Favre resigns from Moenchengladbach post
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| AFP |
Lucien Favre resigned as Borussia Moenchengladbach coach on Sunday after his side lost all of their five opening games which left them bottom at the German Bundesliga. Gladbach's 1-0 defeat at Cologne on Saturday was the final straw for the 57-year-old after four years in charge.
Gladbach, who won the last of their five Bundesliga titles in the 1970s, has yet to accept his resignation, but Favre is set to be the first German league coach to part company with his team this season.
"We are totally stunned," Gladbach's vice-president Rainer Bohnhof told SID, an AFP subsidiary. "We have talked about this all day and rejected his offer to resign, because we were of the opinion that we could succeed together, but then he went out on his own (and announced his resignation)."
The Swiss steered Gladbach to third in the Bundesliga last season to qualify for the UEFA Champions League, where they lost their opening game 3-0 at Seville last Tuesday. They have conceded 12 goals in this season's Bundesliga, scoring just twice.
"After careful consideration and thorough analysis, I have come to the conclusion... to resign from my position as head coach of Borussia Moenchengladbach," he said in a statement. "I no longer have the feeling of being the perfect coach for the club."
Favre spent two years at Hertha Berlin from 2007-09 having won the Swiss league title with FC Zurich in 2006 and 2007 and was voted Germay's manager of the year in 2009.