Former Barnsley supervisor Gerhard Struber has sensationally been sacked by Cologne with the facet getting ready to Bundesliga promotion.
The Austrian, who coached within the Championship between 2019 and 2020, leaves with two video games to play and Cologne three factors clear within the automated promotion spots.
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Struber arrived in the beginning of the 2024/25 marketing campaign after stints with Pink Bull outfits New York and Salzburg and has had the Billy Goats within the promotion image for a lot of the season.
But that focus on has come beneath risk throughout their final two video games with a loss to Hannover earlier than a draw towards already-relegated bottom-of-the-table Jahn Regensburg.
That shock 1-1 was sufficient to chop ties with Struber, who responded by saying: “I’ve typically spoken all through the season a couple of marathon we’ve to run collectively.
“The standings present how robust this race is for all groups. Now that the end line is in sight and we’ve a superb probability of profitable, the choice actually hurts.”
Sporting director Christian Keller was additionally sacked on the similar time and membership president Werner Wolf defined the ruthless choice.
“Our choice is the results of a radical evaluation of the sporting growth in latest weeks,” he stated.
“Given the nonetheless nice probability of direct promotion, we should do all the pieces in our energy to grab this chance.
“We will not depend on the outcomes of our opponents. The workforce has to focus by itself strengths for the final two video games. It wants new impetus for that now. We have not seen that.”
Cologne have named Friedhelm Funkel as their new coach, with the 71-year-old veteran returning for a 3rd stint.
Funkel has coached over 300 video games within the Bundesliga 2 and over 400 within the Bundesliga, exhibiting the mandatory expertise within the prime flight the membership wouldn’t have had with Struber.
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Funkel additionally led the unfancied second tier Kaiserslautern to the DFB Pokal closing final season the place they narrowly misplaced 1-0 to Bayer Leverkusen.
“FC is and stays a matter near my coronary heart,” he stated.
“Any longer, it is all about mobilizing all the pieces within the remaining two video games, rediscovering our perception in our personal energy, and reaching promotion collectively.
“I am trying ahead to the problem and am satisfied that we are going to obtain our objective.”
Sky report that Cologne didn’t trust in Struber’s skills within the prime flight and determined to make the choice early to half methods given latest outcomes.
Regardless of the Rheinland facet sitting second, they’ve solely scored 47 league targets this season, fewer than 11 different Bundesliga 2 sides.
Struber will nonetheless be regarded upon fondly in Barnsley the place he achieved a miraculous survival marketing campaign.
Employed by the EFL facet in November 2019, the workforce had been seven factors from survival and spent a lot of the season within the relegation zone.
Nonetheless, two stoppage time wins towards large weapons Nottingham Forest and Brentford lifted them out of the underside three on the ultimate day of the season.
The facet had been mid-table for the next marketing campaign, earlier than Struber was poached by New York Ref Bulls in MLS.