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Jol named as new Hamburg manager
Jeremy Campbell
The
Guardian
Saturday May 17 2008
Former Tottenham manager Martin
Jol has been appointed coach of German side Hamburg
SV (HSV) from the beginning of next season. The 52-year-old
replaces fellow Dutchman Huub Stevens, who is to step
down at the end of this campaign.
In a statement the club said: "Dutch-born Martin
Jol will become HSV head coach at the start of the 2008-09
season. The 52-year-old will take over from his compatriot
Huub Stevens, who is leaving Hamburg to join the Dutch
first division side PSV Eindhoven to be closer to has
family."
"We are sure that we have appointed the right
coach for HSV", said the HSV chairman Bernd Hoffmann.
HSV will hold a press conference next week to present
their new coach. The team currently lie fifth in the
Bundesliga with one game remaining; if they remain in
that position they will qualify for the Uefa Cup.
Jol was sacked as Spurs manager last October following
the Premier League club's poor start to the 2007-08
season. It was a messy and protracted business, with
reports that the club had approached then-Sevilla coach
Juande Ramos with a "dizzying" offer as early
as August. The courtship dragged on for two more months,
while the board at White Hart Lane continued to support
Jol publicly.
In an extraordinary climax to the affair, Jol's sacking
emerged during Tottenham's Uefa Cup defeat by Getafe.
It appeared he was the last to know, and the events
completed his unseemly humiliation, which most observers
felt was undeserved, following two consecutive fifth-placed
finishes in the Premier League.
Before the beginning of last season, Spurs were touted
as the team most likely to break into the Premier League's
top four, and Jol was credited with developing a team
capable of claiming a Champions League spot. But Spurs
failed to meet the expectation, and Jol paid dearly
for the failure to match the board's lofty ambition.
Numerous clubs have been touted as possible destinations
for Jol since his sacking by Tottenham, but the role
with HSV will be his first coaching job since leaving
White Hart Lane.
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