BORUSSIA DORTMUND HAVE announced that they have sacked head coach Peter Bosz after less than six months in charge, replacing him with former Cologne boss Peter Stoger.
The 54-year-old Dutchman arrived in the summer as the long-term replacement for Thomas Tuchel at BVB, having enjoyed terrific success with an Ajax side he led to the final of the Europa League last season.
However, things have not passed nearly so smoothly in Germany, and Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat against Werder Bremen, which has left Dortmund seventh in the Bundesliga standings, 13 points behind leaders Bayern Munich, was the final straw.
Stoger has now been appointed as Bosz’s replacement for the rest of the season, despite being sacked by Cologne just seven days ago. The 51-year-old spent four seasons in Cologne, helping the club to qualify for Europe for the first time in 25 years. However, he left them at the bottom of the Bundesliga without a single win in their 14 games this season.
Bosz has overseen Dortmund’s worst run in 17 years, with no victories in their last eight Bundesliga outings, dating back to a 2-1 success over Augsburg, which was their sixth win in their first seven league matches. In all competitions, they are winless in nine since a DFB Pokal fixture against FC Magdeburg on 24 October.
It was the fifth time BVB had been defeated in the league this season, and while they are joint top scorers, having netted 35 times in only 15 outings, their record of having conceded 23 times is one of the poorest in the league.
In the Champions League they fared no better, finishing third in a group that contained Real Madrid, Tottenham and APOEL Nicosia. They finished without a single victory, moving into the Europa League after Christmas only by virtue of the fact they had a better goal difference than the Cypriots, against whom they had twice drawn 1-1.
