Bottom side Fortuna sack 'coach of the year' Funkel

Berlin (AFP) – Fortuna Duesseldorf, who are bottom of the Bundesliga, on Wednesday sacked Friedhelm Funkel, just a day after he received a ‘coach of the year’ award.

On Tuesday, Fortuna tweeted “congratulations” to Funkel for receiving the accolade from the state of North Rhine-Westphalia.

However, the 66-year-old was sacked less than 24 hours later in the wake of Sunday’s 3-0 loss to mid-table Leverkusen – their 12th defeat in 19 league games.

“We have scored just 18 goals this season, statistically we are the weakest team in attack, and one of the weakest in defence, in the Bundesliga,” said sports director Lutz Pfannenstiel.

“As a result, we no longer believe we can stay up if things stay as they are. We had to react.”

Duesseldorf are three points from safety and in a bid to avoid relegation former Manchester City striker Uwe Roesler, who last coached Swedish side Malmo, has been appointed head coach.

The 51-year-old, who played for City in the 1990s, will be in charge for Saturday’s home game against Eintracht Frankfurt, who shocked league leaders RB Leipzig last weekend.