Hickersberger successor named
Friday, October 28, 2005
Article summary
SV Pasching's Georg Zellhofer will take over as coach of SK Rapid Wien in January when Josef Hickersberger (pictured) starts his new role with Austria.
Article body
President's decision
Rapid president Rudolf Edlinger chose Zellhofer from a list of four candidates after deciding that the club needed to resolve the issue of their new coach as soon as possible to allow the players and Hickersberger to concentrate on their remaining fixtures before the winter break.
Official takeover
Zellhofer, 45, will officially take charge on 1 January and has signed a contract until 2008. "It is an honour to get a call from Rapid," said the man who led Pasching from the fourth division to the Austrian Bundesliga. "I'm looking forward to it."
'An excellent coach'
The players are pleased with Edlinger's choice, with captain Steffen Hofmann saying: "Zellhofer has shown his quality with Pasching over the last two years. He brought them to the top division and led them into the UEFA Cup. He is an excellent coach."
Ivanschitz concurs
Team-mate Andreas Ivanschitz, who also captains the Austria national team, added: "He is a good coach with plenty of experience. I think we should not compare him with Hickersberger. He is a very good coach in his own right and I think it will work out well for us."
