In non-surprising news, several outlets are reporting that Philipp Lahm will retain the captain's arm-band for the 2011-2012 season, with Bastian Schweinsteiger as deputy captain. The article that I read indicated that new manager Jupp Heynckes made the decision, which struck me as a little weird - in college football and basketball in the USA, the captaincy is determined by the players at large (either through an actual vote, or through an organic process of talking and deal-making). I'd always assumed it was done in the same way for the NFL and the NBA. Without really thinking about it, I figured it was the same for international football.
But apparently it's the manager's decision to make. And Heynckes is sticking with Lahm, who took over for MvB after his departure last year. Aside from a very uninspiring demonstration vs. Frankfurt, Lahm did a good job in a very tough atmosphere - the players were dissatisfied with the old manager (van Gaal), then they were playing under a manager who was known to be out at the end of the season but they still had to deal with him (van Gaal again), then they were working with a different guy they know would be gone at the end of the season, even though they seemed to kind of like him (Jonker). Add in some resentful grumbling from Robben and a string of injuries and formation changes, and this certainly wasn't an easy situation to step into for your first season as captain.
Lahm and Schweinsteiger make an interesting leadership duo - Philipp as the calm, rational problem solver, and Bastian as the more energetic guy who can scream if he has to. And, at any rate, I can't see who would have replaced them.
In other news, apparently this Dale Jennings move is going to happen. I've been ignoring it for a while, thinking it was another unfounded rumor, but we appear to be closing in on this young wing/forward from Tranmere Rovers. I can't imagine he's going to get any time on the senior club, especially with Usami now on board as the young wing/CAM backup. But I've been wrong before, so who knows - maybe Jennings will see some time with Bayern this year - if nothing else, maybe he could get some burn at the Audi Cup?
Another interesting item over the wires - Bayern has increased their offer for Jerome Boateng to 12 million pounds. Based on some quick math, I think that works out to about 13 million Euros? From what I've read, that would be turning a profit for Manchester City. Considering they were planning on starting the season with JB on the bench, I think there's a good chance they'd accept 13 mill. My hunch is that Boateng will come to Bayern at the very end of the summer. But don't take that to the bank - we could have eyes for some other CB (Gabriel Milito?), and the board might be ready to go with Badstuber and Gustavo (I know most of my readers really oppose that).
So ... basically, nothing more to report on that front. Sorry, guys, I was hoping to bring you better news. But we'll be following the CB hunt all week. Tune in tomorrow for more, and subscribe to our twitter feed at http://twitter.com/bayern_offside to get up-to-the-minute updates. Thanks for reading.