Peters in to help youth

After the dismissal of sporting director Oliver Kreuzer, Hamburg chief executive Dietmar Beiersdorfer has made his first big change at the Bundesliga club by appointing Bernhard Peters as the club's youth coordinator. The Hamburger Morgenpost newspaper did state that Peters would be the new "director of sport", but his focus will mainly be on youth development at the club.

Beiersdorfer, a former HSV sporting director himself, was a high-profile recruit from Russian club Zenit St Petersburg and has been brought in to spearhead Hamburg's new football-specific corporation. The move to spin-off football operations was voted for by 86.9% of the club's members in May and the 50-year-old was earmarked for the top job.

HSV survived after an abject Bundesliga campaign last year, but only through a two-legged relegation play-off against Greuther Fürth. Hamburg open the next campaign against Köln on August 23.

"We have certain plans in place during the sporting restructuring of the club. This decision is one of them," Beiersdorfer said in an official club statement.

Peters is former national team hockey coach and Hoffenheim youth department chief and will take up the post on August 1.

"Now it's my goal, together with Dietmar Beiersdorfer and our employees, to help give HSV their own footballing identity," Peters said.

The 54-year-old will be tasked with the overarching control of Hamburg's youth football operations.

It still remains unclear as to whether head coach Mirko Slomka is preferred as the long-term option in the dugout.

"The acquisition of Bernhard Peters is an essential part of the athletic restructuring here," Beiersdorfer added.

"We are very happy, that we have succeeded, with Peters, who is one of the national and most internationally recognized experts in the areas of football structure, a winning concept and talent development for HSV."

rd/jh (dpa, AP, SID)