Singh when you're winning: Sarpreet leading Jahn Regensburg's charge
With 18 points from nine games and 20 goals scored, Jahn Regensburg have certainly got a lot to shout about in second place in Bundesliga 2.
The Bavarians stormed out of the blocks with a 100 per cent record after four matchdays and haven’t been out of the top two in Germany’s second division since August. And with two goals and three assists, Sarpreet Singh has played a major part in their success.
For a club who have never been higher than Germany's second tier, and are only just playing their sixth season at that level, the start Regensburg have made to the season is unprecedented. "The best Jahn moment of all time," titled the local Mittelbayerische Zeitung following the 4-1 win over Schalke - a result which showed their previous three wins had been anything but a fluke.
Watch: Regensburg's win over Schalke
That was the first league fixture between two clubs who have spent much of their respective histories poles apart in the footballing pyramid. As Regensburg languished in Bavaria's lower leagues, celebrating the occasional rise to the Regionalliga or the third division, Schalke were in constant pursuit of a still-elusive Bundesliga title, lifting the UEFA Cup and regularly rubbing shoulders with Europe's elite in the UEFA Champions League.
Not only were they punching at the same weight on Matchday 4, but Regensburg delivered a unanimous win by means of knockout - with their New Zealand midfielder at his influential best.
The 22-year-old opted not to go to the Tokyo Olympics as he looked to settle in at Regensburg after joining on a season-long loan from Bayern Munich in the summer. It was Singh's second year in Bundesliga 2 having spent the first half of last term on loan at Nuremberg, albeit without making more than 11 appearances before returning to Munich. In the second half of 2020/21 he was a regular in the record champions' reserve team, playing 16 times in the third division.
"I want to take the next step in my career," Singh said upon joining Regensburg. "I'm an attacking player and I like to have the ball and to entertain the fans."
Singh has done precisely that in his first few months on the banks of the Danube, terrorising opposition defenders with his intrepid runs. "I want to play as much as I can here and help the team reach its objectives with goals and assists," he added.
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Those objectives may not have been clearly formulated, but it is fair to say that being second after just one defeat in the first nine rounds of fixtures would have been beyond even the most optimistic expectations in northern Bavaria. To do so playing such an entertaining, attack-minded brand of football has got Regensburg fans dreaming of seeing a third Bavarian club in the Bundesliga next season.
"We're happy with the way things are at the moment," admitted coach Mersad Selimbegovic. "And I'm proud of the way the lads are playing, but we've got to move on and keep the momentum going, otherwise we run the risk of thinking we're better than we really are."
Selimbegovic admitted that a bit of luck has played its part too, but he believes that the Regensburg players are getting the breaks that their attitudes deserve. "What made me the happiest today was to see the way we responded after conceding," he said after his side stunned Schalke. "The lads carried on playing and kept their cool. They're delighted with every challenge and every throw-in they win, and you get the feeling they're there for each other with everything that they do, to help each other iron out mistakes.
"We're on a roll right now and we've got to keep it going."
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