Before the Bundesliga got underway for the 2013-2014 season, there was a lot to be optimistic about for fans of FC Nürnberg. Der Club had ended the previous two seasons comfortably in tenth position, and were looking to push on and improve on this placing, perhaps even challenging for European football. And why not? FC Nürnberg is, let's not forget, a club with a rich history and a large fan-base that is nearly unrivaled.
Der Club held the proud title of Deutcher Rekordmeister for having won the most Bundesliga titles up until 1987, and won the DFB-Pokal as recently as 2007. However, despite all this, Nürnberg have struggled to reach the heights of the pre-Bundesliga era, as illustrated by two relegations in the past decade. But could anyone have possibly expected that Der Club would once again stare down the barrel of 2.Bundesliga football after some really encouraging prior seasons? All the signs were there that this season was to be one of even further improvement. The squad boasted players like Josip Drmic, Javier Pinola and Hiroshi Kyotake, all set to take that next step to propel Der Club to bigger and better things.
Alas, it was not to be, as a winless Hinrunde under manager Gertjan Verbeek just served to make things more difficult than it had to be. It was not a case of Nürnberg simply playing poorly, because at times one would be thoroughly entertained by some great football. But, when you looked up at the scoreboard, there was no goals, and Der Club would be en route to yet another draw or defeat. Interestingly enough, Nürnberg did not rack up as many losses as one would have anticipated looking at the complete absence of wins, which makes their large collection of draws all the more frustrating. The quality was there, only finishing touch was just needed.
As the Rückrunde got underway, it looked as if Verbeek had finally cracked the code. Consecutive wins to start the second-half of the season over Hoffenheim and Hertha Berlin, the former being a four-goal rout, was cause for great optimism among the Nürnberg faithful. A hard-fought loss against Bayern Munich followed, in which there was no shame, before two more wins were chalked off for Der Club. Things were quickly about to change, as a truly horrendous run of only one win sandwiched between ten losses placed Nürnberg in an ever growing hole in the bottom three. As the games went by, time to save themselves grew less and less, finally culminating in the unenviable situation of at best finishing in the play-off spot.
One can look back at the loss against SC Freiburg as the defining moment of the season, as Der Club succumbed to their fellow relegation-stragglers at the time. Freiburg haven't looked back since, moving up the table and ensuring their participation in the Bundesliga next season, while their rivals on the day found themselves trapped in a downward spiral they simply could not escape from.
What made matters even worse was the comments that Verbeek made after the game, claiming that Nürnberg had played against twelve men and criticising match official Jochen Drees. Adding even more fuel to the fire, he further refused to give his post-match press-conference alongside opposition manager Christian Streich, putting Der Club under even more scrutiny. This was the actions of a man under huge pressure, a man that felt the club was doomed after that result. These sentiments were proven accurate as time passed, and Verbeek ultimately paid for this with his job.
Enter Roger Prinzen, the Nürnberg U23 coach, who was appointed as first team manager with only a few games to go, a sure sign of desperation. Damagingly, results haven't come and Der Club slipped further into relegation trouble. There is no sense in debating whether Verbeek could have saved the club from relegation, because what is done is done, but the bitter disappointment of facing relegation in a season that promised so much initially has hit both the fans and players hard. Recent comments from various players have suggested an abject acceptance of their fate, and would not inspire too much hope for the future in fans Der Club.
The one shining star this season, Josip Drmic, looks set to leave the club for pastures anew after having almost single-handedly carried the scoring load for Nürnberg, winning many admirers in the process. His remarkable tally of 16 goals this season is level with that of Borussia Dortmund star Marco Reus, and only two less than leading scorers Robert Lewandowski and Mario Mandzukic. His WhoScored.com rating of 7.04 is also, predictably, the stand-out among Nürnberg players, just illustrating how important the Swiss international has been.
All in all, disappointment is the all-encompassing feeling at the Grundig-Stadium, with one question being on the lips of every single fan of Der Club:
What happens next for FC Nürnberg?