Hamburg coach Stevens joining PSV

HAMBURG, Germany -- Dutch coach Huub Stevens will return home and join PSV Eindhoven when his contract with German club Hamburg SV expires at the end of the season.

The 53-year-old replaced Thomas Doll with Hamburg bottom of the Bundesliga in February and guided them to seventh position and a European place through the Intertoto Cup.

"We tried everything to make him stay but we fully understand the decision which was taken because of his family," said Hamburg director Bernd Hoffmann.

PSV have said that 54-year-old Stevens will sign a two-year deal as the permanent replacement for Ronald Koeman, who recently left for Valencia.

Last season Stevens was allowed several weeks away by Hamburg to be with his sick wife Toos who had extensive surgery.

"The decision was made for private and personal reasons. The move will enable me to be closer to my family, especially my wife," he said on Monday regarding his decision to return to the Netherlands.

Stevens was on the books of PSV between 1975 and 1993, winning the UEFA Cup in 1978, and later joined the club's coaching staff. He still has a home in Acht -- close to PSV's De Herdgang training ground.

PSV have said that caretaker chief Jan Wouters will resume his assistant coach's role in January with Sef Vergoossen coming in to lead the side for the rest of the campaign.

The 60-year-old Vergoossen will join from Nagoya Grampus Eight in Japan along with assistant Dwight Lodeweges. When Stevens arrives next summer, Vergoossen will stand down and work on developing the club's younger players.

"The negotiations with Stevens went very smoothly," PSV general director Jan Reker said. "We spoke a few times on the telephone and once face to face. He is a real PSV man and we are looking forward to his arrival. Until then, Vergoossen is someone who is really suited to take on the job of head coach." E-mail to a friend