby fans have bought up 2,000 of them.

The money from getting into the Europa League proper is probably going to play a role in our transfer fans, but beating Brøndby or not, we still need some reinforcements. Brazilian reports say that we’re negotiating for a player named Ferdandinho, who’s also a rumored target of Sporting in Portugal and Atletico Madrid. There are also apparently negotiations underway for Rwandan striker Haroun Niyonzima.

Meanwhile, BZ won’t let the dream of a certain Ukrainian die.

So make your sacrifices, knock wood, and wear your lucky clothing. We’ll need to get our luck back for tomorrow.

It’s the story of the first few games. We haven’t been looking too terrible, or at least we’ve been creating chances, but our scoring just hasn’t happened. It’s certainly worrying and it seems to be taking its toll on the confidence of the players. I don’t remember being hugely reliant on our strikers last season – Voronin scored 11 goals, which is a good return, but not massive numbers, while Pantelic’s goals from his random appearances was 7. Last season lots of positions managed to chip in with goals, and our chances to goals ratio was excellent. Now, though, it seems all reliant on the striker we hope is coming.

What can be said? Bochum scored from a free-kick that went through the wall, and that was it, despite our best efforts. I’m blaming GolTV as much as anything because they decided to delay the game by an hour for some reason. When I went to check some other scores I saw that the game that had just started on my TV was actually halfway done, and Bochum had just scored. (Seriously, what the hell? What benefit does GolTV get by showing a game an hour late? Is 9:30 EST worse than 10:30 EST? Who wants to watch a delayed game that isn’t even delayed fully? And can’t they at least not put “live” on the website when it’s not? I know I could have calculated the right time myself and just not inadvertently spoil myself, but math isn’t my strong point.)

Anyway, I don’t know what else to say. We need to start scoring goals, if just to get back the belief that we can score goals. Confidence is a weird and complicated thing, especially with a team like Hertha. The margins for wins and losses for us are so narrow that a slight jar is proving to be a bit more catastrophic than hoped.

It’s not getting any better, either. First Artur Wichniarek got himself injured, and now it looks like Raffael’s broken his elbow. He’s not exactly a striker, but he’s an attacker, and they’re in very short supply in the Hertha grounds.

Unverified rumor says that Scottish striker Kris Boyd is on his way to Berlin to discuss terms and have a medical. He scored 27 goals last season in Scotland and is only 26. I can’t imagine him actually showing up in Berlin, but I wouldn’t be displeased if he did. Other reports have us interested in taking Markus Rosenberg of Werder Bremen on loan. Rosenberg is currently a benchwarmer at Bremen, but he does have talent and could be worth a punt.

The search is on. Hopefully, we’ll catch one before time runs out.

However, it’s becoming clear how much Hertha still needs a striker. You know that, I know that, Michael Preetz knows that. With Wichniarek unlikely to play tomorrow, our strikeforce consists of Valeri Domovchiyski. The young Bulgarian has started brightly – he scored our 1 on Thursday – but it’s still disturbingly light.

That’s most of the news for tomorrow. Domo will be expected to start up front with Raffael. Gojko Kacar and Maximillian Nicu are carrying slight knocks, but are both expected to be fine. The Swedish boy is still not quite ready, having only really trained for 10 days. Bochum will be looking for their first win of the season, having lost to Schalke and battled back for a 3-3 draw with Mönchengladbach. Hopefully, we won’t give it to them.

The other news is, of course, the Search for a Striker. Rumors swirl around Columbian international Gustavo Adrian Ramos and excellent name-haver Jan Vennegor of Hesselink, who’s a free agent after leaving Celtic. And, of course, there’s always going to be talk about Andriy Voronin, but that seems to be receding by the day as Liverpool want far more than we can afford.

For those of us in the States, the game is on GolTV tomorrow. Watch!

Over the past season we gained a reputation for taking our chances, turning lack of domination and possession into three points and generally baffling pundits with our ability to keep winning while not playing well in a conventional fashion. Borussia Mönchengladbach, after miraculously escaping relegation last season, seemed to have learned how to do that against us.

We’d started playing well, with Gojko Kacar having a good game and Maxi Nicu and Raffael firing wide, but it was Gladbach who opened the scoring. On the 23rd minute the Dutchman Brouwers, who’d scored in their opening game against Bochum, headed firmly past a somewhat-surprised Drobny for a lead that they never lost.

The second goal came in the second half, veteran Oliver Neuville making it pretty easy for Karim Matmour to finish with a cross and a bit of class. Light glimmered for the Berliners when that boy Gojko made it 2-1 only 60 seconds later, finishing off a Raffael corner, but it was not to be and the points stayed in the Rhineland.

It’s a blow to be sure, but we didn’t play all that badly and it’s early in the season. Last season we had a good habit of shrugging off losses, and I can only hope that the tradition continues. That doesn’t mean the team is off the hook for lack of concentration, and I really hope the Swedish kid can make a difference at the back when he finally plays.

Also, Arne broke Jaroslav Drobny’s nose. He definitely looked a little off and dazed after the collision, which happened fairly early, and I can now see why.

That’s not the real news, though. The real news is that the rumblings around the return of Andriy Voronin are turning into more of a roar. Lulu told Bild that he’s still in contact with the forward, and Preetz says he’d love to have him back if the price was right. News of the World (yeah, I know) suggests that he’s on his way for a €3.5 million fee. I’m not sure we actually have that money. And if we did, my head says that we might be better off spending it on someone on the correct side of 30.

But my heart says “come back Andriy! They don’t love you like we love you!”

There’s something about him that’s just so damn personable. I think a lot of it is that he clearly enjoyed playing here, and he clearly took Berlin to heart. That means a lot for a team like Hertha, without the sort of glory and success of some of our peers. Also, he played very well for us and fit into the style Lulu was crafting. It’s one thing to get a young player in and hope he does well, another to have one we know can. And that likes it there. And has a fantastic ponytail. Maybe I’m just justifying my irrational desires, but I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only one who’d like to see him back here.

Am I?

We also can’t really afford to keep players that aren’t, at the moment, completely useful. I hate that fact. I’m sentimental as all hell. I don’t like us deciding against young trialists, and I don’t like us being as ruthless as we need to be right now to stay alive and competitive.

By which I mean we’re loaning out Amine Chermiti to Al Ittihad, current champions of the Saudi Arabian league. The young Tunisian striker came with a lot of hope, but injuries blunted his campaign and even after recovering he never settled properly. I have to admit that I was a little surprised when I first read reports of his loan- just a few weeks ago Lulu was talking about how Chermiti and Domovchiyski were the future of the club, and now he’s off to Saudi Arabia. They’re paying us €900,000 and giving him a €1.3 million salary, and hopefully he can recover his confidence and form and come back in a year. Good luck, Amine, and I hope to see you soon.

An even sadder situation of ruthlessness comes with the Brazilian Lucio. Way back when – fall of 2007 – after a fantastic start to the season, he was seriously injured. It’s been two years since and while he’s undoubtedly worked hard to get back to fitness, it seems as if the management has decided that he’s not going to get back to the place he was before. Or at least, he won’t get back to the top level without playing at a lower level. To that point, Michael Preetz says we want to loan him out as well. Lucio himself isn’t happy, calling Favre “disrespectful” and upset about the way he was treated, claiming that he won’t come back to Berlin as long as he’s there. Like with Chermiti, it’s hard to not want to keep him and get him back to the state he should be at, especially considering all he’s been though, but this isn’t a team that can afford sentimentality. I hope things get sorted out for him, and I also hope that he comes roaring back to prove us wrong. (Especially if we just loan him and not sell him.)

But it’s not all sad news. You may remember a baby Arne Friedrich from February. He’s now not the only one. Little Arne Friedrich Kahler was born on July 4 and named after his father Robert’s favorite player. Welcome to the world, baby captain. And how goddamn cute is that picture?

(Also, Bild thinks that Andriy Voronin is coming back to Berlin. It’s Bild, so.)