Hoffenheim sack Stanislawski

Hoffenheim have sacked coach Holger Stanislawski in the wake of their elimination from the DFB-Pokal last night. A 1-0 defeat at home to Greuther Furth ended the club's best hopes of qualifying for Europe next season after a dip in form in the Bundesliga saw them drift away from the top six in 2012. Stanislawski, who only took over the reins last summer, has had his contract terminated with immediate effect. "We respect Holger Stanislawski as a person and as an expert coach, but after a long, constructive discussion with him, we have reached the conclusion that it is better to end our cooperation in everybody's interests," general manager Ernst Tanner said on his club's website. Hoffenheim have won just one of their last 10 Bundesliga matches, with last night's cup defeat at home to Furth proving the final straw. Tanner added: "The latest sporting developments were certainly decisive." Stanislawski had voiced his dissatisfaction at his team's recent performances, while he too was criticised by club owner Dietmar Hopp prior to last night's game for "not giving the team any identity" since his summer arrival. The problems behind the scenes had clearly reached the point where going separate ways was the only way out. "All of the disturbances around the club are not good," club captain Andreas Beck was quoted as saying by Spiegel magazine. "A downward spiral has set in." However, the former St Pauli coach was defiant after last night's defeat, saying he "does not care" what he reads in the newspapers this morning since he had seen an improvement from his team. "They can say what they like. We always played courageous attacking football and that is what matters," he told Sky television. And the fans showed their support for Stanislawski prior to kick-off, calling his name after every player was read out by the stadium announcer. "That shows how much the fans like Stani, but the fact is, despite all of this passion, we have not produced anything in terms of goal attempts once again," said Tanner after the final whistle. Stanislawski becomes the fifth managerial casualty of the Bundesliga season following changes at Freiburg, Hertha Berlin, Hamburg and Schalke. His assistant coaches Andre Trulsen and Klaus-Peter Nemet have also been dismissed, with fitness coaches placed in charge of today's training session ahead of Saturday's trip to Werder Bremen.