Deep in the Patsche: no player annoyed Union more than Nico “Patsche” Patschinski. During his second time at the club from 2006 onward, and perhaps more generally in life, he seemed to maintain a highly individual relationship with money. “What I do with my cash is my business,” he once said. “Whether I wipe my arse with it, gamble it away or burn it. It’s only money.” Critics had viewed him as a gambling addict by 2007 at the latest.
Participation in a charity poker tournament organised by hated rivals BFC Dynamo brought him a warning and a 5,000-euro fine. Anti-Union slogans and a wild night out with Dynamo were enough for the club to sack him for bringing Union into disrepute. When the contract was finally dissolved in July 2009, with about 130,000 euros in severance, president Dirk Zingler sighed with relief. “We are glad this chapter is over.”