Already, it threatens to be the story of the season. FC Köln were dead, buried and we were just waiting for the post-mortem. Following the worst start to a Bundesliga season in the competition’s near-55-year history – no wins and three draws in the first 16 games, which finished off one of the club’s greatest coaches ever, Peter Stöger – the patient hasn’t just woken up. They’ve put their best clothes on, left the hospital and gone out clubbing.

Saturday’s vital win at fellow strugglers Hamburg, who Effzeh are now only three points behind, was their third in a row since breaking their season duck and has put Stefan Ruthenbeck’s side on the trail of what would be the greatest escape of them all, certainly in the history of German top-flight professional football.

The city’s newspaper Express has quantified the feeling into a popular movement, with its own ‘yes we can’ hashtag, #machetFC, endorsed by a string of celebrities. They include comedian Carolin Kebekus – “no matter what’s happening on Netflix or Amazon, [Köln’s run of wins] is my current favourite series” – mayor Henriette Reker and, of course, Lukas Podolski.

Borussia Dortmund's plans for new start hit by same old Aubameyang problem | Andy Brassell Read more

The real strides have been made within the dressing room, however, with a duo who seemed to symbolise the acceptance that it was too late to avoid the drop. Centre-forward Simon Terrode, returning from Stuttgart in the winter window after establishing himself in the second tier, seemed to be brought back with an eye to the medium term rather than the immediate. He’d scored the goals to get the Swabians back up, so maybe he could do the same for Köln, having looked nowhere near as potent in the top flight.

Instead, Terrode has hit the ground running. “I’ve not become another player,” he insisted after Saturday’s 2-0 victory, sealed by his pair of tidy finishes. “I was putting in the yards at Stuttgart.” That was never in doubt. Yet back with Die Geißböcke, he looks empowered and confident, as if inspired by knowing he is all that stands between the team and resignation to relegation.

Ruthenbeck’s appointment was placed in the same bracket. After Stöger went his retention after stepping up from the under-19s, even after that first win of the Bundesliga season against Wolfsburg before signing off for Christmas, seemed like a placeholder. The appointment of Armin Veh, an established and experienced coach, as director of football just suggested there was a ready-made back-up plan for when Ruthenbeck fell flat on his face.

Yet this win was as much a tribute to the coach as it was to Terrode, described by team-mate Marco Höger as “the presence we needed”. Ruthenbeck is certainly benefitting from having the No 9 Stöger’s team needed, as well as a fit-again Jonas Hector, but Köln were well-organised at the Volkspark, with their generally solid defending the difference.

Ruthenbeck’s next task is controlling the mania that tends to envelop the club. It’s more than passion or enthusiasm, and the wild celebration of the return to Europe after a quarter-of-a-century partially obscured how bad the situation in the Bundesliga was until it was (almost) too late.

The early indications that he will be able to do so are promising. Rather than bask in the euphoria, the coach admitted his team had been “a bit lucky” at certain moments and that “we only really got control of the game at 2-0”. Ruthenbeck also deflected his share of the praise, pointing out the roles of a pair of the city’s folk heroes – assistant Kevin McKenna (“who is responsible for our standards”) and goalkeeper Timo Horn (“I’ve never had the chance to train a goalkeeper like him before”).

He was right to do so. Hamburg began strongly, and could have been in front in the game’s opening seconds had Horn not pulled off a sharp reflex save from André Hahn. The 24-year-old made a couple of other good stops as Köln weathered an early storm, including one from Filip Kostić’s firm drive.

Had Horn not stepped up then the game could have been very different – and perhaps Markus Gisdol would still be HSV coach, instead of having his sacking confirmed on Sunday after a fourth successive defeat. On hearing the news, it was hard not to think of some of his final words in his press conference that followed Saturday’s game. “I hope I’m still a coach tomorrow,” Gisdol had said. “I’ve had a hard time here since my first day.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Markus Gisdol during his post-match press conference. Photograph: Pixathlon/Rex/Shutterstock

Everyone knew that the first part of his statement would not come true, even if they might have had every sympathy with the second part. “I cannot blame my team,” he had said in his post-match press conference, hinting at the major problem during his reign. Poor recruitment has left HSV badly lacking, as was evident on Saturday. Gisdol’s team have rarely been deficient in terms of effort, but the lack of options available to him has left him getting by largely with journeymen, and the odd thrown-in-too-soon shard of young talent, like Jann-Fiete Arp. The manner in which Mërgim Mavraj and Kyriakos Papadopoulos (the latter one of the team’s rare bright sparks) defended as if they were strangers didn’t say much for the coach’s organisational abilities, mind you.

European roundup: Robin Koch sinks Leipzig to bolster Bayern Read more

Gisdol’s replacement is Bernd Hollerbach, a former Hamburg player (and, as Bundesliga commentator Kevin Hatchard points out, the first top-flight coach to have inspired a Gwen Stefani song). Having served as assistant to HSV legend Felix Magath at Wolfsburg and Schalke, his head coach experience is limited to a trio of seasons in charge of hometown club Würzburger Kickers, incorporating two promotions and a relegation.

Hamburg fans will hope Hollerbach can follow in the footsteps of Schalke’s Domenico Tedesco and Heiko Herrlich of Leverkusen, who took similarly large leaps into the unknown at the start of the season but for whose clubs the respective gambles have paid off handsomely. Some believe HSV need to go down to be reborn after a spate of recurrent mistakes in recent years. Köln, for one, wouldn’t agree. The revival can start any time, even when it seems it’s far too late.

Talking points

• Bayern are now 16 points clear after a harder-than-expected 4-2 win over a game Werder Bremen on Sunday, and their rivals slipping up again – two apiece for Thomas Müller and Robert Lewandowski there.

• Their next star turn, Leon Goretzka, who announced his summer move to Munich in the week, was roundly booed by Schalke fans in the 1-1 draw with Hannover. They also unfurled a banner chiding him for choosing “emotionless titles” over “friends”.

• Dortmund again left out Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang for Friday’s draw at Hertha, but Jadon Sancho shone and created Shinji Kagawa’s equaliser. Star of the weekend, though, was Leon Bailey, whose fabulous backheeled goal sent Leverkusen en route to victory at Hoffenheim and into second place.

