Erik ten Hag has been sacked as Bayer Leverkusen manager after just two Bundesliga matches in charge of the club he joined this summer.
Ten Hag’s dismissal is the fastest in Bundesliga history, breaking the previous record of five matches. He lasted 62 days after being hired in May.
His last match in the Bayer dugout came on Saturday when he saw his side squander a 3-1 lead at Werder Bremen to draw 3-3.
Aside from that result, Ten Hag lost his league opener 2-1 to Hoffenheim. His only win came on August 15, when they beat fourth-tier side SG Sonnenhof Grossaspach 4-0 in the German Cup.
Bayer Leverkusen statement
In a statement on their website, Bayer Leverkusen said it was a decision agreed with by all the hierarchy.
‘Bayer 04 Leverkusen have parted ways with head coach Erik ten Hag. This was decided by the shareholders’ committee, the club’s supervisory body, on the recommendation of the management of Bayer 04. Training will be overseen by the current backroom staff on an interim basis.’
Simon Rolfes, managing director sport added: ‘This decision was not an easy one for us. Nobody wanted to take this step.
‘However, the past few weeks have shown that building a new and successful team with this setup is not feasible.
‘We firmly believe in the quality of our team and will now do everything we can to take the next steps in our development with a new setup.’
Unfair sacking?
Ten Hag, who was sacked by Manchester United last October and then replaced by Ruben Amorim the following month, will arguably feel hard done by having seen the squad he inherited sold this summer.
Florian Wirtz joined Liverpool in a Premier League £116million transfer in June. Jeremie Frimpong also moved to the Reds for £29.5m and Granit Xhaka signed for Sunderland for £13m.
Defender Jonathan Tah joined Bayern Munich on a free transfer, winger Amine Adli moved to Bournemouth in a deal worth up to £25.1m, while goalkeeper Lukas Hradecky joined Monaco.
It’s not been a good few days for ex-Manchester United managers with Jose Mourinho (Fenerbahce) and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer (Besiktas) given their marching orders too.
