Dinosaur’s time may be up at last

Ever-present for 51 years in the German top-flight, Hamburg face the prospect of relegation, writes Ian Hawkey.

Hamburg players leave the field after the match against Borussia Moenchengladbach on March 30, 2014. AFP

They call them the Bundesliga’s “Dino”, short for dinosaur, and not to be interpreted in any way as an abbreviation for “dynamic”.

Hamburg are anything but. They are in desperate trouble, suffering the consequences of long-term mismanagement and, with four matches to go in Germany’s top-flight season, facing the very live threat of relegation.

That would be a first, hence the nickname: Hamburg are Germany’s dinosaur, because they are the sole member of the 18-club elite to have survived at the top for the full, 51-year history of the Bundesliga. However, they currently sit third from bottom of the table, in the position designated for a play-off joust with the third-place second division club at the end of the season for the right to a top-flight spot in 2014/15.

But by the time they kick off against Wolfsburg this evening, they could have slipped into the bottom two automatic-relegation spots. Or worse, they could be bottom by the end of the weekend, if they lose and rivals Nuremberg and Eintracht Braunschweig gain points.

Thirty years ago, Hamburg were European club champions and defending the last of their seven Bundesliga titles. The former European Footballer of the Year, Kevin Keegan, was in their line-up. Even a mere four years ago, Hamburg were feeling a positive sense of those sorts of glories returning, as they prepared for the semi-finals of the Europa League, hopeful of reaching a final to be staged in their own, impressive stadium.

They lost that semi, to modest Fulham. Two months ago, in the minds of some Hamburg supporters, they lost their likeliest potential saviour of this season to Fulham, too. Felix Magath, a former striker with the 1983 double-winning side, and an ex-Hamburg coach, lobbied to become the third man this season to take charge of the wayward vessel. Magath went to the Premier League’s relegation dogfight instead.

That was in February, after Bert van Marwijk, the former Netherlands manager, left. He had replaced Thorsten Fink back in September, when Hamburg plummeted to 16th in the table for the first time. Van Marwijk was sacked after a run of seven successive league defeats.

Mirko Slomka, appointed when Magath chose Fulham, has added 11 points from a possible 27 in his nine matches since then, which marks an improvement, but Hamburg are still fragile and wildly inconsistent, able to defeat top-four challengers such as Borussia Dortmund and Bayer Leverkusen, but equally capable of losing to fellow strugglers Hannover, as they did last weekend, and Stuttgart, as they did three weeks ago.

The frailties? Most evidently, a porous rearguard. Only Hoffenheim, the Bundesliga’s free-scoring entertainers, have conceded more league goals this season. Yet their defence boasts several seasoned internationals: Rene Adler should go to the World Cup as back-up goalkeeper to Bayern Munich’s Manuel Neuer; defenders Marcell Jansen and Heiko Westermann have more than 70 Germany caps between them, while centre-back Johan Djourou is first choice for Switzerland.

Though Jansen is doubtful for this evening’s fixture, none of those have missed significant chunks of the season through injury. Further forward, however, Hamburg have been afflicted with fitness problems. Rafael van der Vaart, the Dutch playmaker, is unlikely to make the first XI against Wolfsburg, while leading scorer Pierre-Michel Lasogga has a muscle tear, a serious setback in the frantic grasp for points.

Should the dinosaur sink into the quicksand of Bundesliga II, Van der Vaart and Lasogga would almost certainly leave. The club’s debt, estimated at upwards of €100 million (Dh508m), would compel radical down-sizing.

A minority opinion among supporters is that relegation might offer them a necessary blank canvas for wide restructuring, a fresh start. However, demonstrations by angry fans suggest many are not so philosophical. Some of them threw missiles at Hamburg players after a 3-0 loss to Hertha Berlin in February.

“Our aim has to be 15th place in the table,” Slomka said, “and we must go into every match with our chests puffed out and ready for hard work.”

Wolfsburg, pressing to move up from fifth to the Uefa Champions League spot in fourth, have plenty to play for today.

Likewise Augsburg, whom Hamburg visit next weekend, because they are still chasing a Europa League place, as are Mainz, who go to Hamburg on the last day of the season.

As for Hamburg's penultimate fixture, that is against Bayern Munich, so far ahead of the rest of their compatriot clubs that they celebrated the title in early March and have been carelessly shedding domestic points since.

Hamburg may need Bayern to remain in holidaymaker mood.

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