VfB Stuttgart vs Hannover 96 preview - Veh takes on some of Bobic's duties

Posted Friday, September 26, 2014 by PA

Stuttgart president Bernd Wahler and chairman Dr Jochen Schmidt have explained why Fredi Bobic was relieved of his duties as the club's director of sport only hours before their Bundesliga clash with Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

Bobic was informed of the club's decision while the team was already in Dortmund, preparing for a game they drew 2-2.

"After intense discussions with the board of directors and the president, we decided together to relieve Fredi Bobic of his duties with immediate effect," said Schmidt at a press conference.

"The key to this step was the enduring negative position of the team as well as the fact that we could no longer see any chances of a positive development being introduced.

"We would like to thank Fredi for the work he has done.

"He was the image of our club during a difficult time and he had to fight with a lot of adversity, but at the end of the day, after four years here, he has not managed to put together a team that can achieve a position which really reflects the size of our budget."

Coach Armin Veh will take over some of Bobic's duties as a search for his replacement goes on, but the priority is getting the first three points of the season against Hannover on Saturday.

Given the Lower Saxony club's start to the season, with three wins and a draw from their first five games, that is going to be a tall order.

Their coach Tayfun Korkut reacted angrily to claims his side could aim for a place in the Champions League following their win over Cologne in midweek and his mood had not improved a great deal when he met the media again on Friday.

"All I can say is that we're heading to Stuttgart to win and to play well, in that order," he said.

Manuel Schmiedebach and Miiko Albornoz should both be back in the Hannover squad after injury, giving Korkut the option of rotating his side at the Mercedes-Benz-Arena.