New coach but still possible
©IMAGO
Hamburger SV will play the remaining three second division games under interim coach Merlin Polzin until the end of the year. Sports director Stefan Kuntz announced this on Friday at the press conference before the home game against SV Darmstadt 98 (Sunday, 1:30 p.m.). The 34-year-old Polzin recently took over for head coach Steffen Baumgart, who was on leave, and provided the first argument for possible continued employment with a 3-1 win in Karlsruhe.
“The trust not only applies to the next game, but until the winter break,” announced Kuntz, who does not want to make his decision dependent on the Darmstadt result. “He doesn’t have to worry so much about the result from the weekend. Given the work and the reactions from the team that we have seen in the last few days, he has this trust with confidence.”
Most recently, Bruno Labbadia was considered the favorite for the coaching position. For now it’s Polzin. But it is “not ruled out that I will continue to meet with other coaching candidates,” said Kuntz. Labbadia, who has already worked twice in Hamburg and whose environment, according to “Mopo”, is said to be upset about the allegedly incomplete communication from those responsible for the club, appears to be out of the running. According to reports, the Swiss Raphael Wicky (unemployed), the Swede Henrik Rydström (Malmö) and the Frenchman Jocelyn Gourvennec (unemployed) remain on the list of possible successors.