Hamburg coach Armin Veh has been dismissed following Saturday's 6-0 defeat at Bayern Munich, with his assistant Michael Oenning placed in charge until the end of the season. Veh only last week announced that he would not be renewing his contract in the summer, but Saturday's crushing reverse in Munich means he will not even make it that far. "After he had announced his departure at the end of the season and given the impressions from the last two games, we have decided to intervene now and part company from Armin Veh,'' said Hamburg's director of sport Bastian Reinhardt in a press release. Former Nurnberg coach Oenning, who was Veh's right-hand man, will now take over with the former reserve team coach Rodolfo Cardoso promoted to his assistant. Veh made it clear last night that he would not bring his resignation forward and that he would have to be pushed out of the door. "I am not going to throw in the towel,'' he said. "But I don't know where things will go from here. I will just travel back to Hamburg and we will wait and see.'' He was informed of the board's decision on Sunday morning. His dismissal is just the latest chapter in a turbulent season at Hamburg, and goalkeeper Frank Rost heavily criticised his club's board after Saturday's defeat saw the northern Germany club sink to a new low. Squabbling and back-stabbing at board level in recent weeks had prompted Veh to hand in his resignation at the end of the season, and Rost has become the first player to speak about the club's problems and how they are affecting the team. And he did not hold back with his rage after yesterday's crushing defeat. "This has been going on the whole year and they just cannot work in any peace and quiet,'' he said. "There are so many small issues which sum together into one giant one. "What we are seeing is a falling giant and if we get hit by just one more little stone, then this giant is going to fall. But too many people are underestimating this - they are putting their personal egos first. It is incredible.'' Rost says the club simply has no plan, and nobody who is ultimately being held responsible for it. And he cited his own situation as a perfect example of the club's mismanagement over the last 12 months. Goalkeeper Jaroslav Drobny was bought from Hertha Berlin last summer, and Rost says the club clearly had not consulted with Veh, who still picked Rost as his number one this season. "Why was he bought? He was bought just to keep Rost's mouth shut, that's why,'' added the 37-year-old on Sky television. "But if you make a signing like that, then he has got to play. "You shouldn't just make a game out of it in public, and I don't give a damn if I get another fine or have to explain myself again.'' Hamburg dropped to eighth after yesterday's defeat, and they are six points adrift of the top six and their minimum aim of a place in Europe next season. http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/s...cked-after-bayern-hit-hamburg-for-six?cc=5739 Thoughts?
Hamburger SV, like Schalke 04 and to an extent Eintracht Frankfurt are the Newcastle United of German football. Underachievers living off past glories who are run by megalamaniacal idiots. As soon as Hamburg have any sniff of success (Europa League semi-final last season; reasonable league peformance) the in-house fighting starts and the success on the pitch suffers. Its not the first time and it won't be the last. I feel really sorry for Armin Veh, a genuinely nice guy and a good trainer; but even those most German football insiders know that HSV is chaotic, I don't think they realise how chaotic it is until its too late.
