Hamburg blast 'unacceptable' Sammer

Hamburg have reacted with amazement to Matthias Sammer’s decision to turn down their approach for him to become their new director of sport and instead remain with the German Football Association.

Sammer made up his mind to stay with the German FA yesterday after being put under pressure by both sides to reach a decision by the weekend.

His snub has not gone down well in northern Germany, however, and Hamburg’s chairman Otto Rieckhoff has harshly criticised the former Borussia Dortmund and Stuttgart coach.

“We are disappointed and surprised by Matthias Sammer’s refusal,” he said. “We had held very good and constructive negotiations over weeks and we had agreed on all of the aspects.

“There was a contract drawn up and ready. His refusal for us is unacceptable.”

The Hamburg team were able to put the off-field disturbance to one side and beat Eintracht Frankfurt 1-0 last night, though, even though it was not that much easier on the field.

“We played with patience on a catastrophic pitch,” said coach Armin Veh. “You can see that we have more quality now. We had a lot of injuries in the first half of the season, but now everybody is fit.”

The win lifted Hamburg to sixth in the table, level on points with fifth-place Bayern Munich and just four points behind second-placed Hannover.