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Claus Christoph Gralath leaves Brook Street after six seasons in charge.
Announcing the decision the club statement read: “After what has been a desperately disappointing season for the club, Brook Street Athletic can confirm this evening that head coach Claus Christoph Gralath has left the club with immediate effect”.
“Claus Christoph departs after six seasons at the helm and this decision was not an easy one to make. We all know how determined Claus Christoph was to succeed, but we feel that now is the right time for a change, perhaps even a change in priorities, to give ourselves the best opportunity of preparing for the new season”.
“Claus Christoph bought into the club philosophy and what it means to be part of the football club, and he has been instrumental in placing the club on a firm footing, particularly at Academy level, and he will always be welcome back here. He brought us many memorable moments and we thank him for all his hard work both on and off the pitch and wish him well for the future”.
“We’ve been nowhere near good enough for this league and our inability to score has cost us dearly”
The writing looked to be on the wall when the home side took the lead with their first attack in the fifth minute when Titus van Vught cut in from the right and drove the ball across Owen Maurice and into the far corner of the net.
However, Brook Street stormed back and almost equalised in the eleventh minute when Joe Anderson curled a shot towards the top corner, but Bendegúz Mayer somehow managed to get a fingertip to tip the ball up and over the bar.
This served as an wake-up call for the home side who broke away from the resulting corner and fed the ball to Kars Enzing whose shot glanced off the top of the crossbar.
The game at this point settled into a midfield slog, but it burst into life again in the seventy-first minute when Craig Smart swung in yet another teasing ball to the FCBB box. This time, Zak Ailstock got on the end of it and volleyed the ball high into the net.
A minute later, Brook Street got that ‘rub of the green’ that has deserted them this season when FCBB’s Mark Fitz appeared to be brought down as he attempted to go round Owen Maurice. To all intents and purposes it appeared to be a stonewall penalty, but the referee turned on his heels and waved play on much to the fury of the home fans.
However, with just seven minutes to go Brook Street’s gameplan fell apart as they conceded three goals in just the next four minutes to finish what has been a dismal season with another dismal defeat.
Lucas Van Doren started the collapse in the eighty third minute when his speculative chip drifted over Owen Maurice’s head and landed in the net.
Brook Street tried to break out of midfield from the restart but eventually lost the ball to Titus van Vught who dribbled through the visitors’ defence before sliding the ball past Owen Maurice to put his side 3-1 up five minutes from time.
The heads were down now amongst the Brook Street players and the towels were thrown in two minutes later when a cross from the right was headed home powerfully by Francesco Hallstein.
“We’ve been nowhere near good enough for this league and our inability to score has cost us dearly”, admitted Claus Christoph Gralath afterwards.
“We assumed we would get a favourable promotion by finishing with the third best record last season, but it was anything but the case”, he added. “This season has been a brutal lesson for us”.
Asked about his own position he replied, “I would like to stay, but that decision is down to the board of directors. They may want to freshen things up or move in a different direction, and I’d fully understand that especially as staff may lose their jobs as a result of our relegation. I will have to wait and see what they decide”.
The 4-1 defeat saw FC Bayern Bru leapfrog Brook Street to finish in seventh place. In the other matches Kelving Rovers lost 0-3 at home to champions nineteen eighty-four to finish in the relegation play-off places and they will be joined by Bad Fellas who lost 2-0 at Woodys, while McBrielle’s 2-1 win at home to FC Dynamo Brest lifted them out of the play-off places and up to fourth.
Brook Street will be glad to see the back of this awful campaign and will be looking for a better outcome when the are plying their trade back in Division IV next season.
Claus Christoph Gralath may take the opportunity to experiment with his line-up tomorrow.
“We have a number of players carrying knocks, so we may leave them out of the travelling party”, he said this afternoon.
“We may also bring in players with next season in mind and for the experience. That is probably the only benefit of having nothing to play for”.
Kick-off tomorrow is at 16:30 and tickets are still available.
Tibor Koteczky fires the ball goalwards, but unfortunately for Brook Street the ball rattled back off the crossbar.
Owen Maurice was in good form to deny opportunities for Woodys on a number of occasions, but Brook Street were giving as good as they got and Tibor Koteczky couldn’t have been closer in the eleventh minute when his shot rattled off the visitors’ crossbar with the keeper floundering.
However it came down to slack defending in the end and the Brook Street players were left kicking themselves when Warren Roughhead fired home.
No-one could doubt however that Claus Christoph Gralath’s side had shown real grit and determination, that on other occasions this season has been perhaps a little lacking.
“We were really unfortunate today”, said Claus Christoph, “but we can have absolutely no complaints about their goal. We should have defended better and a moments lack of concentration has cost us dear”.
He continued, “We played some fine football at times though and the reception that it recieved from the fans gave the players a real lift. I’m only sorry we couldn’t give them a goal to cheer”.
With all the automatic promotion and relegation places confirmed, all that was left to play for in the division was the Play-Offs, and the big winners today were Bad Fellas whos 2-0 home win over Kelving Rovers saw them move up into fourth place with a game remaining. McBrielle dropped to fifth following their 3-1 defeat at nineteen eighty-four, and in the final game, FC Dynamo Brest held onto third place with a 2-0 home win over FC Bayern Bru.
Claus Christoph is hoping the players xan play with more freedom in the last two games.
Speaking this afternoon, Claus Christoph Gralath said, “It has been a dismal season for us and with our fate sealed I hope the players can play with more freedom in the last two games and give the fans something to cheer”.
“They’ve stuck by us regardless, and deserve better; we are all aware of that and are desperate to repay them”.
He continued, “Tomorrow we face a good side in Woodys, so what better time to do it”.
Although Aldo Pellone and Conor Meldrum are carrying knocks, both are available for selection.
Kick-off is at 16:30.
Brook Street’s Craig Smart, Vassilis Taxiarchou and Kari Kienberger following McBrielle’s fourth goal
The wheels started to come off the Brook Street challenge after only two minutes when Ken Crichfield nodded home Ross Shearwood’s cross, then as seems to have been the norm this season, the home side were awarded a dubious penalty just before the quarter hour mark.
Fred Locke easily netted and added his second of the game in twenty minutes when he curled in a peach of a free kick from outside the box before surprisingly being substituted on the half-hour mark.
Ken Crichfield had a simple tap-in to make it 4-0 and wrap up the game with only thirty-six minutes played.
Brook Street were dead in the water and things couldn’t possibly get much worse, but Aldo Pellone picked up a thigh injury in the sixty-fifth minute and had to be replaced by Fin Morton. McBrielle had taken their foot off the pedal, but there was still time for another goal and Ross Shearwood duly obliged with ten minutes to go to wrap up the scoring and consign Brook Street to an early return to Division IV.
“We never turned up”, admitted Claus Christoph Gralath at full-time. “Our heads went down as soon as they scored, then that penalty finished us off”.
He continued, “We went into the season with high hopes, but they have fallen flat. A lack of a goalscoring threat that we had last season has been our Achilles heel and has ultimately cost us dearly. We’ve simply not been strong enough for this league and have now paid the price”.
Had Brook Street fullfilled their requirement to win, they would still have been alive, albeit just, as Kelving Rovers picked up a surprise 1-1 draw at Woodys of Catalonia and already relegated FC Bayern Bru chalked up their first win of the season with a morale-boosting 4-1 win at home to Bad Fellas. In the final game, nineteen eighty-four wrapped up the championship with a 2-0 win at FC Dynamo Brest.
We must take maximum points from our remaining matches.
Although not entirely impossible, the scenario is a tall order as Claus Christoph Gralath reluctantly admitted this afternoon.
“It is a very convoluted scenario for us to get into the play-off places, but the most important thing we can do is take maximum points from our matches. We can’t do anything about the other games, but the players know exactly what they need to do and what is at stake”. He said.
“We’ve beaten McBrielle already this season, so we know we have it in us. Now, we have to beat them on their own ground. Failure to do this and we can start preparing for life back in the fourth tier”.
The Brook Street coach was given a boost today when it became apparent that Kalle Konkka may be available to play at least a part in the game, although he would not be drawn on the matter. Clearly his participation will be a last minute decision.
Owen Maurice turns the ball round the post to deny Dynamo a second goal.
With three games remaining they find themselves eight points adrift of Kelving Rovers with a vastly inferior goal difference and the odds are now stacked heavily against Claus Christoph’s side avoiding the drop.
“It couldn’t look any worse for us”, admitted an ashen-faced Claus Christoph Gralath after the match.
“Our gameplan was simple but good; we needed to score and not concede but we’ve done the exact opposite”.
“Needing to score seems to be the story of our season”, he added. “That’s been our weakness throughout the season and it’s now come back to haunt us”.
“At the end of the day we have not been good enough and although we will keep fighting until it is mathematically impossible for us to stay up, I think we all know our fate is already sealed”.
In other games, Kelving Rovers confirmed FC Bayern Bru’s relegation with a 3-1 home win, nineteen eighty-four all but secured the title with a 3-0 win over Woodys of Catalonia and as previously stated, Bad Fellas had a 2-1 home win over McBrielle.
“I couldn’t have asked for more from the players. They know what is required and are determined to get it”
When he spoke to This Is Brook Street this afternoon, Claus Christoph said, “We’ve worked hard in training this week and I couldn’t have asked for more from the players. They know what is required and are determined to get it”.
He continued, “We’ve had to change things around after losing Kalle [Konkka], but we think we have a line-up and game plan that will work against Dynamo”.
“Of the other games concerning us, Fellas are at home to McBrielle tomorrow so there is the opportunity to close in on at least one of them, preferably McBrielle, depending on how the score goes there, but I think we all expect Kelving Rovers to beat FC Bayern Bru at home”.
“As long as we get something from our game, we should be in with a chance for the run-in”.
Brook Street will obviously be without Kalle Konkka for the match, but at least Claus Christoph has no other injuries or suspensions to contend with.
This is Brook Street 