The only ever-present club in the history of the Bundesliga, Hamburger SV is in complete chaos currently. The chaotic situation at the club has expanded almost a decade as keeper Frank Rost said recently.
Hamburger SV chairman, Bernd Hoffmann was on a skiing trip while the team was traveling to Munich for a very important Bundesliga encounter. Hoffman had to cut his ‘vacation’ short in order to return to Germany and fire Armin Veh, the coach of his club, who was supposed to resign at the end of the season anyways.
Hamburg is the fourteenth richest club in the world. However, the club hasn’t won an ‘actual’ trophy since the German Cup and the German Super Cup in 1987. Their next trophy was the DFB Liga-Pokal, a preseason competition that was abolished in 2007.
Veh spoke extensively about the club before the match against Bayern. He felt that it is quite impossible to work at Hamburg. The problems behind the scenes make it very difficult for anyone to work at the club. Bernd Hoffmann is perhaps the most hated chairman in the entire Bundesliga. He is extremely unpopular amongst the fans.
The situation with Bastian Reinhardt made the players feel even worse about the club. Reinhardt’s contract at the club is not over. However, Hamburg publicly courted Matthias Sammer not too long ago to take over from Reinhardt as the sporting director. Sammer backed out at the last moment to stay on with the DFB (German Football Federation).
Just as Ricardo Moniz served as caretaker last season, Michael Oenning has taken over this season. Oenning is a ‘player’s coach’ and has a contract till 2012. If Oenning can somehow help the club out of its recent mess, his task will be nothing short of a miracle. The players were not giving it their all for most of this season. This was clearly evident in the Bayern match. After Arjen Robben scored Bayern’s second, Hamburg basically packed up their bags.
Senior figures at the club such as Frank Rost and David Jarolim are dissatisfied. Jarolim, who has been a faithful servant at the club down the years, told German tabloid, Bild, that he is extremely frustrated with his current status at the team. Frank Rost, after the final whistle in Munich, was extremely irate and lashed out at Bernd Hoffmann.
Veh’s decision to give the captain’s armband to a new signing, Heiko Westermann was surprising. Perhaps handing the armband to a player who has known very little about football outside of Hamburger SV would have helped the situation. Felix Magath handed the armband to Manuel Neuer while Frank Schaefer handed it to Lukas Podolski at Köln.
Bringing Köln into perspective, they absolutely hammered Hanover on Friday. Podolski had a good game as he has so often had for his hometown club this season. The win over Hanover was Köln’s sixth straight home win of the season. The goal Lukas scored on Friday night was his eleventh of the season in the league. He also has four assists to his name.
The turnaround of Podolski has been nothing short of magnificent considering his problems at Bayern and in his previous season at Köln. He has taken the captain’s job responsibly and can look forward to a bright future; a future that looked bleak a couple of years ago at Bayern München.
As far as Hamburg is concerned, the chaos is set to continue. When this chaos will end is beyond everyone. Perhaps with Hoffmann and Reinhardt leaving the club this year, newcomer Frank Arnesen can overhaul the entire staff and help the club achieve the heights that it certainly deserves to achieve.
Hamburg is the fourteenth richest club in the world. However, the club hasn’t won an ‘actual’ trophy since the German Cup and the German Super Cup in 1987. Their next trophy was the DFB Liga-Pokal, a preseason competition that was abolished in 2007.
Veh spoke extensively about the club before the match against Bayern. He felt that it is quite impossible to work at Hamburg. The problems behind the scenes make it very difficult for anyone to work at the club. Bernd Hoffmann is perhaps the most hated chairman in the entire Bundesliga. He is extremely unpopular amongst the fans.
The situation with Bastian Reinhardt made the players feel even worse about the club. Reinhardt’s contract at the club is not over. However, Hamburg publicly courted Matthias Sammer not too long ago to take over from Reinhardt as the sporting director. Sammer backed out at the last moment to stay on with the DFB (German Football Federation).
Just as Ricardo Moniz served as caretaker last season, Michael Oenning has taken over this season. Oenning is a ‘player’s coach’ and has a contract till 2012. If Oenning can somehow help the club out of its recent mess, his task will be nothing short of a miracle. The players were not giving it their all for most of this season. This was clearly evident in the Bayern match. After Arjen Robben scored Bayern’s second, Hamburg basically packed up their bags.
Senior figures at the club such as Frank Rost and David Jarolim are dissatisfied. Jarolim, who has been a faithful servant at the club down the years, told German tabloid, Bild, that he is extremely frustrated with his current status at the team. Frank Rost, after the final whistle in Munich, was extremely irate and lashed out at Bernd Hoffmann.
Veh’s decision to give the captain’s armband to a new signing, Heiko Westermann was surprising. Perhaps handing the armband to a player who has known very little about football outside of Hamburger SV would have helped the situation. Felix Magath handed the armband to Manuel Neuer while Frank Schaefer handed it to Lukas Podolski at Köln.
Bringing Köln into perspective, they absolutely hammered Hanover on Friday. Podolski had a good game as he has so often had for his hometown club this season. The win over Hanover was Köln’s sixth straight home win of the season. The goal Lukas scored on Friday night was his eleventh of the season in the league. He also has four assists to his name.
The turnaround of Podolski has been nothing short of magnificent considering his problems at Bayern and in his previous season at Köln. He has taken the captain’s job responsibly and can look forward to a bright future; a future that looked bleak a couple of years ago at Bayern München.
As far as Hamburg is concerned, the chaos is set to continue. When this chaos will end is beyond everyone. Perhaps with Hoffmann and Reinhardt leaving the club this year, newcomer Frank Arnesen can overhaul the entire staff and help the club achieve the heights that it certainly deserves to achieve.
