One day before the first real test of the season head coach Thomas Schaaf made a vital personnel decision in his Werder team. The Werder trainer announced at a press-conference that Frank Baumann will retain his position as club captain for the coming season. "Yes, he'll continue to wear the captains armband. This is a decision that I have to make and he has always filled his roll very well whixh hasn't changed in my opinion". Schaaf continued: "The positions as second and third captain will be decided by the team among themselves."
Frank Baumann was delighted about the trust being openly put in him: "I'm going into my eight year at Werder now and am filling this roll for the seventh time. I hope this particular run continues for a long time." Baumann was quick to explain though that the unity within the team cannot be achieved by the work of just one player: "There is not just one leading player with us, the demands are on everone here whether they are in the team representative commitee or not. Our strength is that the unity with in the team is born of many different characters and that's the way it should stay."
The 30 year old dosen't expect to see much change within the team representative commitee: "That subject won't be dealth with within the team but will be on the daily order of topics soon. I don't expect there to be all that much change as noone has left the group from last season."
Johnnie Muldoon