Bruno Labbadia extends contract at Hamburg
January 11, 2016
Hamburg head coach Bruno Labbadia has had his contract extended by one year until the end of the 2016-17 season.
The 49-year-old took over on April 15 last year and helped steer Hamburg clear of a first-ever Bundesliga relegation via a two-legged play-off match with Karlsruhe. Assistants Eddy Soezer and Bernhard Trares have also had their contracts extended.
Hamburg chairman Dietmar Beiersdorfer said the club was "delighted" to keep former Hamburg player Labbadia and the coaching staff for another season.
"We are delighted to have extended with Bruno and his coaching team," Hamburg CEO Dietmar Beiersdorfer said in a statement.
"Bruno has passion and enthusiasm for our work. He lives and breathes the club."
He added: "Bruno is going about our common task with great enthusiasm and identifies incredibly with (the city of) Hamburg and HSV."
Labbadia said the decision to extend by just one year rather than a longer period was because he and the club enjoyed a partnership which "doesn't need a large and complicated agreement."
The coach added: "We prefer to focus on our work and get together just like now in a year, and discuss everything else."
Hamburg, the only original Bundesliga club never to have been relegated, have endured two nerve-racking seasons with relegation only avoided via the play-offs.
Labbadia, who played for Hamburg 1987-1989 and was coach at the club between 2009 and 2010, was the club's fourth coach last season following Mirko Slomka, Josef Zinnbauer and interim coach Peter Knaebel.
The season so far has been a more solid one for the northern Germans, with Labbadia's side 10th in the table.
Hamburg host champions and league leaders Bayern Munich on January 22 when the season resumes from its winter break.
sb/jh (dpa)