Argirios Giannikis couldn’t help it. It was noticeable how much he had to bite his tongue, but he really couldn’t bring himself to say openly what he thought.
You could tell that Giannikis was struggling with whether he should perhaps express his opinion, but then he would probably have received mail from the German Football Association – and mail from the German Football Association rarely means anything good. So Giannikis took a few turns when asked about the penalties his team has been given this season. Then the coach of TSV 1860 Munich said: “I won’t whistle them.”
So that was the good news after Sixty’s 1-2 defeat against Hansa Rostock on Saturday afternoon: Giannikis, 44, is not a referee. He’s still a football teacher, and it was good that he clarified that again after the game – there was already enough confusion on that strange afternoon in Munich-Giesing.
Sixty against Hansa Rostock, it was demonstrably a home game that was in the program booklet, but Sixty – and that was the one thing that made this afternoon seem strange – refused to play the way Sixty plays at home this season. Or to put it another way: Sixty played well. But in the end, and that was the other thing that seemed strange, some people in the main stand jumped up and shouted their joy when the Rostock hand penalty came, which Giannikis had expressly not whistled.
The penalty was an annoyance for Sixty’s coach, his team and the Lions fans, but the Rostockers, who had mingled with the Munich players in the main stand, were not afraid to cheer loudly.
“We have to get these fluctuations under control,” said winger Schröter
“It’s just piling up,” said Giannikis later about the penalty that decided the game – the sixth of the season against the Lions, where there were “some questionable ones,” including the one against Rostock: “Let him shake his hand “Chop it off?” asked Giannikis, and you really couldn’t ask the person who caused it, Raphael Schifferl, to do that. There was no way to contradict the coach, but it was at most half the truth. The other half revolved around the second 45 minutes, the blatant drop in performance and the fundamental question that arose from it: what is actually going on with Giannikis’ team. The answer: we don’t know exactly. Sixty’s season goes in waves, it goes up and down, down and up.
“We have to get these fluctuations under control,” said winger Morris Schröter on Saturday, “but this is not a phenomenon that only affects us.” That may be the case, other third division teams are also constantly inconsistent – but it doesn’t have to be Sixty’s claim be that a development becomes visible?
The season is now 16 games old, but even 16 games weren’t enough to understand this team and know what to actually think of them. And yet, and this is also strange, she has everything she needs to be successful. It has leaders (Verlaat and Jacobsen, who were injured or suspended against Rostock) and free spirits (Guttau, Kozuki), trailblazers (Wolfram, Deniz, Schröter) and finishers (Hobsch), fine feet (Guttau) and roughnecks (Schifferl). Basically, the squad is giving it their all, but things aren’t really making progress.
The fans remain steadfast and endure the ups and downs with a composure that is almost touching
Sixty is bobbing along, everything is the same as it has been for months, nothing new even in the west curve. After the defeat against Rostock, the fans applauded their team to cheer them up. Once a Leo, always a Leo, support is non-negotiable. The fans remain steadfast and endure the ups and downs with a composure that is almost touching – even though Sixty had disappointed at home again.
In the first half it seemed to be a successful afternoon: After a corner from Tunay Deniz, Marlon Frey pushed the ball over the line at the back post and put Sixty in the lead. It was a promising start, but at the end, once the game was played, it was all about the second half. About the break-in, about how Giannikis’ team had lost its way.
Sixty’s coach found: “We had similar issues in the second half as Rostock had in the first.” No more courage, no sharpness, no clarity. And so what has been bothering the Lions all season was confirmed: At home, the team can hardly get a foot on the pitch. Sixty is second to last in the home table and third in the away table. The discrepancy was “extreme,” Schröter admitted on Saturday – but he had no explanation for it, nor for the general inconsistency.
Sixty is a mystery. At least that was the way it always is, even on this strange afternoon.
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