The morning after a fifth straight league defeat, this time 2-0 to Borussia Mönchengladbach, Hertha Berlin announced that Tayfun Korkut would be the sixth coach to be fired by the club in less than three years.
“Hertha BSC’s management have decided to part company with head coach Tayfun Korkut with immediate effect,” the club said in a statement, which said his successor will be announced “as soon as they have been finalized.”
Former Stuttgart and Bayer Leverkusen coach Korkut joined Hertha last November following the firing of Pal Dardai, who lasted less than a year in his second stint in the Hertha hotseat.
Big money, small returns
Hertha, who have spent significantly in recent years after outside investment from Lars Windhorst, has been on a losing streak since the start of the year, dropping to second bottom of the Bundesliga.
“After a promising start with seven points from the first four games and a positive trend, we’ve now clearly analyzed the performances and results from the nine games in the second half of the season,” managing director Fredi Bobic said in the statement. “We came to the conclusion that we needed another change of coach.”
Hertha are in the relegation zone with just eight games remaining
Bobic himself joined to much fanfare after plenty of success in a similar role with Eintracht Frankfurt. But he has found it difficult to turn round a club who also saw Jürgen Klinsmann take on the head coach role before leaving 76 days later in a blaze of leaked diaries and allegations.
Derby on the horizon
Korkut’s departure comes hot on the heels of that of sports director Arne Friedrich last Friday, but the departing coach wished Hertha the best.
“I hope the club can avoid relegation and I wish the whole Hertha family all the best for the future,” the 47-year-old said.
Hertha face European challengers Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen next, before the Berlin derby against Union on April 9.
mp (AFP, DPA)
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