Borussia Dortmund sack Bosz, name Stoeger as replacement
BERLIN (Reuters) - Borussia Dortmund sacked coach Peter Bosz on Sunday and immediately replaced him with Peter Stoeger, who himself was fired by Cologne one week earlier after failing to win a league match this season.
Soccer Football - Bundesliga - Borussia Dortmund vs Werder Bremen - Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund, Germany - December 9, 2017 Borussia Dortmund coach Peter Bosz looks on REUTERS/Thilo Schmuelgen
Dutchman Bosz, who had been in charge for six months, was dismissed a day after Dortmund were jeered off the field following a 2-1 defeat by Werder Bremen, extending their winless run to nine matches in all competitions.
“We decided yesterday evening in a chat with Peter Bosz that we must let him go immediately,” Dortmund’s CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke told a news conference. “He was emotional, but took it calmly.”
Stoeger was immediately presented to the media. “I‘m enormously happy to be allowed to coach this team, in this stadium,” he said. “You only get this sort of chance once in a lifetime.”
Bosz had been appointed in June, shortly after leading Ajax Amsterdam to the Europa League final where they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.
Under his leadership, Borussia won six out of 15 Bundesliga matches, leaving them seventh in the table.
They also had a miserable campaign in the Champions League, picking up only two points from six games, while in the German Cup they won two games, both against lower division opposition.
Stoeger was in his fifth season at Cologne when he was sacked. He won promotion at the first attempt, in 2013-14, and led the Billy Goats to a fifth place finish last season and back into European football after a 25-year absence.
“Peter Stoeger has done an outstanding job in developing Cologne over the last four years,” said Dortmund’s sporting director Michael Zorc.
However, that run came to an abrupt halt this term and Stoeger was fired after they took three points from their first 14 league games, leaving them anchored to the bottom of the table.