Borussia Mönchengladbach fires coach Eugen Polanski

Only around an hour after the first media report, Borussia Mönchengladbach officially confirmed its separation from Eugen Polanski. The 40-year-old is no longer the coach of the Bundesliga club after just three match days of the new season. The club, still pointless after three games, announced this one day after the 5-0 defeat at SC Freiburg.

“Despite good preparation and positive approaches, the team did not manage to achieve the desired results in the Bundesliga,” said sports director Rouven Schröder. Assistant coach Tobias Trulsen also has to go with Polanski. «The recent performances have led to the decision to relieve Eugen of his duties with immediate effect. Eugen is Borussia through and through,” said Schröder.

Polanski: “It hurts like crazy”

Polanski himself thanked us for the time we spent together and at the same time expressed his disappointment: “Borussia Mönchengladbach was and remains my club. That's why it hurts so much that this has happened. After successfully staying in the league, we made a few changes this season,” he said. «We had big plans, but we didn't manage to implement them. I'm sorry for that. I really hope that Borussia gets around to it very quickly.”

First, assistant coach Jan-Moritz Lichte will take over the coaching job on an interim basis and will probably also be on the bench next Saturday against FSV Mainz 05. He is supported by Markus Gellhaus and the coaching team. The 46-year-old Lichte came to the Lower Rhine from Manchester City's youth team in the summer and initially worked as an assistant coach with a focus on development.

Déjà vu at Borussia: Another change of coach after three match days

The move is strikingly reminiscent of the previous season, when Gladbach also parted ways with coach Gerardo Seoane after three games. Almost exactly a year ago, 40-year-old Polanski, the previous coach of Borussia's regional league team, took over the team from Lower Rhine. The club finished last season in twelfth place.

As with Seoane in the previous year, the Gladbachers went into the new season with Polanski as the already ailing coach, despite considerable doubts in the environment and in parts of the supervisory board. At Seoane, the then sports director Roland Virkus made the decision. Shortly afterwards he too had to take his hat off. Now his successor Schröder had to make the decision and go looking for a coach.

Schröder's conversion has not yet paid off

After the disappointing preseason, Schröder made major changes to the squad and the coaching team around Polanski instead of parting ways with the head coach. A total of eleven additions had fueled the club's hope of a better season without fear of relegation. After the three opening defeats of the new season, disillusionment has now set in again. In Freiburg, Gladbach played like a relegated team.

The bad luck with injuries that Polanski had to contend with also weighs on his mood. A total of five players are currently out, some seriously injured. Despite these difficult conditions, Schröder and Polanski have always been confident recently. But the worst start to the season in the club's history and a points average of just 1.09 in 34 Bundesliga games ultimately left those in charge with no room for maneuver.