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Dieter Hecking will be coach of 1. FC Nürnberg until the end of the season
Photo: IMAGO/Sportfoto Zink / Daniel Marr / IMAGO/Zink
After the dismissal of Markus Weinzierl, sports director Dieter Hecking will also take over the coaching position at the second division soccer team 1. FC Nürnberg until the end of the season.
"It wasn't part of my life plan, but I still have the self-confidence that I can steer the team back on the right track," said Hecking before the basement duel against tail light SV Sandhausen on Saturday (1 p.m. / TV: Sky) and added: 'I think it's the best way to get the rolling ship back on course.
We can put things right.” Christian Fiel becomes Hecking's assistant.
Nuremberg reacted to their precarious situation after the 0:5 swatter at 1. FC Heidenheim.
The club, which started the season with great ambitions, is only two points clear of a relegation zone.
Hecking was a coach at the club from 2009 to 2012.
He then worked in Wolfsburg, Gladbach and at Hamburger SV.
For the 2020/21 season, Hecking took over as sports director at FCN.
The 58-year-old didn't really want to return to the coaching bench.
In the current situation, Chairman of the Supervisory Board Thomas Grethlein spoke of the "best solution" for the club, but also called the additional job for Hecking a "risk".
He will "definitely only look after the FCN until the end of the season" as a coach.
Nuremberg is in the middle of a relegation battle
Weinzierl, who has trained in the Bundesliga Augsburg, Schalke and Stuttgart, took up the job at the traditional club as successor to Robert Klauss at the beginning of October.
In a total of eleven league games under his responsibility, Nuremberg won only three times but lost five times.
The highlight of the crisis was the desolate performance in Heidenheim, after which the coaches and players were insulted by the fans who had traveled with them.
The club only recently made positive headlines in the DFB Cup.
He was the only second division team to reach the quarter-finals, where he meets Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart.
ast/sid/dpa