Succession

By: Chris | January 22nd, 2008

As the transfer season edges closer to its finish, the subject of HSV’s most important transfer looms ever larger–who will succeed Huub Stevens as manager when he leaves this summer.

[Update: OK, I was scooped again. After I finished reading the football news this morning, my good friends at Goal.com were kind enough (bastards!) to post this story without notifying me. Sincere thanks to resident B'liga expert Jan for including the link in his comment on the original post. The new story is that there is a significant difference of opinion on who the new manager should be between the club chairman Bernd Hoffman and Herr Beiersdorfer: Hoffman wants current Mainz manager Jurgen Klopp while Didi wants Fred Rutten (?!). ]

Huub Stevens’ tenure with HSV has been nothing short of heroic. When he took over management of the club from Thomas Doll on 2 February 2007, HSV were firmly entrenched in the relegation zone (Hamburg are the only B’liga club that has never been relegated); he steered the side to a record of 9 victories and 4 draws to 3 defeats over the final 16 weeks of the campaign, pulling off a miraculous 7th place finish. The side has maintained the momentum this season, qualifying for UEFA Cup (and finishing the group stage undefeated and atop their group) and finishing the first half in third place in the Bundesliga table.

In November 2007, though, Huub announced that he would be leaving HSV at the end of the season to become manager at PSV Eindhoven. He revealed that his wife was chronically ill and frequently confined to an Eindhoven hospital and that his desire to be with her drove his decision. And this is where we find ourselves now. So who’s going to replace our beloved Huub? Nobody can replace him, but someone will carry on his success with the club. With or without vDV, this is a very good, young side.

Here’s one man’s list of potential candidates:

Guus Hiddink - Hasn’t had his contract with the Russian national team extended and apparently is not a candidate for the Dutch national job. Odds: 500-1

Martin Jol - Has plenty of time on his hands after being sacked by Tottenham. Recently got some props from former HSV star Erik Meijer. Odds: 500-1

Otto Rehhagel - A darkhorse candidate suggested by Bundesliga uber-blogger Jan. Hasn’t renewed his contract with the Greek national team. Odds: 7-2

Bert van Marwijk - Currently managing Eredivisie side Feyenoord. His sides play a very conservative style and he is not known for developing young players. Not my favorite. Odds: 500-1

Fred Rutten - Currently managing Eredivisie side FC Twente. Rutten probably is not a strong candidate, as he recently expressed his satisfaction at being both manager and technical director at Twente when the PSV job opened in November. Odds: 2-1

And this just in–Marco van Basten. That’s right, the current Oranje manager hasn’t had his contract renewed with the KNVB (Royal Dutch FA) and met with Huub and Sporting director Dietmar Beiersdorfer on Sunday, presumably for an interview. Odds: 7-2

For those of you scoring at home, that’s 5 Dutchmen and the Kind der Bundesliga, with three national managers thrown in for good measure. Personally, I’d favor van Basten or Rehhagel. My hope is that the board don’t drag out the search unnecessarily. If they do, this story will hang over the dressing room like a proverbial black cloud (like other situations at the club), which would be really bad news.

Only 1 more week to go!