GERMANY: FOOTBALL/SOCCER - Christoph Daum starts a new career in Cologne

A crowd of over 8,000 turned out to watch second division Cologne's first training session under new coach Christoph Daum. The 53-year-old officially began work at the club on Monday (December 27), Daum's first job in Germany since a drugs scandal six years ago left him unable to take up the national team job. Daum has already brought a change of luck to Cologne after accepting their offer a week ago. On Sunday, he was watching from the stands as they beat SpVgg Greuther Fuerth 2-1 to record their first league win in two months and move up to eighth in the table. "The players have until now and the mid-season break to show they are proud to wear the Cologne shirt," Daum told reporters at a news conference on Monday. "We have to work, work, work." Daum, who had been ostracised in Germany since he went on trial for cocaine possession and agreed to pay a fine to have the charges dropped, has signed a contract to June 2010. It was an astonishing change of heart from Daum who had been linked with Cologne before and had said no to two previous offers, citing health reasons. Daum, who lives in a Cologne villa, was recovering from throat surgery. "It is certainly sensational that Christoph Daum has signed on with the second division 1st FC Cologne. But I think that it was necessary for all of us," said Club Manager Michael Meier. After facing heavy criticism in German newspapers for spurning Cologne, amid speculation that he was waiting for an offer from a Bundesliga club such as Schalke 04 or Hamburg SV, Daum abruptly changed his mind and accepted Cologne's offer. Cologne, Germany's fourth largest city, has been absorbed by a media frenzy for the last two weeks about whether Daum would take over the team relegated from the first division in June. Cologne's mayor appealed to Daum to take the job and 17,000 fans registered support for him in an online survey. "I have to say that I am pleased for FC Cologne, that it is back in the national and international arena," Daum said ahead of training in Cologne on Monday, "but the important thing is the work to be done now. The team and the players are the most important thing. That we would hit the headlines with Christoph Daum was understandable, but we want to keep a low profile." Meier has said Daum had signed a 3-1/2-year contract without any clause that would let him out of the agreement before June 2010. German media reported that he would receive 2.5 million euros ($3.19 million) per year. His first match will be on December 4 when Cologne host MSV Duisburg. Daum had already coached Cologne, long a Bundesliga powerhouse before slipping in recent years, between 1986 and 1990. "We have potential, we can improve things together, and I would like to see the players as I would like to have them. I can show them the way, then they have the chance to go down this way and be convincing, or we get to the point where we say, 'kid, that is not good enough'," Daum said. He won the Bundesliga championship with VfB Stuttgart in 1992 before coming close twice with Bayer Leverkusen. In 2000, a positive test for cocaine use prevented him from taking up his appointment as the German national team coach. In 2002, Daum answered charges of conspiring to purchase 100 grammes of cocaine and illegally using the drug on 63 occasions. He had the proceedings against him dropped in a seven-month trial when he agreed to donate 10,000 euros to a social programme. The German Football Association (DFB) had said before the trial that he would lose his licence if he were convicted. Under German law, certain court actions can be stopped with the payment of a fine. The fine covered the 12 cases of illegal possession of cocaine that Daum admitted to. He was declared not guilty in the 51 other cases. After the scandal erupted in 2000, Daum was dismissed as Bayer Leverkusen coach and ruled out as the next Germany coach. Daum then returned to Besiktas, the Istanbul club he had coached from 1994 to 1996. Daum stepped down as coach of Turkish side Fenerbahce after the 2006 season, in which he led them to second place in the league after winning the club's 16th league title the previous season.

ITN Source | November 28, 2006

Tags:. .arena. .slipping. .amid. .luck. .appointment