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BUNDESLIGA

Werder Bremen hand Skripnik his marching orders

Werder Bremen's Viktor Skripnik on Sunday became the first Bundesliga coach sacked this season after a fourth straight defeat marked the club's worst ever start.

Update:
Viktor Skripnik
ROLAND WEIHRAUCHEFE

Worst start in club history

Werder Bremen's Viktor Skripnik became the first Bundesliga coach to be sacked this season after a fourth straight defeat marked the club's worst ever start.

After nearly two years in charge, mostly battling to avoid relegation, the 46-year-old was axed on Sunday, in the wake of Saturday's 4-1 league defeat at Borussia Mönchengladbach when Bremen leaked three goals in the opening 21 minutes.

His assistant coaches, Florian Kohfeldt and ex-Germany international Torsten Frings, have also left the club. The Gladbach defeat leaves Bremen bottom of the Bundesliga table with zero points and 12 goals conceded after just three league games.

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CARMEN JASPERSENEFE

Youth team coach Alexander Nouri will stand-in as first team coach until a successor is found for Skripnik, a former Ukranian international who helped Werder to a league and cup double as a player in 2004. The decision to relieve Skripnik of his duties came on the bus ride home from Gladbach with Bremen to host Mainz on Wednesday in the league.

“We spoke once more about the situation on the bus ride home. We took this decision because after the match at Mönchengladbach, we no longer held the conviction that a positive turnaround was possible in the current configuration”, Bremen's Director of Sport Frank Baumann explained.

Skripnik said his goodbyes to Bremen's staff on Sunday and was said to have taken the decision “with disappointment, but professionalism”. Monday's training session will be taken by the club's fitness coaches and from Tuesday, Nouri will prepare the team for Wednesday's visit from Mainz.