<a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/martin-jol/" rel="attachment wp-att-41" title="Martin Jol"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/07/hsv.jpg" alt="Martin Jol" align="right" height="339" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="300"></figure></div></a>Fred Rutten isn’t the only new Dutch manager in the Bundesliga, as ex-Tottenham Martin Jol took over the reigns of Hamburg earlier this month. It’s been nearly 30 years since Jol’s last appearance in Germany. He made 9 appearances for Bayern Munich as a midfielder in 1978/79 before returning to the Netherlands the next season. His managerial journey has now mirrored his playing career, rotating among the northwestern European triangle of the Netherlands, England and Germany. This time around he hopes to spend more than a year in the Bundesliga.
Jol will be Hamburg’s 26th gaffer in the past 45 years. While this seems like a lot it’s actually the norm for the league (as next week’s entry on Bruno Labbadia will detail). The only manager to last longer than 4 years at Hamburg? Ernst Happel. Yes, he of Ernst-Happel-Stadion fame (the stadium was named for the two time European Cup winner and not vice versa, in case you were wondering). While fans would love it if Jol could emulate Happel’s European triumphs, they’d be satisfied with replicating his domestic success. Coincidentally both Happel and Jol began their managerial careers at ADO Den Haag. Anyway, it’s been 25 years since he Happel brought home the team’s last championship. Since then they’ve been a steady, if not spectacular, club:
 <a href="http://www.bundesligatalk.com/the-new-gaffer-introducing-jol-at-hamburg/40/hamburg-position/" rel="attachment wp-att-46" title="Hamburg Position"><div><figure class="external-image"><img loading="lazy" src="http://epltalk.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/8/files/2008/08/hsv-tabellenpositionen.jpg" alt="Hamburg Position" align="middle" height="200" hspace="15" vspace="15" width="480"></figure></div></a>
They own the unique distinction of being the only remaining original Bundesliga side never to have been relegated. To continue staying afloat in the Bundesliga and hopefully challenge for silverware Hamburg must first and foremost continue developing their Dutch pipeline.
Currently Hamburg employ four Dutch players in their first team: Joris Mathijsen, Nigel de Jong, Romeo Castelen, and captain Rafael van der Vaart. Chelsea-flop Khalid Boulahrouz is also a recent member of this group. Together they comprise the second-largest national contingent in the squad and arguably its most talented. Hamburg has developed in somewhat of a Dutch Portugal. Portugal, for obvious reasons, is the destination of choice for young Brazilian talent making their initial move to Europe. Those who display enough promise are then snapped up by larger clubs. A crude analogy, to be sure, but it effectively describes the situation. Like the Bundesliga at large, Hamburg in particular has evolved into a showroom for foreign talent before it moves on to more lucrative English or Mediterranean shores.
The most obvious example of this will soon be Rafael van der Vaart, who has made his feelings quite clear about leaving Hamburg over the past year. For a time the rumor was that he’d end up at the Mestalla with Valencia. Now the bids have centered around the Spanish capital, either as part of Atletico’s summer signing spree or as Real’s ersatz Ronaldo. Although his contract runs through the 2009-2010 season it is clear that he is on his way out and almost certainly to the land of his mother’s birth. Hamburg would be well-advised to sell soon rather than risk losing a hefty (approximately 15 million Euro) transfer fee thanks to the <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/smartapi/cgi/sga_doc?smartapi!celexplus!prod!CELEXnumdoc&amp;lg=en&amp;numdoc=61993J0415" title="Bosman Ruling Text" target="_blank">Bosman ruling</a>.
The best way to spend the van der Vaart money would be exactly how the club has in the past, on young players. While no one has or will likely ever confuse Hamburg for Arsenal, the club have made the decision to pursue mostly young professionals (three of the four Dutch players above are 25 or younger, for instance). It seems unlikely that Jol will alter this policy, although were he to try he’d find himself dealing with a much stingier board than Tottenham’s (and he won’t have a repeat of his run-in with Spurs’ director of football Damien Comolli).
Is Jol the man to have Hamburg fans partying like it’s 1983? Is there a limit to how many Dutch players German fans can stomach in the squad? Is it only a matter of time before Hamburg, taking their cue from North London, replace Jol with Sevilla’s current coach, Manolo Jimenez?
Next Week: Bruno Labbadia at Bayer Leverkusen

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg

The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg - World Soccer Talk

<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="/files/2008/07/r80training.jpg" alt="r80training.jpg" align="right" hspace="10" vspace="5"></figure></div>It’s hard to label any transfer deal that costs 21 million Euros a bargain but considering the numbers that have been thrown around this summer, Ronaldinho’s move to AC Milan looks to be cheap. The former two-time World Player of the Year (2004, 2005) signed a three-year contract at the San Siro after enduring a frustrating campaign with Barcelona. At 28, I think he’s far from being over-the-hill or past his best as many pundits have been saying. A change of scenery and joining up with fellow Brazilians Kaká and Alexandre Pato could be just what he needs to rejuvenate his career.
Milan are hoping to bounce back from last season’s disappointing campaign that saw them finish fifth and miss out on a Champions League spot and are looking for the Brazilian trio to lead their attack. Ronaldinho has payed immediate dividends on the financial front as Rossoneri fans snapped up 5,230 season tickets the day he was unveiled to the Italian media as the club’s latest signing. <a href="http://www.acmilan.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The club’s official website</a> reported that it received more than 10 times the average daily volume of visitors since news of his transfer.
<div><figure class="external-image"><img src="/files/2008/07/r80.jpg" alt="r80.jpg" align="left" hspace="10" vspace="5"></figure></div>As pictured to the left,&nbsp; Ronaldinho will begin life in Italy with a new number. He will wear the number 80, he was born in 1980, as his number 10 shirt is already taken by Dutch midfielder Clarence Seedorf.&nbsp; AC Milan stated on their website that club policy is that they have never and would not demand that any of their players give away their number.
The other big news story coming out of the San Siro these days is that Kaká is a reported transfer target for Chelsea. However, that interest appears to be going nowhere with Milan dismissing reports that they had received a mega offer or were ready to accept one. Milan’s vice-president Adriano Galliani stated “We will never sell him. Even if we received an offer of 300m from Chelsea. The only way we would ever consider letting him go is if it was his desire.”
Barcelona will look to Alexander Hleb as a playmaking left-sided replacement after he completed a reported £11.8m (according to the BBC) move to the Catalan giants from Arsenal. The deal could rise to £13.5m depending on how well Barca do during Hleb’s stay at the club. Hleb made 129 appearances after he joined Arsenal in 2005 when the club paid Stuttgart £11.2m for his services. Hleb is Barca’s fifth signing of the summer and he joins Seydou Keita, Gerard Pique, Martin Caceres and Daniel Alves in a new-look squad next season. 
 
One of AC Milan’s main rivals for Serie A honors this coming season will be Juventus, who made steps to strengthen their midfield. They agreed on a 10m Euro deal with Sevilla for midfielder 
Christian Poulsen, who has signed a four-year deal with his new club. Juve manager Claudio Ranieri’s focus appears to be on defence as he had early brought in former Aston Villa defender Olof Mellberg on a free. Poulsen has developed a reputation for crossing the line and it will be interesting to see how Italian fans react to him. He was at the centre of the Totti spitting incident at Euro 2004 (Totti is still upset about it according to this goal.com article) and was labelled a “coward” for <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZU4pLJ80oVU" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the treatment he gave Kaka</a> (video link courtesy of 101greatgoals.com) during a Champions League encounter in 2006 while he was with Schalke.
The list of departures from Arsenal continued to grow as central midfielder Gilberto Silva leaves to join Greek side Panathinaikos. Arsenal signed Gilberto from Brazilian club side Atletico Mineiro in 2002 after he impressed at the World Cup. Silva was an integral part of the Gunners’ side that won the Premier League in 2003/04 and won the FA Cup in 2003 and 2005. Gilberto was relegated to a few substitute appearances because of the emergence of Mathieu Flamini and Cesc Fabregas. However, with Flamini and the 31-year-old Gilberto both leaving the club this summer, Arsenal will have to hope that Abou Diaby can take the next step forward. Diaby has long been touted as the replacement for former Gunners midfielder Patrick Vieira though he could have competion from Denilson and Alexandre Song.
One player not leaving Emirates Stadium, at least not at the moment is Emmanuel Adebayor. Ronaldinho’s capture has put an end to Adebayor’s hopes of moving to Milan. Milan’s vice-president had previously stated that only Adebayor or Ronaldinho would end up at San Siro this summer.
Meanwhile, after all the furor over Real Madrid’s expressed interest in Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United have tabled an official bid for Dimitar Berbatov, offering Tottenham an undisclosed amount for their star striker. Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy says he has no plans to sell and has&nbsp; lodged an official complaint with the Premier League against Manchester United over the comments allegedly made by Sir Alex Ferguson regarding his plans to sign Berbatov.
Levy has called Ferguson a hypocrite in reacting to comments attributed to Ferguson by The Sun, comments which the United boss emphatically denies having made. Spurs have handed the Premier League a dossier of evidence compiled over the last year and I for one tend to back Levy’s claim. If Spurs’ evidence holds up then Unted are likely to be charged with tapping-up Berbatov and the whole deal may fall apart. Ferguson is considering legal action against Levy for defamation and the whole thing is set to get very nasty.
Lastly, Chelsea have agreed to sell defender Khalid Boulahrouz to Stuttgart.&nbsp; Despite not having a good season on loan at Sevilla, where he struggled with both form and fitness, Boulahrouz’s performances in Holland’s Euro 2008 campaign, has pushed the deal into £4m region according to a number of news sources. Boulahrouz failed to impress during his time at Chelsea and by moving back to the Bundesliga, he hopes to recapture the strong club form he had with Hamburg before making a £10m move to Stamford Bridge in 2006.

Transfer Market Update &#8211; AC Milan's Bargain And Manchester United's Hypocrisy

Transfer Market Update - AC Milan's Bargain And Manchester United's Hypocrisy - World Soccer Talk

Transfer Market Update – AC Milan's Bargain And Manchester United's Hypocrisy

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The New Gaffer: Introducing Jol at Hamburg

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Transfer Market Update – AC Milan's Bargain And Manchester United's Hypocrisy