It is done

By: Chris | May 6th, 2008

We have our new manager. And he is Martin Jol, formerly with Spurs.

Here are links to the story in Goal.com , Bild.de , and Hamburg Morgenpost.  The announcement will be made publicly on Friday 9 May.

(wait for it.)

(wait for it.)

(wait for it.)

No offense BMJ (that’d be Big Martin Jol), but six freaking months and the best you can do is Martin Jol?! Six months on, I figured they were cloning Sir Alex Ferguson or something. They (HSV) could have hired him (Jol) in December and maybe booked that spot in the CL instead of pissing it away while the search dragged on. SIGH.

Here’s his bio for those of you who either a) have lived under a rock for the past 3 years or b) aren’t that familiar with the Premiership.

Here are some of the positives things be written about his hire (I’m paraphrasing):  He’s a disciplinarian but also a manager who understands that the players are people; he speaks German; he’s had success when not given much to work with.  The one drawback I’ve read: He’s not a particularly adept tactician.  I have to admit I don’t follow Tottenham, so I wasn’t all that familiar with the man. But he is growing on me the more I read up on him.

Bottom line:  The deal is done-and-dusted. Finally. Like I said, they probably could have hired him in December and save a whole lot of heartache. Hopefully, the cloud will now be lifted from the dressing room and HSV will go out and pound Bremen and get that Champions League spot back.

Category: Manager Search, Martin Jol, Team News

Tags: 1. Bundesliga, Hamburger SV, Manager Search, Martin Jol, Team News, Tottenham Hotspur, Werder Bremen

« Resolution? Ha! | Home | Bring on Bremen, Redux »

Subscribe   The Offside RSS Feeds

Print

Share

Comments  

• diana |  May 6th, 2008 at 6:25 am

  
  
  

  Done-and-dusted? Chris, my source says the club is not commenting on the Bild report.

  My source - http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-fblgernedjol&prov=afp&type=lgns

  But anyhow, Martin Jol is alright with me. While the HSV is the club I have a soft spot in the Bundesliga, Spurs is the one I have a soft spot in the Premier League. I swear, I actually almost cried happily when they won the League Cup (or Carling Cup, after the sponsor) over Chelsea (sorry to you Chris :P…I know you are a Chelsea fan as well). I don’t know, it almost came to me.

  Well, back then when Jol was at Spurs, he had led them to fifth place twice. I mean, almost breaking into the top four in the Premier League. That was his best record at the club. But rumours of him being given the sack had been starting to ring just early in this season and it was confirmed after the club’s UEFA Cup group match against Getafe. The situation back then was that there was rumours spreading around he had been given the boot and the club had sought Juande Ramos. I still remembered back then I was very angry at the way the Spurs board treated Martin Jol’s departure. Back then before the eventual announcement of Jol’s given the boot, there has been rumours Ramos is the person to replace Jol and the board had sought the Spainard already beforehand. Well, Spurs are doing okay at the moment and so much of the anger has gone.

  Language-wise, should be no problem if it’s really true Jol’s coming to Germany. Used to studied German literature himself (http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/2005/nov/27/sport.comment3)…aha.

  Posted from Singapore

  

• Chris Murphy |  May 6th, 2008 at 7:23 am

  
  
  

  As a Spurs fan, I think you will see a huge increase in HSV fans in England:) When you realize that he took us to 5th two years running with a fairly dire squad, it’s becoming apparent that he was a much better manager than many thought. I think he will be a great manager for you.

  Posted from United States

  

• tamim |  May 6th, 2008 at 12:28 pm

  
  
  

  noooooo, this guy has a very bad history with egyptians. i hope he cope well with zidan!!!. however he is a good coach for hsv

  Posted from United States

  

• Tommy |  May 7th, 2008 at 2:22 am

  
  
  

  BMJ- Legend, another spurs fan here, his sacking left a bitter taste. I think he’ll do very well in Germany where there seems to be less of a monopoly from the big teams. Never an astute defensive technician but will certainly nurture the players you do have. I can also see him signing some of tottenhams old players which is nice of him-
  I’ve never had any sort of interest in the German league but now consider Hamburg my team in Beer

  Posted from United Kingdom

  

• Matt |  May 8th, 2008 at 3:13 pm

  
  
  

  I think Jol is a good call. I love Tottenham, but it is so hard to meet expectations there. He will be OK in Germany. Not great, and certainly not a legend. But solid and with some nice man management skills. I think he would have handled the VdV soap opera much better.

  Posted from United States

  

Comments are closed