Former Celtic pair team up to KO Hamburg in brilliant Bundesliga playoff win

By David Walton

May 24, 2022

Former Celtic duo Mark Fotheringham and Dedryck Boyata last night secured Bundesliga safety with Hertha Berlin as they relegated Rangers allies Hamburg.

Fotheringham was appointed as Felix Magath’s assistant manager earlier this year with their target to remain in the division.

Boyata, meanwhile, has been the captain of the Bundesliga side since September 2020, meaning both have been working with each other to try and secure the safety of the club in the top flight.

Heading into last night’s playoff second leg against Hamburg, it didn’t look bright. Hertha had lost 1-0 at home in the first leg, and it looked as if relegation was inevitable.

However, Boyata fired home a goal before the break with Marvin Plattenhardt making it 2-0 midway through the second half. That would be enough to send Hamburg back into Bundesliga 2 having landed the final knockout blow on their own patch.

Fotheringham and Magath are only contracted to the club until the end of the season. It remains to be seen what happens moving forward.

Big moment for ex-Celtic pair as they seal top-flight spot

Big credit must go to Fotheringham and Boyata for their work in turning things around in what was a hectic playoff final for them. It can’t have been easy given the nature of the campaign and the fact Hertha should be nowhere near the bottom spots.

Thankfully, they can look ahead to rebuilding their squad for next season as they will again face off against the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, and Bayer Leverkusen respectively.

Boyata has been with Hertha stretching back to 2019. He’s become a staple in the side and is one of the senior figures too. Relegation would’ve been a major blow to his legacy in Berlin. So it’s important to recognise just how big a result and performance that was.

Fotheringham, meanwhile, continues his success in Germany after previously bagging promotion to the second division with Ingolstadt. His reputation continues to grow and it’ll be interesting to see if he and Magath will stay at Hertha for the rebuild.

In any case, congratulations to them both for a stunning turnaround away from home. That it came against Hamburg just makes it all the sweeter.

In other news, Josip Juranovic had “several offers” on the table before deciding on Celtic move