Wolfsburg gives marching orders to Jonker

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Bengaluru, September 18: German League's perennial strugglers VfL Wolfsburg have given marching orders to their coach Andries Jonker.

The Dutchman's sacking comes as a bit of surprise, as it has been hardly four months since he saved them from relegation.

Appointed in February end, the 54-year-old was in charge of 19 matches including the two-legged relegation play-off against Eintracht Brauschweig in May which Wolfsburg won 2-0 on aggregate to secure their top-flight status.

Jonker's overall record was eight wins, four draws and seven defeats.

The Wolves, who lost 0-1 to promoted VfB Stuttgart on Saturday (September 16), have made a poor start to the new season and are lying 14th in the table with four points from as many games.

Jonker, the first coaching casualty of the Bundesliga season, had said after the defeat to Stuttgart that his team played well in the first half but the forwards lost possession too often.

Jonker's contract was due to run until the end of the season as he became the third coach to part company with Wolfsburg in less than one year following the sacking of Dieter Hecking in October 2016 and Valerien Israel in February.

The club said in a statement that the two parties had gone "separate ways" and that Jonker was "no longer head coach."

"The decision to change coach so early in the season was not taken lightly," said general manager Tim Schumacher. "We were finally convinced by our internal advisers that we must undertake this task with a new coaching staff."

Wolfgang Hotze, spokesman for the board of directors, said the decision was not just based on the Stuttgart match but "on the noticeable stagnation in the development of our... team in recent weeks."