Following years of being at the edge of disaster, the former European Cup of Champions winner Hamburger SV was finally relegated to the the 2nd division of the German Bundesliga after finishing the season 2017/18 as 17th out of 18 teams.
(source: hsv.de)
Clearly, this was not a one-time accident, but rather the result of a long list of wrong decisions and corrupt culture of over-esteem seen amongst management and players. Players started to get weaker once they played for Hamburg and coaches tended to stay not longer than a few months.
No wonder that not only the general public was gleeful but also the clubs supporters were not in a state of despair when the relation was unavoidable. Over time, fans actually became hopeful that the season in the 2nd league would hopefully help the club to rejuvenate and to get rid of the culture which must have been the root of all evil.
It might even be nice to stop losing almost every weekend and instead hopefully celebrate lots of victories and the re-promotion to the 1st division at the end of the season, many supporters might have hoped.
Last Friday, the season started - and it started with the same pattern which is all so well know to HSV fans - it started with a 0:3 home defeat against Holstein Kiel. While admittedly Holstein was close to making it to the 1st division after the last season, this was nonetheless a shock as it showed that the re-promotion is not going to be a walk in the park. It showed that having a talented young team with superior technical skills might not be enough to dominate the 2nd division. Instead, a solid defence and a high level of efficiency are likely to be the key drivers of success - and the team was lacking both of it.
If Hamburg's team should not learn these virtues very quickly it might well be that the hope's of its supporters that the team might only play for one season in the 2nd division become true - and the club gets relegated to 3rd division at the end of the season.