For the third season in a row Hamburger finished 4th and missed out on promotion after late collapse of form. After 2 such campaigns the giants of German football were determined to do better and last summer they appointed progressive coach Daniel Thioune in charge. His first move on the transfer market proved to be a major hit with the signing of the prolific striker Terodde making the latter the league’s top scorer.
All looked great early on with Hamburger opening the campaign with 5 consecutive wins and then following that with 11-game unbeaten run (W7 D4) between mid-December and mid-February. All this established Hamburger in the top 2 and the main question was not if they will get promoted, but if they will do it directly or will have to go through play-offs.
However, for third year running, come the last 10-12 rounds, inexplicable dip of form was witnessed. Hamburger won just 1 of their last 7 away league games (D2 L4) and this awful form on the road resulted in the team dropping out of the top 3. Coach Thioune was sacked in late April, but the main damage was already done by that point and only a week after his departure it was confirmed that Hamburger won’t be able to catch the top 3.
It’s hard to explain how the players must feel after 3 consecutive years of identical fortunes. Clearly psychological help for the group is needed if Hamburger are finally to do what everyone expects them to next term.
