'Slomka new Hamburg coach'
February 16, 2014
German media on Sunday reported that the 46-year-old Mirko Slomka (pictured above) is to become Hamburg's 11th coach in just over 10 years, after the club sacked ex-Netherlands coach Bert van Marwijk on Saturday.
The team has not yet confirmed what is a widely expected appointment. But reports from sources close to Hamburg's board say only details of the contract need to be finalized.
The official announcement is likely to be made on Monday.
Slomka has had spells at Bundesliga sides Schalke 04 and Hannover 96, being sacked from the latter position in December after a series of away defeats.
He helped Schalke to second place in 2007, and took Hannover to the Europa League in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
If the appointment is confirmed, it will now be hoped he can prevent Hamburg - currently second from bottom in the table - from being relegated for the first time in its history.
Van Marwijk was relieved of his post, along with his assistant Roel Coumans, after Hamburg's 4-2 drubbing on Saturday: at the hands of Eintracht Braunschweig. It was the team's eighth consecutive defeat overall, and the seventh in the Bundesliga.
link:17108765:Van Marwijk# had held the job for just 143 days.
tj/hc (AFP, dpa)