Bayer Leverkusen coach Klaus Toppmoller, who guided the club to the Champions League final last year, has been sacked in the wake of their seventh home defeat of the season, the club's general manager Reiner Calmund has announced.
The axe fell for 51-year-old Toppmoller, at Leverkusen since June 2001, following Saturday's 2-1 home loss to Hansa Rostock which left them just one point above the relegation zone.
Leverkusen's amateur side coach Thomas Horster has been given the job on a stand-in basis till a successor to Toppmoller, whose contract had been due to run till June 30, 2005, is found.
The club was dubbed Neverkusen last season for failing to win a trophy although they were runner-up in three competitions - the German league, German Cup and European Champions League.
Seven defeats in their 11 home league matches this season told its own story of a team which fell apart after key players Michael Ballack and Ze Roberto left for Bayern Munich at the end of last season.
Leverkusen are currently 15th in the 18-team table with 20 points from 21 matches, and only a point above Borussia Monchengladbach who occupy the first relegation position, though Monchengladbach have two games in hand.
Horster will take over the reins for Leverkusen's Champions League second phase match at home to Newcastle United on Tuesday. Leverkusen already have two defeats from two matches in group A.
Horster as a player was twice capped by Germany at full international level and earned a bronze medal at the 1988 Olympics in Seoul.