Bundesliga blog: What next for Hertha Berlin after Michael Skibbe's 52-day disaster?
Welcome to our German football blog, courtesy of Ross Dunbar of brand new German football site bundesligafootball.co.uk .
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The last few days have been almost as eventful in the Bundesliga as they have at Wembley, with two coaches getting the axe after just four games of the "ruckrunde".
On Thursday, Holger Stanislawski lost his position at Hoffenheim after failing to win in their last six games and the former St Pauli man was replaced on Friday morning by ex-Liverpool defender Markus Babbel.
The change orchestrated by powerbroker Dietmar Hopp provided instant dividends with Hoffenheim securing a 1-1 draw at Werder Bremen after a positive display at the Weser.
Stanislawski wasn’t the only coach to lose his job this week after Hertha Berlin gave Michael Skibbe the bullet after just 52 days in charge.
The Berliners secured promotion back to the Bundesliga last season under Markus Babbel, who was was doing relatively well in the hinrunde as Hertha sat in a congested mid-table area.
But general manager Michael Preetz was unconvinced and at the height of a contract dispute with Babbel, he decided to axe the 39-year-old just before the winter break.
Hertha wasted no time in appointing Michael Skibbe as their new head coach with the aim of securing the club’s place in the Bundesliga for next season.
On paper, the 46-year-old was an experienced option having coached Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Galatasaray and Eintracht Frankfurt over the last decade.
However, five defeats in a row for Skibbe with a goal difference of -11 put Preetz in an awkward position with Hertha slipping towards the bottom of the table.
The last straw for the Hertha hierarchy came on Saturday afternoon as his side were slaughtered by a rampant VfB Stuttgart who won by five goals.
But local newspapers reported that the decision had already been made after Hertha’s DFB Pokal exit to Borussia M’Gladbach in midweek.
Preetz has a rather embarrassing history in recent times of sacking coaches with Lucien Favre – who guided them to fourth – Freidheim Funkel and Markus Babbel all feeling the axe after short periods in charge of the club.
And the Hertha faithful showed their discontent on Sunday morning with over 250 supporters protesting outside the stadium.
Skibbe becomes the Bundesliga’s fifth managerial casualty of the season following Marcus Sorg (SC Freiburg), Michael Oenning (Hamburg), Holger Stanislawski (Hoffenheim) and Babbel (Hertha).
Rene Tretschok and Ante Covic have taken charge on a caretaker basis, although there are no hints yet as to who might be in the frame for the job long-term.
Whoever it is will need to hit the ground running - with another 13 games to go, the Berliners are locked in a nervy battle at the bottom of the table to stay in the Bundesliga.
Augsburg and Freiburg occupy the bottom two positions but Kaiserslautern are just two points behind Hertha in the play-off spot. Although, Hertha do have a favourable run-in against these three sides with two home matches.
The new man will not have an easy start either with their next three home matches coming against Borussia Dortmund, Werder Bremen and FC Bayern.
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Read more from Ross at the new site bundesligafootball.co.uk or follow @rossdunbar93 on Twitter
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