‘Holleraxe’ hopes to cut Hamburg losses

BERLIN: Former Hamburg SV defender Bernd Hollerbach will need to live up to his nickname of “Holleraxe” if he is to whip the Bundesliga club back into shape and help them avoid relegation as they prepare to face RB Leipzig tomorrow.

Hollerbach, a trained butcher who was known for his no-nonsense approach during a sevenyear playing stint at Hamburg, took over from sacked coach Markus Gisdol this week with a clear mandate of maintaining the club’s 100 per cent Bundesliga record.

Hamburg are the only side to have played every season in the top division since its creation in 1963 but the former champions have been involved in two relegation playoffs in the last four seasons and narrowly escaped another one in the last campaign.

It has not been much different this season after they opened with two straight wins before slipping into an all-too-familiar slump. They managed just two more victories in their next 17 matches with the former European champions languishing in 17th place on 15 points.

“The very first thing we need to do is to present ourselves as a unit so that we have order and stability in our game,” Hollerbach said.

Hollerbach is no stranger to difficult missions, having taken Wuerzburger Kickers, with the lowest budget in the fourth division, up to the second division in consecutive seasons from 2015.

He had earlier won the Bundesliga as Felix Magath’s assistant at VfL Wolfsburg in 2009 and then followed the same coach to Schalke.

Leaders Bayern Munich are cruising towards their record-extending sixth consecutive Bundesliga title, having already carved out a 16-point advantage as they prepare to host Hoffenheim tomorrow.