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Report: Hamburg manager fired two days after Julian Green’s debut

MirkoSlomkaHamburg1 (Getty)

By DAN KARELL

Less than a month into the 2014/2015 Bundesliga season, Hamburg SV have decided to move in a new direction.

According to a report from the Associated Press, Hamburg have fired manager Mirko Slomka just three games into the season. Slomka’s dismissal comes on the heels of a 2-0 defeat last Sunday to Slomka’s former club, Hannover.

The news means that U.S. Men’s National Team winger Julian Green will have a new manager to impress and prove that he deserves a spot in the lineup just a couple of weeks after arriving. Green made his Hamburg and Bundesliga debut in the defeat to Hamburg, starting and playing in the first half before being substituted at halftime.

Slomka was hired by the club last February to save them from relegation, which he managed to do on away goals in the Bundesliga relegation playoffs against Greuther Fuerth. Hamburg fired two managers last season, Bert van Marwijk and Thorsten Fink, before Slomka was appointed.

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What do you think of this news? Worried that Green’s place in the lineup could be gone? How do you expect Green to be impacted by this change?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Sterling was already a great player two years ago. He just didn’t play the whole game. With Julian Green it needs to be proven that he will grow into the player that Sterling already promised to be two years ago.

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  2. This is different from the other yanks. Julian just got there and the new coach will probably change things around from how they’ve been for a while. This could actually benefit green if he looks good in training.

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    • It could mean anything. But I agree I’d have a hard time seeing it as a bad thing. The club made a decision to take on a Bayern player for a season and pay his wages…. he hasn’t don’t anything to merit blame for the problems, so I can’t imagine he won’t get a very fair look.

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  3. Hard to say what will happen to JG since it was his first game in the Bundesliga. Hope the new manager will give him a chance to prove himself.

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  4. This move might be good for Jullian since apparently his first outing didnt impress anybody. Got the hook after 45 minutes. The other possibility is that his manager just didnt see what JK sees

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    • Not saying you are wrong but could it also be that he isn’t completely match fit? Maybe they started him b/c his signing was made a big deal and wanted to show case him some for the fans. Like I said not saying you are wrong just saying there are other possibilities out there.

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      • I have been reading the Hannover Morgenpost every day since the Green transfer was announced. They did not make a big deal about Green specifically but they did write a lot about the 7 new transfers.

        Slomka was seen as being sacked for some time. I don’t believe this will have any affect on Green’s playing time. The only thing that will effect that is Julian Green himself.

    • He probably can’t do a full 90 against guys that much bigger than him. He needs to grow up in a number of ways. It took Raheem Sterling about 2 years of getting sub minutes etc to become what he is. So we need time.

      Hamburg is a mess. I doubt there is really “better” there. I think the HSV board brought him in as much as Slomka did. I hope Green gets to play against Bayern that will be a amusing.

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      • Then how did he go the full 90 against the Czech Republic? Also, I see no difference between Sterling and Green strength wise.

      • He went the fully 90 because he was left in the game… he’s a professional athlete– he can and wants to go 90 minutes every time… to say he was effective is a different story.

        Re: Sterling It doesn’t matter who is stronger between the two — that wasn’t really Increase’s point and I don’t see how you assess this anyway based on so little data. What is important is the growth that he can achieve if he works at it– if you aren’t seeing the growth in strength that Sterling has shown in the last 2 years, you should watch more. If Green can add another 20-30% here as Sterling has, he will be that much more dangerous.

      • So you agree with me then that Green can go a full game. Okay.

        Now, you say you don’t see how I can assess that there is no difference between Green and Sterling strength wise. Okay. Then you say Sterling has added 20-30% to his strength in the last 2 years.

        Please, pray tell, how did you assess that? Do you realize what you did?

      • Yes. I agree. I can also go a full game, if that is helpful. I can contribute nearly as much as Green did, too. BTW I am currently on crutches.

        RE Sterling. You’ve misquoted me. I don’t know anything meaningful about Green and neither do you. Sample is too small to compare against Sterling or anything.

        Sterling has a much better sample, so you can compare him against himself at least. Seriously, just watch the games. It’s that easy. Increase0 is right but it is hardly rocket science and the improvement is easy to spot vs 2 years ago.

      • BTW I was choosing a young player many are familiar with who also looked a bit out of his depth he got first team time. He was younger but my point is that he still got the time. We should allow our guys that as well before we judge them. I personally don’t expect the man to be super amazing but it would be nice.

      • Diego’s, I did not misquote you. You did say Sterling has added 20-30% to his strength in the last 2 years.

        Increase0. Your comparison between Green and Sterling is a good one. Yes, Green absolutely needs first team playing experience which he hasn’t got yet while Sterling has. My point is that it is not a strength issue, Sterling still gets pushed around a lot but his talent takes care of that issue. He draws a lot of fouls which, with his talent, makes him even more dangerous.

  5. It was going to happen eventually…. I guess it’s vaguely positive that Green’s fingerprints aren’t all over the failure just yet, fresh though they may be.

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