Toppmöller to handle Hamburg
Thursday, October 23, 2003
Article summary
Former Bayer 04 Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmöller is back in football after replacing Kurt Jara at Hamburger SV.
Article body
Jara sacked
Hamburg appointed Toppmöller after dismissing Kurt Jara, with the club lying 13th in the Bundesliga table. They exited the UEFA Cup at the first-round stage last week at the hands of FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk - losing 3-0 in Ukraine to go out 4-2 on aggregate.
Change confirmed
Club spokesman Marinus Bester said: "I can confirm that Kurt Jara has been sacked and that Klaus Toppmöller will take over as head coach." Jara had been in charge since October 2001 and took Hamburg to fourth place last season, but Sunday's 4-0 defeat by 1. FC Kaiserlautern spelt the end of his reign.
Former coach of the year
Toppmöller, voted 2002 German coach of the year after Leverkusen reached the Champions League and German Cup finals and were runners-up in the Bundesliga, left the BayArena in February with the side struggling against relegation. It is his tenth job in coaching.
First game
The 52-year-old will sign a contract until 30 June 2006 and will be presented to the media today, the Hamburg website announced. His first game at the helm is at home to FC Schalke 04 on Saturday. "I always said I would take over a club with a name that makes a click in my head," said Toppmöller, a former German international.
