News – Arminia Bielefeld sack Stefan Krämer
On Sunday evening DSC Arminia Bielefeld confirmed that head coach Stefan Krämer had been released by the club, ending his two and a half year association with the club.
The most recent defeat at home to Ingolstadt has proved to be Krämer’s final opportunity to secure a positive result as a gap of five points has opened up between the sides in the relegation places and the rest of the side in the league. Speaking about the situation in a press release by the club, the Arminia CEO Marcus Uhlig said,
The sporting situation has worsened after the 0-2 home defeat against FC Ingolstadt. With this decision we want to set new impetus in the fight to avoid relegation
Under these circumstances, the club decided that a new coach was needed to lead the club in their fight against relegation, leading to Krämer and his assistant Michael Bauer leaving the club.
The decision comes on the back of a season where Arminia have struggled for the most part, despite what had been a promising start. Krämer had taken his side as high as third in the early weeks before a run of seven consecutive dropped ‘Die Blauen’ towards the bottom of the table. It was hoped that a surprising 4-0 against high flying Gruther Furth would provide impetus for a revival in form.
However, this failed to materialise as Arminia went into the winter break with relegation fears hanging over the side’s heads and questions about Krämer’s position at the club. Nevertheless, the Arminia board kept faith with Krämer over the winter, hoping that the break coupled with an injection of new signings would help reverse the clubs failing fortunes.
The upturn in form failed to emerge as Arminia have picked up a single point since the break, a last minute equalizer against St. Pauli. In a unanimous decision by the club, it was decided that this was insufficient to keep Krämer in the head coach job. According to sporting director Samir Arabi
“Given the current sporting situation, we have decided to establish a new coaching team.”
Krämer’s previous success to date at the ‘DSC’ has not gone unrecognised by the club. Taking over mid-season in September 2011, he helped guide Arminia to safety in the 3.Liga. This was followed by promotion in only his second season in the post, finishing second in the 3.Liga. During these two years in the 3.Liga, Arminia entered the Westfalen Cup twice, winning on both occasions. Speaking of his time at the club, Arminia president said,
“Stefan Krämer and Michael Bauer have helped the DSC Arminia enormously in a very difficult phase. I would like to thank them on behalf of the Association for their successful work over the past two and a half years.”
The club has announced it will be presenting a new coaching lineup in a timely manner in the coming days.
