Struggling Borussia Dortmund sack Peter Bosz as coach to hire Peter Stoeger as replacement

Former Ajax boss leaves BVB after one win in 13 games in the league while new manager joins just a week after being sacked by relegation-threatened Cologne

German Bundesliga

Associated Press

Published: 7:58pm, 10 Dec 2017

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Borussia Dortmund have sacked Peter Bosz as coach after claiming just one win in 13 games in all competitions and named former Cologne coach Peter Stoeger as his replacement.

Stoeger was sacked as Cologne coach last Sunday after his side failed to win any of their opening 14 Bundesliga games of the season.

The club said the 51-year-old Stoeger and his assistant coach Manfred Schmidt, who was also let go by Cologne, were signed until June 30, 2018.

Bosz is jobless after failing to replicate his time at Ajax, who he led to the Europa League final last season. Photo: EPA

“I’m delighted to be able to be coach of this team and in this stadium,” said Stoeger, who joined Cologne in 2013 and led them to promotion from the second division in his first season.

Stoeger oversaw steady progress at Cologne, culminating in fifth place and Europa League qualification last season. But this season did not go to plan.

Bosz’s last game in charge of Dortmund was Saturday’s 2-1 defeat at home to relegation-threatened Werder Bremen, a loss that stretched the side’s winless run to eight games in the league.

Dortmund's Marcel Schmelzer challenges Real Madrid's Lucas Vazquez in his side’s 3-2 Champions League loss. Photo: Reuters

Dortmund chief executive Hans-Joachim Watzke said: “We decided yesterday evening in a talk with Peter Bosz that we’re letting him go with immediate effect.”

Dortmund previously had a 41-game unbeaten run at home, but since Leipzig inflicted a 3-2 loss on October 14, the side slumped to two defeats and a draw at the Westfalenstadion. The draw came after squandering a four-goal lead to allow bitter rival Schalke to draw 4-4.

Bosz led Dortmund to their best ever start in the Bundesliga with six wins and a draw from seven games and a league-high goal difference of 19. They led the league by five points after beating Augsburg 2-1 away on September 30 but have not won since.

Dortmund players celebrate scoring against FC Schalke 04 in a game where they would blow a 4-0 lead to draw 4-4. Photo: AP

Now the side trail Bayern Munich by 13 points, a turnaround of 18 in just eight rounds.

Bosz, who led Ajax Amsterdam to the Europa League final and second place in the Dutch league last season, was hired in June as a replacement for Thomas Tuchel, sacked the week before despite winning the German Cup after falling out with club management.

Watzke and sporting director Michael Zorc were keen on Bosz’s style of attacking football, continuing a mould started by Juergen Klopp, who won two successive Bundesliga titles, before it was refined under Tuchel, who took over in 2015.

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The 54-year-old Bosz, a fluent German speaker, signed a two-year contract with Dortmund. Watzke said at the time the club assumed it would be longer.

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