Quote Originally Posted by The Lone Gunman View Post
A draw for FC Koln in Berlin and a defeat for Werder Bremen at Augsburg yesterday meant Mainz retained their place in the Bundesliga for next season. That's impressive considering where they were when Robert Glatzel signed for them during the first week of February.

At that stage, Mainz were second from bottom of the table with just 10 points from 19 games and they were 7 points adrift of safety. They're currently unbeaten in their last 9 games and their record since Glatzel arrived is played 13, won 7, drawn 5, lost 1. Those results include a notable 2-1 victory over champions Bayern Munich late last month.

While he's obviously played a part in their resurgence, the truth is Glatzel has hardly set the Bundesliga alight since his return to Germany. He's started just two games since his loan spell began and has scored only two goals. He has made ten substitute appearances, but it appears the German top flight is a grade too high for him.

I reckon a return to 2. Bundesliga is the most likely destination for Neil Warnock's £5.5 million misfit, but whether or not any club in that league would be prepared to pay a fee for him remains to be seen.
I also have been following his progress game by game and, while his arrival has coincided with a massive upturn in fortune for Mainz, it seems to me (without having watched any of the matches) that he hasn’t pulled up any trees. Often coming on around the 75-80 minute mark in recent week seems to suggest he is seen as an option to stretch tired defenders or simply rest the starting striker (Szalai). I doubt very much that we’ll be getting offers of anything like the outlay but any loan offer should mean payment of wages in full. If not, we should keep him as backup to KM, although MM has been quite clear that that’s not an option he wishes to pursue.