Struggling Kaiserslautern sack Kurz

Bundesliga tailenders Kaiserslautern have dismissed coach Marco Kurz with just eight games left this season. The 42-year-old's final game was Kaiserslautern 4-1 defeat at home to Schalke on Sunday, which was their 17th consecutive match without a win. They are three points adrift of their rivals at the foot of the table and five points from safety. "After the defeat to Schalke and lots of intense discussions, we have come to the common belief that we must take this step," said Kaiserslautern chief executive officer Stefan Kuntz. "In the past few weeks and months, we have tried many different measures to try and get the team back on track. Unfortunately this has not been successful." A new coach is expected to be appointed soon, but assistant coach Oliver Schaefer and goalkeeping coach Gerald Ehrmann have already been installed as interim coaches for Saturday's match at Freiburg, who are 16th. Kurz's dismissal means seven coaches have now parted company with German league teams this season. Markus Babbel and Michael Skibbe were both sacked by Hertha Berlin this season while Marcus Sorg (Freiburg), Michael Oenning (Hamburg) and Holger Stanislawski (Hoffenheim) were also dismissed by their respective teams. Ralf Rangnick left Schalke in September after admitting he was suffering from burn-out.