London London. Union Berlin has fired coach Bo Svensson and his assistants after going nine games without a win in all competitions. The Bundesliga club said on Friday it would appoint a new coach in the “coming days” to take charge of the team from January 2. Union was eliminated from the German Cup and have not won a game since beating promoted Holstein Kiel in October. It has not won any of its last eight Bundesliga games under Svensson, who took over in the summer, and the team has shown little signs of development during his tenure despite an encouraging start.
“We believe a significant change is necessary to reverse this trend,” said Union sporting director Horst Heldt. “We have therefore decided not to continue our collaboration with Bo Svensson, Babak Kihnfer, Christopher Wichmann and Tijan Njie.” Svensson's last game was a 4-1 loss at Werder Bremen on December 21. The club's favorite last season The union has had little success in coaching appointments since firing Urs Fischer. Fischer led the club to promotion to the Bundesliga for the first time in 2019, followed by consistent performances in the Bundesliga to qualify for the Champions League in 2023.
That success arguably threw off the balance in the team as it prompted Heldt to bring in experienced big names such as Leonardo Bonucci and Robin Gosens to replace Fischer after a run of 14 games without a win in European football. Marko Grote took over on an interim basis, then Croatian coach Nenad Bjelica was appointed, in what proved to be an unhappy period. Bjelica was demoted after they lost to rivals Bochum, leaving the club one point above the drop zone. Grote returned and eventually led the club to safety on the final day.
Swenson, who was appointed as soon as the previous season ended, was expected to strengthen the team and restore the fighting qualities that had made it so successful under Fisher. Ultimately, he failed to do so. Union will next play in Heidenheim after the winter break on January 11, then host Augsburg. Both rivals are behind 12th-placed Union in the standings.
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