Zinnbauer named as Hamburg boss

Hamburg chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer named the club's under-23 coach Josef "Joe" Zinnbauer as the Bundesliga side's new coach at a press conference on Tuesday.

Although the new coach is a relatively unknown entity in the Bundesliga, Zinnbauer said his appointment was more than an interim solution.

"Joe should create new energy and motivate the team," said HSV chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer. "We think that he can do it and we are absolutely behind him."

"We are convinced that the team will show new form under his leadership in the next weeks," Beiersdorfer added.

Until now, Zinnbauer had coached Hamburg's lower league team in the Regionalliga-Nord competition. He got off to the perfect start with the junior outfit this season, winning the first eight matches of the campaign to top the league table. In contrast Hamburg's Bundesliga team, under previous coach Mirko Slomka, had only managed one point so far this season, and are still to score a goal.

As to whether the club had approached other better-known coaches before giving Zinnbauer the job, Beiersdorfer was not prepared to comment in the press conference. He also said though that he "can't rule out that they may have one or two other conversations with others."

Having narrowly avoided relegation at the end of last season, Hamburg spent heavily during the summer transfer window. The club made striker Pierre-Michel Lasogga a permanent fixture after his year on loan, and secured the services of Lewis Holtby and Julian Green. Brazilian Cleber was recruited to bolster the defense, as was Matthias Ostrzolek, while Nicolai Müller also joined the club.

Zinnbauer will lead the club's first team in his first training on Wednesday, ahead of HSV's home game on Saturday against Bayern Munich.

al/rc (dpa, SID)