Hoffenheim have had a very difficult campaign, from the beginning of the season they struggled for form in the league and had only picked up 12 points by Christmas, a first round cup thrashing at the hands of semi professional Berliner AK also did not help. To compound matters the team had troubles off the field, Boris Vukcevic was involved in a horrible car accident which shook the team and before the end of the first half of the season Markus Babbel had lost his job, being replaced by Marco Kurz. They brought in some new faces in the January transfer window but only a couple managed to make a real impression on the team as they continued to struggle in the league. Again when the players should have remained dedicated and professional they were continually misbehaving, captain Tim Wiese was suspended by the club and stripped of the captaincy when he was caught drinking late with a number of other players. Marco Kurz’s reign ended in April amid real fears that the team would go down, Markus Gisdol took over on a temporary basis but little changed and they looked set for the second division until on the final day two penalties in five minutes gave them a chance at redemption with them finishing in 16th and the relegation playoff place. Kaiserslautern were their opponents and over two legs they did what was required of them, seeing them off comfortably but they will need to strengthen over the summer and lose some of the troublesome players in the group if they are to avoid the chaos of this year.
