Grizzly Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Rough translation: Ailton stated in a radio interview that everything he has heard about Gelsenkirchen is that it is an ugly city without many possibilities for young people to go out and have fun (this is true, it may well be the ugliest city in Germany and the stadium is its single attraction). He is thinking of living in Bremen and only playing and training with Schalke. Then he states that he would like to end his European career with Bremen. Not very positive signs for Schalke's fans and management about his commitment to the team. He may be still upset that the team was against his plan to play for Qatar (I wonder how he would like the nightlife in that country). Ailton freut sich nicht auf Wechsel zu Schalke vergrössern Bremen (dpa) - Top-Torjäger Ailton scheint nicht sehr glücklich über seinen bevorstehenden Wechsel von Bundesliga-Spitzenreiter Werder Bremen zum FC Schalke 04 zu sein. «Alles, was ich bisher über Gelsenkirchen gehört habe, ist ein Desaster. Es soll nicht besonders schön sein, und für junge Leute soll es dort nicht viele Möglichkeiten geben, um Spaß zu haben und auszugehen», sagte der Brasilianer in einem Interview von NDR-Info (Sendung am Dienstag). Drei Monate vor seinem Wechsel ins Revier blickt der Fußball-Star skeptisch in die Zukunft. «Das klingt alles nicht sonderlich gut. Vielleicht bleibe ich in Bremen wohnen und spiele dann nur in Schalke. Es ist ja nur mein Job, dort Tore zu schießen», sagte Ailton in dem Hörfunk-Interview. Schon heute träumt der 30-Jährige von einer Rückkehr in den Norden: «Ich würde meine europäische Karriere sehr gerne in Bremen beenden.» Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Loose, but very powerful and accurate, cannon on the deck. Oh well, that's what gives football much of its interest, the eccentricities of most of the stars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 Gelsenkirchen is a nice little city...well its no rome but i dont think there's n e thing wrong with it. I didnt know they had a soccer club (a significant one n e ways)....what division r they in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted April 6, 2004 Author Share Posted April 6, 2004 Have you ever been to Gelsenkirchen???? Claiming it is a nice city and asking if they have a soccer club really makes me wonder. One of Germany's major clubs and also one that regularly plays in European competitions, Schalke, plays there. It is hard not to notice this because part of the downtown area is designed for receiving and controlling thousands of away fans and there are many permanent signs informing fans of what they may or may not do as well as tons of Schalke ads and signs in a city which does not have anything else. One could compare Schalke's omnipresence in Gelsenkirchen to what it would be like in Saint John if the Toronto Maple Leafs were their home team. I don't see how one could be in the city five minutes and miss the fact that a major soccer team plays there. I guess if your idea of a nice city is block after block of ugly cement buildings in an industrial setting Gelsenkirchen would fit the bill. Even compared to the other cities in the Ruhr region (which has many heavily industrial cities that were bombed out during the war and poorly rebuilt) Gelsenkirchen is pretty unattractive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jeffery S. Posted April 6, 2004 Share Posted April 6, 2004 After Ailton complaining about Bremen not offering him what they eventually offered Klose to come fill his spot for next year, I had the sense that he had doubts about his move. At his age, with little chance of playing for Brazil, he has just shot himself in the foot and will miss out on Champions League group stages next fall to play for Schalke. I imagine that he decided to go for money alone, but considering how well he is doing, by signing mid-season for Schalke when his club was fighting for the Bundesliga lead, he actually reduced his chances at going to a bigger club and for a lot more salary. So he sounds regretful about it all, even though it does not show in his play. I am even sure that Bremen would have offered him more than they did last winter if he had held on to the end of the season, as they are assured Champions money, would want to do well, and surely would have made an effort to keep him. Since he made the move to play for Qatar, it is clear that his image is important for him, that he wants prestige as well, so that he is seeing that all he'll do next year is score a lot of goals for an average Bundeliga club. And perhaps sacrifice a bit of pleasant surroundings to boot in Gelsenkirchen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Well i didnt spend much time there and it was at night..... I didnt know that was where schalke played there. We're tlaking about the Gelsenkirchen right near a nato base rite? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted April 7, 2004 Author Share Posted April 7, 2004 Maybe your thinking of Geilenkirchen which is near Aachen and the border with Holland. It has a major NATO base with airport and no major soccer team. The city looks like a typical small German city. Incidently, this base like most of the German bases is in danger of closing because George Bush in his quest for world peace has decided to move most of the NATO bases from Germany which didn't support his Iraq war to the eastern borders of the new former east block members of NATO, thus as near as possible to Russia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marcl_19 Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Ok ya it didnt seem like a big city when i went haha. Thats the one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.