Veh back at Stuttgart

After stints with Bruno Labbadia, academy top dog Thomas Schneider, and then short-term savior Huub Stevens in the coaching dugout just in the past season, Stuttgart will hope that new appointee Armin Veh stays out his two-year contract, which officially starts in July.

Veh announced his intention to leave Frankfurt earlier in the season, prompting speculation that Stuttgart - the club where he won the 2006/7 Bundesliga title - would be a logical home for the coach.

"I have stressed repeatedly of late that, after my three great years with Eintracht Frankfurt, just the one job really tempted me. Right from the start that was VfB Stuttgart, a club I share a special relationship with," Veh said after his move was confirmed on Monday.

"We held very productive talks and I'm overjoyed and excited to be able to build something here in Stuttgart again," Veh said.

The 53-year-old could have some heavy lifting to do at his new, old construction site. Stuttgart limped to a 15th-placed finish in the Bundesliga this season, just one position away from the relegation-threatened bottom three. The silver lining for Veh is the broad consensus that the southwestern club underperformed in the past season, considering the playing personnel at their disposal.

The Frankfurt recovery

For the past three seasons, Veh and his former club, Eintracht Frankfurt, have enjoyed a mutually beneficial period of rebuilding.

The German stewarded Frankfurt to second-division promotion in his first campaign, then to Europa League football in his second season, and finally to a more mediocre league challenge this time around marked by some excellent cup runs. Successfully bringing Frankfurt back to the top division also served as a chance for Veh to right the setbacks in his personal career following his title with Stuttgart.

After his championship season, turning Mario Gomez and Sami Khedira into German international stars along the way, Veh could only manage sixth in the following year. He faced the chop at Stuttgart before Christmas in 2008 - then bouncing through the doors of two serial consumers of coaching talent. Neither of his brief stays in Wolfsburg and Hamburg lasted a calendar year, although Veh only faced the axe at Hamburg after announcing his own intention to jump ship at the end of a reasonably successful 2010/11 season.

There followed the successful and reciprocal rebuilding project with Frankfurt, and now a return to the site of Veh's finest hour. Sporting director Fredi Bobic expressed excitement at hiring "an absolute expert" who "brings lots of experience, knows the club and fits right in at VfB Stuttgart." Club president Bernd Wahler said he thought Veh was the ideal candidate to take a "good mix of experienced players and young talents" and produce a side that plays "good, attractive football."