Hamburger SV - Meine Perle

Hamburg have announced that Interim manager Josef Zinnbauer will be promoted to full time boss. Zinnbauer, 44, was confirmed as the new boss by chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer. His assistants will be Patrick Rahmen, Carsten Schünemann and Stefan Wächter.

Zinnbauer has no previous managerial experience at this level, having managed VfL Oldenburg, Victoria Hamburg and Hamburg II, whilst coaching and scouting for Karlsruhe SC, who he also played for.

Zinnbauer is also known to be a good friend of vice captain Heiko Westermann. It is thought that Rafael van der Vaart, the team captain under previous boss Slomka, may be forced to relinquish his post. With his contract running out at the end of the season, van der Vaart may not even last the whole year.

Zinnbauer has already been in charge for the pre-season fixtures, and Horst Hrubesch amongst others felt that if a manager would be in charge for this vital time then it should be that manager who leads the team into the season. After a tour of Austria, Hamburg drew with Red Star and Partizan from Belgrade, lost to Serbian side Sloga and drew with Bologna. The DFB-Pokal first round, the side's next match, will be against 1. FC Heidenheim. So far Zinnbauer has made one signing, the veteran Austrian striker Stefan Maierhofer; however, it is as yet unclear what say he will have in the transfer market - and what influence he had in the Maierhofer deal.

Zinnbauer will not be the only new manager in the Bundesliga this season, as Kasper Hjulmand has replaced Thomas Tuchel at Mainz, Frank Rjikaard has taken charge at Werder Bremen, and Roger Schmidt has been appointed as Bayer Leverkusen boss. Also, Armin Veh has swapped Frankfurt for Stuttgart and has been replaced by Thomas Schaaf at the Commerzbank Arena.

Zinnbauer was unveiled at the Imtech Arena yesterday in front of journalists and fans alike. He happily told them,

"I am absolutely delighted to be the new manager. I never could have expected this the day I joined the club as a coach and not even when Mirko [Slomka] left. It will be a challenge without any doubt but I think I can take whatever the job throws at me. I am determined to see Hamburg succeed and I am confident that we will do so."

When asked about the financial problems that may be facing Hamburg, he laughed off suggestions about insecurity.

"With my background, I don't think there will be many problems! I think a club this big and with this many fans, we will have a lot of chances to improve our finances. In the Bundesliga there is a lot of opportunity for money, and if we will have to work on little money to achieve security then I will happily tighten the strings.

Hmm, interesting, was expecting a big name, but this could present an entirely different storyline to what I was thinking of

Walter:
You look like a fool now don't you

Jonte-23:
Thank you, took me ages

TaroMisaki:
Indeed. They've only got 9 goals so far this year

TheOtherSpecialOne:
Certainly never going to be Magath. Can't stand him. Though my managerial style is similar

Tallery:
His wages are astronomical, and the club doesn't have any money anyway. We'll see what happens.

shylax:
Interesting to see what you think compared to Tallery. Soon we will see what will happen.

Tallery again:
Not a storyline as such, just a save. I do like Zinnbauer so it was an easy choice for me really.