Struggling Hamburg sack coach Gisdol

Berlin: After a fourth straight Bundesliga defeat, Hamburg reluctantly fired their head coach Markus Gisdol on Sunday with the club second from bottom of the league.

“Parting ways with a coach prematurely is never something we would wish to do but we feel a fresh start might help us to stay up, which is our aim,” club chairman Heribert Bruchhagen said.

Hamburg have lost 12 of their 19 league games this season. Their latest defeat, 2-0 at home to rock-bottom Cologne on Saturday, was their sixth match without a win. Gisdol is the sixth head coach to be sacked by a Bundesliga club this season.