Former Arsenal goalkeeper, Jens Lehman, has been caught up in a row with his new German side, Stuttgart, after he made an unplanned trip to the Oktoberfest in Berlin. Lehman has now been dropped from the team for all immediate competition and will not play in a number of important matches just coming up.
It is an ironic twist because during his time at Arsenal Lehman was often noted for his discipline and the efficiency with which he carried out every aspect of his professional style and game.
Stuttgart’s Coach said: “[The director of sport] Horst Heldt and I will talk with Jens about this on Thursday and then we will see where to go.”
The obvious conclusion to jump to is that when a player goes to the most famous beer festival in the world then he would have been spenind his hard earned wages on getting drunk and having a good time. However, Lehman insists that this is not the case and has already apologised to the club. He has also said that he will take any punishment given to him but insists he did nothing wrong.
He said: “The visit to the Wiesn [Oktoberfest] was part of a charity event and it had been planned for a long time. However, it was not agreed with the club. Of course I accept the measures taken by the sporting management.”
So the next move is for the club’s disciplinary proceedures to come into act and it will mean that the German international may be out of competition for a couple of weeks. You would argue that the club could make light of the situation and see it for what it as, a generous and kind act intended for charity.
However, Stuttgart insist that they have rules and regulations in place for a reason but it seems that the old German stereotype of non-humour anf over efficiency may have surfaced in this case.
Hopefully both parties will be able to sit down at a table and have a talk, apologise and move on. Lehman is too important a player to the club’s current campaign for them to do away with him for an extended period of time. It will undoubtedly show as they do not have an experienced replacement keeper with a solid reputation.
The decision on the matter is expected to be announced in the German press later this week. Hopefully it will be lenient but the early signs are not positive.
