Chastened by a 5-1 loss at Hoffenheim on Sunday and a league run which has seen four wins in 15 matches, the Hamburg board had had enough and Bruno Labbadia was shown the door days before the club's biggest match of the season on Thursday.
The sacking was not that much of a surprise given the widely reported rumours that Labbadia had fallen out with a number of his squad including Ze Roberto, Mladen Petric, Ruud van Nistelrooy and Frank Rost.
"Risky but right," the Welt newspaper said. "Labbadia had already proved in his career the he is admittedly a good motivator but is unsuited to the long-term task of building a team."
Assistant coach Ricardo Moniz, dubbed a 'great motivator' by the club, was handed the task as stand-in coach of raising morale after the Hoffenheim shambles against a Fulham team whose remarkable run has put them in touching distance of a first European final.
On the day he took over he was given the news that striker Tunay Torun had suffered a ligament injury and was ruled out of Thursday's match.
Fulham's hopes of progress could rest on the state of Bobby Zamora's Achilles as the striker fights for fitness ahead of the second leg at Craven Cottage, a compact ground tucked on the banks of the River Thames in west London.
Having scored just one goal in their last five matches - including last week's goalless first leg - Fulham desperately need their top scorer fit and firing if they are to return to the German city for the May 12 final against either Liverpool or Atletico Madrid.
"I have had an Achilles tendon problem for a long time," Zamora said after limping off the pitch after an hour against Hamburg. "It has been niggling at me for a bit now and I just did a little bit too much but I really hope to play next Thursday. I am desperate to be part of that."
"He's having treatment and I'm hoping he'll be ready for Thursday, but I'm not confident," Hodgson told the club's website.
Zamora missed Sunday's t
