Hannover have had a very poor campaign this year, their eventual position of tenth a product of some excellent end of season form but they spent most of the campaign hovering above the relegation zone. Having narrowly missed out on European participation last season, this year should have been about trying to maintain that standard and perhaps pushing on into the top six or seven but in the end it was not the case. After a positive start to the season, which saw them in fourth after six rounds, their form took a nosedive and at the half way point they found themselves in thirteenth place with a run of seven matches without a win at one stage. This was not what the board expected from their manager and, after 135 league games in charge, Mirko Slomka was relieved of his duties and replaced by the relatively inexperienced coach Tayfun Korkut. Two wins against eventual fifth and sixth placed finishers Wolfsburg and Gladbach followed after the end of the winter break, which suggested it had been a good move, but after that they once again went into free-fall with just one win in ten outings. This left them dangerously exposed to the bottom three but they ground out a result against HSV and from that point they won four of their final five matches which pushed them up to their eventual position of tenth, although all of those wins came against teams who finished below them in the table. Their end of season form may have saved Korkut his job as he was close to being sacked but he may be allowed to continue on into next season now. Few players stand out for Hannover in a season of few highlights but captain Lars Stindl was probably their most consistent performer and chipped in with a number of goals and assists. They have a decent squad on paper but, without Mame Diouf leading the line for them, they were very poor up front and he was missing for much of the second half of the season. A proven goalscorer in the Bundesliga is a must over the summer with Diouf likely to be heading for the exit, they will probably also be able to make a few signings to increase the depth of the squad but they could well face a similar season to this one in their next campaign.
