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Luhukay sacked

Alex ChafferFebruary 5, 2015

Following defeat at home to Bayer Leverkusen, Hertha Berlin's head coach Jos Luhukay has been sacked. He's the fifth coach to get his marching orders from the club inside the last five years.

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Jos Luhukay
Image: imago/osnapix

Hertha Berlin confirmed on Thursday that Jos Luhukay has been sacked from his role as head coach, after nearly three years in charge of the capital club. Former Hertha player and current Hungary coach, Pal Dardai, will now take over the team on an interim basis. He will be assisted by Rainer Widmayer.

The move by Hertha sees the man who brought the Berliners back to the Bundesliga relieved of his duties, along with his assistants Markus Gellhaus and Rob Reekers. Hertha are currently second bottom of the Bundesliga on goal difference, two points ahead of Borussia Dortmund.

Luhukay joined the club in July 2012, with the plan of bringing the then second-tier side back to the Bundesliga. In the 2012/13 season, Hertha secured their second promotion in three seasons and were back in the Bundesliga.

Michael Preetz, Berlin's sporting director, praised the departing Dutchman for his efforts at the club at a special press conference on Thursday.

Bildergalerie Bundesliga
Despite a chance to regroup in the winter break, not much has changed for Hertha Berlin in the second half of the seasonImage: picture-alliance/dpa/T. Eisenhuth

"I have nothing but the utmost respect for Jos Luhukay and his coaching staff," Preetz said.

"But the team needed new momentum, and that is why we have made this change," he added.

From bad to worse

After a succesfull campaign in 2013/14 in which the club finished 11th in the Bundesliga, Hertha have had a troubled 2014/15 season with just five wins so far. After managing to cling to a position mid-table for most of the first half of the season, the team slipped into the relegation zone after losing to Leverkusen.

Still, the team's new coach Pal Dardai was outspoken on Hertha's chances for the rest of the season.

"We don't have much time, but we will be okay," Dardai said. "This team has the quality to be much higher on the table than they are now."

Luhukay becomes the fifth Bundesliga manager to lose his job this season, following Mirko Slomka, Jens Keller, Robin Dutt and Armin Veh.