COLOGNE, Germany, July 2 (Reuters) - German fans have been joking that if Christoph Daum ever coached the national team, they would always finish second.

Daum will be handed the top job at the end of the 2000-2001 season and will be eager to remind his critics that he can also be a winner.

The 46-year-old earned a reputation as the nearly-man of German soccer, coaching his Bayer Leverkusen team to second place in the Bundesliga in three of the last four seasons.

He did lift trophies in his coaching career, taking VfB Stuttgart to the German title in 1992 and Besiktas to the Turkish one in 1995.

He will soon face the daunting task of having to rebuild a side which confirmed it was no longer a dominant force by disappearing from Euro 2000 in the group stage.

Erich Ribbeck, who had been under fire from the local media ever since he took over from Berti Vogts in September 1998, threw in the towel immediately after Germany's worst overall performance at a major tournament.

Because Daum is still under contract with Leverkusen for another season and his club refused to release him, the national team will have to wait until he takes over.

Former Germany striker Rudi Voeller, the Leverkusen sporting director and a close friend of Daum, will act as a caretaker.

Bringing in new faces and fresh ideas is mandatory but Daum likes challenges.

He turned Leverkusen - a club from a small industrial town outside Cologne - into Bayern Munich's most serious rival and his team has won praise for its modern, attractive game.

One of the most respected coaches in Germany, Daum has often been mocked for his unusual methods.

Bayern Munich commercial manager Uli Hoeness made fun of him last season for hiring a motivation guru who made his players walk on broken glass.

Passionate for some, excessive for others, the moustachioed Daum is rarely lost for words and certainly is louder than the discreet, soft-spoken Ribbeck.

'I don't want to be a colourless coach,' Daum said once.

'Some think he is aggressive and nasty but he's not,' former Bayern coach Udo Lattek said of him. 'He's a lovely guy with a great sense of humor.'

Maybe Germany will always finish second under Daum's guidance.

But even that would be a great improvement on their dismal showings of late.