Friday, March 29, 2024 | Ramadan 18, 1445 H
broken clouds
weather
OMAN
23°C / 23°C
EDITOR IN CHIEF- ABDULLAH BIN SALIM AL SHUEILI

Gladbach fire coach Schubert

875707
875707
minus
plus

Andre Schubert on Wednesday became the seventh Bundesliga coach fired since September when Borussia Moenchengladbach dismissed him in the wake of their 2-1 defeat to fellow strugglers VfL Wolfsburg. The home defeat was the final straw for Gladbach’s director of sport Max Eberl, who had said the team needed to win their last three games before Christmas for Schubert’s future to be safe. But after losing to Augsburg and earning a scrappy win over Mainz, Gladbach’s defeat to Wolfsburg on Tuesday was their eighth defeat in 16 league games to leave them 14th.


They have won just once in their last ten games in all competitions.


“We have come to the conclusion that it is better for both parties to end their co-operation now,” said Eberl. Schubert’s replacement — ex-Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking has been linked to the role — now has the four-week winter break to inject confidence in a team which took 16 points from their first 16 league games.


“We’re looking for a coach who will take us on the right path with young players,” added Eberl.


The main task of the new manager will be to pick up points “so we can reach a comfortable level in a relatively short time”.


It is a sad end to Schubert’s 15 months in charge which saw him take Gladbach from the bottom of the league table, when he replaced Lucien Favre in September 2015, to fourth last season and the Champions League.


The 45-year-old Schubert only signed a contract extension in September, which would have run until 2019, but things went downhill fast this season.


The sales of midfielder Granit Xhaka to Arsenal and defender Havard Nordveit to West Ham, plus the loss of centre-backs Martin Stranl (retired) and Roel Brouwers, to Dutch side Roda Kerkrade, meant Schubert lost a wealth of experience.


Battling displays in their Champions League group against Barcelona, Manchester City and Celtic saw Gladbach finish third to qualify for the Europa League’s knock-out stages.


But Schubert paid the price for poor Bundesliga form, starting with a 4-0 drubbing by Schalke in early October which saw them pick up just six league points in the next ten games. Schubert joins Dirk Schuster (Augsburg), Norbert Meier (Darmstadt), Markus Kauczinski (Ingolstadt), Dieter Hecking (Wolfsburg), Bruno Labbadia (Hamburg) and Viktor Skrypnyk (Werder Bremen) who have been sacked this season.  — AFP


SHARE ARTICLE
arrow up
home icon