A turbulent season for Eintracht Frankfurt ended with the club managing to just hold on to their status as a Bundesliga club after beating Nurnberg in the relegation playoffs. The season had kicked off with renewed optimism of challenging for a European spot, having finished just three points off the pace last time around. With Thomas Schaaf leaving at the end of last season, Frankfurt re-appointed Armin Veh and fans were hoping for another successful spell under the 54-year old. Despite suffering a narrow defeat to Wolfsburg on the opening day of the season, Frankfurt made a good start by collecting eight points from their next four games, which included big wins over Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin. The season though quickly unraveled for the Eagles as they could only manage to win just two more games until the winter break, by which time they had slipped dangerously close to the relegation zone. Things were not helped by persistent injury problems for last season's top scorer and captain Alexander Meier who only made just 19 appearances in the campaign, though he once again led the way with 12 goals. Veh tried to provide fresh impetus to the squad by bringing in new faces during the winter break with Marco Fabian, Szabolcs Huszti, Anis Ben-Hatira, Kaan Ayhan and Yanni Regasel all arriving, but results failed to improve and a poor run of just four points from seven games that saw them drop into the relegation zone forced the club's hands as they decided to relieve Veh from his position. Niko Kovac was brought in as the replacement and, though he managed to end Frankfurt's winless streak with a crucial victory over Hannover 96, four defeats from first five games in charge meant that Frankfurt were pushed deeper into the relegation zone. The Eagles though hit top form at the last moment, racking up three straight wins which included a shock victory over Borussia Dortmund and, though they ended the regular season with a narrow defeat to Werder Bremen, the late surge was enough to warrant them a second chance as they finished 16th in the league table. More disappointment was to follow in the first leg as an own goal by Marco Russ provided Nurnberg with the advantage of an away goal but Frankfurt improved in the second leg as Haris Seferovic's second half goal was enough for them to register a win in Nurnberg and secure their survival. Kovac has a big rebuilding job to do during the summer in order to avoid another poor campaign next season, with a number of players clearly not up to the mark to challenge for a place in the starting lineup, while Russ' availability is not yet certain with the defender being diagnosed with a cancerous tumor and will have to undergo treatment. One player though who remains a key component for the team will be Lukas Hradecky with the keeper enjoying an excellent debut season for Frankfurt and, in Meier's absence, was responsible for keeping Frankfurt's head above the water.
