Hamburger Morgenpost reports that HSV fired Jara today and will introduce Toppmöller as new coach tomorrow. Two days ago GM Beiersdorfer still said that Jara will get a chance next weekend against Schalke. The reason for the sudden change of mind could be that they wanted to sign Toppi before Hertha separates from Stevens and makes the race for Toppi.
Not a surprise. Hamburg was terrible against Kaiserlautern. As for Beiserdorf's comments two days ago. . .it's called the "vote of confidence" and it really means the kiss of death.
This should be intriguing. Hamburg has a pretty decent array of offensive talents, and Toppi most certainly employs an attractive, attacking style of football. And goal scoring has been Hamburg's biggest downfall so far. Toppi is already predicting putting Hamburg back with the elite. One would think there is the potential. Plus, Hamburg looks like a great city, and the AOL is a top stadium. It all could be good stuff for Hamburg, it's fans, and the Bundesliga.
I think HSV is a flawed team. Toppi will discover that even if they are playing real well, Hamburg is a borderline UEFA team. I would not expect miracles unless he gets more team speed and a playmaking midfielder (unless Jarolim develops, and I'm skeptical). Given the supposed shortage of money, that's not going to happen, and HSV will continue to limp along.
Did anyone see the Actual Sports Studio (I love calling it that!) on Saturday? Ri-friggin'-diculous. They were calling the BL the "League of Liars" - taking a story by the Bild-Zeitung of all publications and running with it. They made a big deal out of a quote by Willi Reiman calling the Jara move "murder". And then they showed a sound byte with Jara feeling sorry for himself, saying he was going to watch this weekend's games at home on the couch. Well boo hoo. I'm sure HSV was paying the guy minimum wage. And they're "only" giving him a severence payment of 500 grand. Damn, I could live on that for 10 years.