GREUTHER FÜRTH FACT FILE
Thursday, 08. December 2016, 13:53 Uhr
On Sunday the Boys in Brown head south to face Greuther Fürth. To help you prepare for the game, we took a closer look at Janos Radoki's side.
No time for kid gloves
Teams fighting relegation are not wont to treat each other with kid gloves, an insight that's almost as old as the game itself. Greuther Fürth would appear to have taken this to heart, as a look at the Fair Play rankings reveals. The Shamrocks sit in 17th place with 40 yellow cards and one red, a record only "bettered" by 1860 Munich. The Boys in Brown have been a little more reticent in this respect, though a total of 34 cautions does leave them just six yellow cards behind the Franconians.
New boss effect
Under former coach Stephan Ruthenbeck the home side made a reasonable start to the campaign. Two wins in the first three matches took them as high as fourth place in the table, but after that they managed just two more victories against Nürnberg on matchday 6 and Bochum in week 12. A 2-1 defeat against Dynamo Dresden on matchday 13 persuaded the club that enough was enough and a change at the helm was made. Under new boss Janos Radoki the Franconians promptly secured 2-1 wins in each of their next two games, something that can perhaps be put down to the peculiar psychology of football.
The importance of taking the lead
Granted, it's never as easy as it might sound, but if the Shamrocks are to be beaten it doesn't do any harm to take the lead against them. The Franconians have been left chasing the game seven times this season and have failed to pick up a point in any of these matches. Unfortunately, the same can be said for the Boys in Brown, who also remain empty-handed after falling behind.
It's never over till it's over
Yet even if Ewald Lienen's side do take the lead against Fürth on Sunday, they'll have to defend with all their might until deep into injury time, as only Hannover (4) have scored more goals in time added on than the Shamrocks. They last achieved this feat two games ago with a dramatic 91st minute winner against Bielefeld. That Janos Radoki's side are not be trifled with in stoppage time was underlined as recently as last week, when goalkeeper Balazs Megyeri saved a penalty from Karlsruhe striker Dimitrios Diamantakos, thus guaranteeing Furth their second win on the bounce.
Photo: Witters
