Hamburg sack coach Oenning after poor display in Bundesliga

Posted on September 20, 2011 by SoccerPunter

German Bundesliga bottom side Hamburg sacked coach Michael Oenning on Monday after just six months in charge with his side having picked up just one point in their first six games.

The 45-year-old will be replaced by current reserve team coach Rodolfo Cardoso as an interim solution while the north German club search for a replacement.

Hamburg’s 1-0 home defeat by Borussia Moenchengladbach on Saturday was the final straw for the club’s board of director as they suffered their fifth defeat of the season after six games.

“Over the past two days, following the 1-0 defeat against Moenchengladbach and after many intense discussions, we have come to the conclusion that we had to make this decision,” said Hamburg’s director of sport Frank Arnesen.

“We will now busy ourselves by looking intensively for a successor for Michael Oenning. Rodolfo now has our full support.”

As recently as Saturday, Arnesen had said Oenning was safe until at least Friday’s game at VfB Stuttgart, but has had a change of heart.

After meeting with the board on Monday, Oenning accepted the decision.

“It is understandable for me that in this present situation, the club and I should go our separate ways,” said Oenning who took charge on March 13.

Oenning was Hamburg’s seventh coach in five years and the first German league coach to be sacked this season.