“The greenkeeper was the man of the match!”

For the second time in a row, Blau-Weiß Linz won the Linz derby. Ronivaldo’s golden goal gave the blue-whites a 1-0 home victory against LASK. We have summarized the reactions of the Blau-Weiß Linz fans on the Austrian Soccer Board, Austria’s largest soccer forum.

Willi Kreuz: “Simply proud of the team, of the fans,…and of myself!” Proud to be a Vöestler!!!”

bluewhite78: “What a well-deserved derby win. The pressing in the first half! What a team performance today, starting with the person who made this game possible for us… He was rightly celebrated for that at the end. Great cinema, I’m more than euphoric, that was just awesome!”

The Executor: “Man of the Match” today is definitely: Greenkeeper Stefan Wieser. He created a lawn for our boys that deserves a heart for every blue-and-white player who stands on it. In this sense, “serial derby winners”. They all wore the anniversary dress with dignity.”

Kottan: “When I heard the reports in between (the viewing is taking place: everything is fine, the game is being played), I thought: They’re completely stupid, how is that supposed to work?” It’s working. It’s great! LASK can’t talk their way out of it on the pitch. That Wieser came to the front of the block and got his applause. – I love BW for these things (and many others)!”

Robert Mitchum: “After the second derby win in a row, against an opponent who has completely different financial means, I can never get out of it.” I just have to thank Scheiblehner for the way he keeps putting the team together, even though we often don’t understand it. For example, my Mitrovic (I just like him) in the starting eleven, nobody would have expected that. I promise solemnly that as long as we don’t get relegated, I won’t write any more negative things about Scheiblehner.”

renton (the real one): “Ambition – perseverance – picking yourself up, wiping your mouth, carrying on – resilience. These are all virtues that the club is trying to live by. Not overconfidence, which is or has been the downfall of many a club… Man, man, man. I am still deeply in love with this nice little club.”

Jack Grillitsch: “Vitek was incredibly strong on the line. We’ve never had such a good goalkeeper, with all due respect to Nici Schmid, but that’s a different level. Weaker in terms of playing skills in my opinion (kick-offs and goal kicks are often inaccurate/too short), but reminded me a bit of De Gea (crazy to write something like that about a Vöest goalkeeper). Strauss was super composed, as was Maranda. Anderson with an amazing pass to Ronivaldo, a friend from Lustenau said “he can be the cause of eight goals conceded in one game, but then set up four dream goals in the next” and I absolutely agree, today he was really good again. I also really liked Diabate, he worked hard and was definitely one of the best technically. Goiginger with an amazing pass to Briedl, he also comes in better! I feel sorry for Mensah, the red card was unfortunate. Alex Schmid had one or two good touches on the ball, maybe it will get better, the game gave me some hope. And, because it’s rarely the case and today (from the standing block) it was really good: the referee team. I’ve rarely had anything to complain about, the best performance by a referee this season in the Bundesliga. Lechner was top today just because we (rightly) hit him so often.”

The Executor: “By the way: the anniversary dresses are so cool!” Especially when they are worn by men who have the right body. They don’t look quite so good on me.”

block boy: “It was a great derby that would not have taken place without the commitment and knowledge of our grass scientists.” Equally praiseworthy are the volunteers from the club and the fan scene who stood in the rain early in the morning and cleared the tarpaulins from the lawn.”

Nose pick: “The last time we had two derby victories in a row was in 1983. That was the first time I was at the Gugl.”

no_life_without_V: “Really good performance again yesterday! Vitek convinced me this time. I can’t think of anything else to say about Ronivaldo… always unbelievable. Diabate is very venomous in defensive midfield. Good ball recovery including immediate play. Sorted for quick transitions. I hope the others in this position can be kept happy or there will probably be a need for conscientious rotation (hopefully not due to injury). The fact that the pitch was made playable is great! I’m happy with how things are going at the moment. Really great spirit. Despite everything, as Scheiblehner always says, stay humble.”

Stevie: “I also have to say that Diabate was extremely strong next to Vitek! Scheiblehner really had a good hand with the boy: extremely confident on the ball, very good positioning and important in the build-up to the game! I thought that he could never, ever be brought into a derby without Bundesliga experience! There is no need to comment on Ronivaldo! Let’s enjoy every second that he enriches our team!”

Padawans: “Even though I had my concerns about Mitrovic’s line-up at the beginning, I have to say that he did a good job.” It’s nice to see that he can keep up. It was the right decision to keep him, if only to make the fight for the jersey more challenging.”

The Executor: “Some time ago I was thinking: what kind of idiots watch a game again that they saw on site?” Now I know: idiots like me.”

Dispute Resolution: “A top performance from our boys in terms of fighting spirit – compared to our city rivals, to be honest, that was what surprised me most, especially after the change of coach. They didn’t chase down balls at times, I would criticise that even in my Tuesday hobby round. Anderson/Ronivaldo is of course a great combination that is extremely good for our game, it’s a shame that he didn’t bring the second one more to the middle, then it would have been 2-0 early on, but nobody is perfect. In terms of performance, in my opinion nobody (from the starting eleven) really let themselves down this time, that’s what our team is all about at the moment, Diabate for me with a mega debut, I think we will have a lot of fun with him this season.”

vroots: “A sensation for me, Diakite, the first game after about five training sessions and he’s the boss in midfield, with no stress, an incredible asset.” A defensive midfield with Dantas/Diakite and Briedl in front of them would have such a future for me, Pasic as backup or in the three-man chain as a central defender when Fabio Strauss moves back to the side. Even Scheiblehner’s big critics have to take their hats off to him, everything is great, especially this year he’s completely transformed in the in-game coaching compared to the previous season, I think that’s great. Thanks to everyone who helped so that the game could take place.”

You can find more fan opinions about FC Blau-Weiß Linz in the BW-Linz forum of the Austrian Football Association.