The Bochum team, which collapsed close to the danger zone, parted ways with its coach Thomas Lech, and the immediate reason for this is the 1:2 defeat by another team stuck in the standings – Cologne, BTA reported.
Bochum is currently in 14th place with 26 points, three ahead of relegation zone Mainz and 4 ahead of the first direct relegation – Cologne.
Bochum have only won one point in their last six matches, as well as one win in their last 10, but that came with a 3-2 victory over champions Bayern Munich in mid-February. Six rounds remain until the end of the championship.
A week ago, the blue-and-whites from Bochum squandered a two-goal lead against last-place Darmstadt and had to settle for a 2-2 draw, and now on Saturday came the defeat by Cologne with two goals conceded after the 90th minute.
"We haven't been able to guarantee stability in the long term and make the last few games successful for us as we would have liked. Relegation is still undoubtedly upon us. Our team has the class to stay in the Bundesliga, which is why we want to use the change to give a decisive push to successfully complete the mission, explained the club's sporting director Marc Letau, quoted by DPA.
Lech was appointed to the post in September 2022 and then the team was also at the bottom, in real danger of relegation. Not only was he able to save them, but he carried the energy into the current season when they produced a solid first half. But since the restart in January until today they have only two wins.
Managing director of sport Patrick Fabian said that although we "recognise the achievements" of Lech, no one at the club believes that he is capable of getting out of the situation. The now-sacked coach said he would never forget the euphoria of last year and added: "I wish Bochum all the best in the future – let them finish the season in a place that is far from relegation as it is now and stay in the Bundesliga".
The club specified that the new coach will become clear in the coming days, because the idea is for the meeting on Saturday with Hoffenheim for the person to have some form of influence.
According to some media publications, the main candidates for the post are Stefan Kunz and Peter Stöger. Kunz coached Germany's under-21 team, which won two European titles – in 2017 and in 2021. He was last coach of Turkey and is currently unemployed. Stöger is the sports director of Admira Wacker – a team from the second division of his native Austria.