Stevens is to leave Roda JC Kerkrade to sign a contract lasting through to June 2008, Hamburg said on its Web site.

Doll was sacked on Thursday after Hamburg, in Germany's top league since it was formed in 1963, slipped to the bottom of the table with just one victory this season.

Magath had ruled out a return to Hamburg for ethical reasons, saying the club should stick with their original choice of Stevens.

Stevens, 53, led Germany's Schalke 04 to victory in the UEFA Cup in 1997 and has also coached Hertha Berlin and Cologne.

He said he was looking forward to his new task and was certain that the team had the necessary quality to get out of the relegation zone.

"With Huub Stevens we have taken on an experienced coach who knows the Bundesliga well," Hamburg chief executive Bernd Hoffmann said.

"We are convinced he will get the team off the bottom of the table," he added.

Magath had looked a logical choice to go back to the club where he won the European Cup as a player, and also later coached, but he said he knew Hamburg already had a deal with Stevens and did not want to see it broken.

"My professional ethics mean I could never take away a colleague's job," Magath told the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper in an interview to be published on Saturday.

"Stevens is the right man for the job and will save Hamburg from relegation."