Close to relegation, Dusseldorf fires coach Funkel
Lingering at the bottom of the Bundesliga, Fortuna Duesseldorf on Wednesday sacked Friedhelm Funkel just a day after he received a coach of the year award.
On Tuesday, Fortuna tweeted "congratulations" to Funkel to applaud him for the accolade from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
However, the 66-year-old was sacked less than 24 hours later in the wake of Sunday's 3-0 loss to mid-table Leverkusen – their 12th defeat in 19 league games.
"We scored just 18 goals this season; statistically we are the weakest team in attack, and one of the weakest in defense, in the Bundesliga," said sports director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
"As a result, we no longer believe we can stay up if things stay as they are. We had to react."
Duesseldorf is three points from safety and in a bid to avoid relegation, former Manchester City striker Uwe Roesler, who last coached Swedish side Malmo, has been appointed as head coach.
The 51-year-old, who played for City in the 1990s, will take the reins of the club ahead of Saturday's home game against Eintracht Frankfurt.
On Tuesday, Fortuna tweeted "congratulations" to Funkel to applaud him for the accolade from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
However, the 66-year-old was sacked less than 24 hours later in the wake of Sunday's 3-0 loss to mid-table Leverkusen – their 12th defeat in 19 league games.
"We scored just 18 goals this season; statistically we are the weakest team in attack, and one of the weakest in defense, in the Bundesliga," said sports director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
"As a result, we no longer believe we can stay up if things stay as they are. We had to react."
Duesseldorf is three points from safety and in a bid to avoid relegation, former Manchester City striker Uwe Roesler, who last coached Swedish side Malmo, has been appointed as head coach.
The 51-year-old, who played for City in the 1990s, will take the reins of the club ahead of Saturday's home game against Eintracht Frankfurt.