Korkut a surprise choice to replace Schmidt at Leverkusen
The Bundesliga club sacked Roger Schmidt after a 6-2 drubbing in Dortmund at the weekend and hired former Hannover and Kaiserslautern boss Tayfun Korkut.
Bayer Leverkusen have appointed former Hannover and Kaiserslautern manager Tayfun Korkut as a replacement for the outgoing Roger Schmidt on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
Schmidt was dismissed on Sunday, 24 hours on from the 6-2 hammering at Borussia Dortmund that saw the club's board lose patience and left Leverkusen trailing the top four by 11 points.
Former Turkey international Korkut has been charged with steadying the ship, as Leverkusen at least attempt to haul themselves back into contention for European football.
Korkut question marks
However, his appointment is not likely to result in a swell of anticipation with the 42-year-old's two most recent jobs leaving a lot to be desired.
The Stuttgart-born coach spent just under a year-and-a-half at Hannover before being sacked in April 2015, with his final match - coincidentally a 4-0 defeat to Leverkusen - stretching their winless run to 13 Bundesliga matches.
That was his solitary taste of top-flight coaching, with Korkut's only other first-team role coming in the second tier with Kaiserslautern, but that spell lasted a little over six months before he resigned last December following only four wins from their opening 16 league games.
Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann had been linked with a potential switch to the BayArena, but reports claim the 29-year-old will not be available until the end of the season.