…but not before next season. At a news conference in Hamburg, Huub Stevens, the current coach of the Bundesliga’s third-placed side said he would be returning home to the Netherlands at the end of this season to manage PSV Eindhoven. Stevens regretted leaving after just 1-1/2 seasons, but alluded to the fact that there are “there are more important things in life”, which is a reference to his wife, who has been suffering through a chronic illness.

In a release on Hamburg’s website Stevens said he was very clear to PSV that he would not breach his current contract but also was clear with Hamburg that he was speaking with PSV about his future. He went on to say that “PSV is of course not simply any other club for me. I worked there as youth coach and coordinator for a total of 18 years. I always said that I would return one day.”

Stevens is a former PSV player and during his time as a player at PSV he earned 18 caps for the Netherlands and scored 1 goal. After retiring, he spent some time as a youth coach with PSV before starting his club career at Roda JC. His next move was to join Schalke 04 in 1996 and had some success there winning the German Cup twice as well as the UEFA Cup in 1997. After spells at Hertha Berlin and Cologne, Stevens returned to Roda in 2005 but joined Hamburg in February this year after Thomas Doll was sacked with the club bottom of the table. Stevens guided them out of the relegation zone and up to seventh place.

PSV also announced that Sef Vergoossen, who is managing Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan until the end of the year, will return to the Netherlands when his contract expires to finish the season at PSV. Jan Wouters, who took over from Ronald Koeman on a temporary basis after Koeman joined Valencia in October, will stay in charge until Vergoossen’s arrival. Vergoossen managed Belgian giants Racing Genk between 2001 and 2004, winning the Manager of the Year award in 2001-02. He has also had stints with Dutch clubs VVV Venlo (one of my favourite club names), MVV and Roda JC.