Bayern bring in Heynckes after sacking Klinsmann
Stuttgart(Reuters)Bayern Munich have fired Juergen Klinsmann after a disappointing first season, putting former coach Jupp Heynckes in charge for the five remaining league matches.
"FC Bayern are parting company with Juergen Klinsmann. There will be a press conference later in the day," a club media officer told Reuters on Monday.
"The board saw the minimum targets of the season were in jeopardy after recent results and that is why it took this decision," the club said on their website (www.fcbayern.de).
Klinsmann was told of the move after a morning meeting with board members Uli Hoeness, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge and Karl Hopfner. Assistant coaches Martin Vasquez and Nick Theslof were also sacked.
Bayern are third in the Bundesliga, three points behind leaders VfL Wolfsburg, after losing 1-0 at home to Schalke 04 on Saturday and are in danger of winning no silverware this season.
The defeat by Schalke piled the pressure on the former Germany coach, with thousands of fans chanting "Klinsmann out".
Heynckes, 63, previously coached Bayern from 1987-91 and won two championships.
He also enjoyed a brief spell at Real Madrid, winning the Champions League in 1998, but his most recent Bundesliga job at Borussia Moenchengladbach ended midway through the 2007 season after his team had gone 13 matches without a win.
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Klinsmann, 44, joined Bayern in July and said his goals for the season were to retain the Bundesliga and the German Cup and to achieve success in Europe.
"I want to make every player a bit better after every game," he said at the time.
Bayern, though, were destroyed 4-0 by Barcelona in the Champions League quarter-finals before drawing the return 1-1 in Munich.
They went out of the German Cup at the last eight, losing 4-2 to Bayer Leverkusen.
Bayern''s defence has also been a far cry from last season''s rock-solid backline.
The job was Klinsmann''s first club assignment after the former international striker steered Germany to third place in the 2006 World Cup on home soil.