Borussia Dortmund have sacked manager Marco Rose after just one season in charge.
The German coach led BVB to a respectable second-place finish in the Bundesliga during his maiden campaign, but humiliating defeats in both the Champions League and Europa League bruised his short tenure. Rose was brought to the Westfalenstadion last summer after two years with Borussia Monchengladbach and making his name as Red Bull Salzburg.
Now he will be on the hunt for a new job, with chiefs calling time on his mixed reign after an "intensive" meeting. A statement from Dortmund read: "Hans-Joachim Watzke, Michael Zorc and Sebastian Kehl would like to thank Marco Rose for the work he has done.
"His great commitment and the trusting discussions and wish him all the best for his private and sporting future. Rose's assistant trainer Alexander Zickler as well as Rene Maric and athletic trainer Patrick Eibenberger will also no longer work for BVB in the future. BVB would also like to thank them for the work they have done and their commitment during the 2021/22 season."
Chief executive Watzke added regarding the somewhat surprise decision: "This day is not an easy one for all of us, because the mutual respect among us was, is and remains great. After a season that was unsatisfactory for many reasons, we had to recognise that we did not reach our maximum potential in many areas."
The club have already begun to reshape the squad for next term, with the £51million departure of Erling Haaland to Manchester City being countered by the arrival of German trio Niklas Sule, Nico Schlotterbeck and Karim Adeyemi, who all put pen to paper ahead of pre-season.
Have your say! Who should Dortmund appoint as their new manager? Tell us your pick in the comment section.
Rose admitted last month that Dortmund's season was not good enough, with the now former BVB boss explaining to Sky Sport, via Kicker : "We got knocked out of the cup, out of the Champions League, the spectators were only able to join in late – all in all, this has been a less than satisfactory season for us.
"The fact is: if we had made fewer mistakes, we would have conceded fewer goals and may have gotten more points. Then we might have come here and actually been within striking distance," the 45-year-old added following their 3-1 defeat to Bayern Munich which allowed their rivals to seal the German title.
"When you have eight defeats in the Bundesliga, that's too many. We were not good enough, that must be said quite clearly. The difference was that Bayern were more consistent. Throughout the season, it's consistency that set the two teams apart."