BERLIN, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Werder Bremen has parted company with head coach Florian Kohfeldt after slumping into the drop zone with one round to spare in Bundesliga, the "Green-Whites" confirmed in an official statement on Sunday.
With nine straight winless matches and Saturday's 2-0 defeat at Augsburg, the "Werderaner" slipped into the relegation battle.
Hence, those responsible at Bremen sacked Kohfeldt, who had taken the reins in November 2017 and led the team to avoid relegation despite two playoff games last season.
"Unfortunately, after the Augsburg game we were no longer convinced that we would be able to stay up with Florian Kohfeldt in charge," Werder Bremen's sporting director Frank Baumann told the club's official homepage. "We are still convinced that Florian Kohfeldt is an excellent coach, but we agreed to make another change now in order to still stay up."
For the remainder of the season, former Werder coach Thomas Schaaf will take the helm. "We are glad that Thomas is taking on this task in such a precarious situation for the club. We hope that he can bring experience to the table and get the players ready for the last game of the season," Baumann said.
The 16th-placed Bremen will encounter Borussia Monchengladbach and need all three points to maintain its minimum chance, as newly-promoted and 15th positioned Arminia Bielefeld sits one point above.
"It is a huge challenge, of course, but we still have every chance to stay in the league. We have little time, but we will do everything we can to go into the game with passion, confidence and belief and our own strength and to be successful in the end," interim coach Thomas Schaaf said.
The 60-year-old former head coach trained the "Green-Whites" for 14 years (1999-2013) and clinched the German domestic double in 2004. Bremen agreed with Schaaf that the commitment is limited to the last Bundesliga game and the possible relegation play-offs. Enditem