Wolfsburg sack coach Kovac after dismal run

Bundesliga strugglers Wolfsburg fired manager Niko Kovac on Sunday with the German side yet to win in the league since the start of the year.

Wolfsburg have not won any of their last 11 Bundesliga games under Kovac, a run which has left the side lingering in 14th spot.

After a 3-1 loss at home to Augsburg on Saturday, the team sit just six points above the relegation play-off place.

"After the defeat against FC Augsburg, analysing the game and the overall situation, we came to the decision to end our cooperation," Wolfsburg's managing director Marcel Schaefer said in a statement.

"We regret the development and believe it is necessary to give the team new impetus in order to stabilise the situation," Schaefer said.

Kovac's assistant and younger brother Robert Kovac would also leave the club with immediate effect, Wolfsburg said.

The elder Kovac joined Wolfsburg ahead of the 2022-2023 season, in which the team finished eighth.

But the former Croatian international's second season in charge has seem him unable to sustain the same level of performance.

Before joining Wolfsburg, Kovac served as the manager of the Croatian national team, as well as coaching Bundesliga sides Eintracht Frankfurt and Bayern Munich.

Despite winning the Bundesliga and the domestic cup with Bayern in 2019, Kovac was let go by the Bavarian giants amid a poor run of form the following season.

Kovac took his next job with Ligue 1 side Monaco in 2022, before his return to the Bundesliga with Wolfsburg in 2022.