Wolf takes over at Nürnberg

Relegation-threatened 1. FC Nürnberg have sacked their coach Klaus Augenthaler with four matches of the Bundesliga season remaining.

Four points from safety
Augenthaler will be replaced by the former VfL Wolfsburg coach Wolfgang Wolf who has a tough task to save the club who are one place off the bottom of the table, with 30 points from 30 games, and four points from safety.

Former German international
Augenthaler, a former German international and FC Bayern München libero, joined Nürnberg in March 2000 from the Austrian first division side, Grazer AK, replacing Friedel Rausch who was sacked following a string of poor results. "We stuck with Augenthaler until just before the very end," said the Nürnberg president, Michael Roth. "Perhaps we should have held talks a bit earlier." Nürnberg have won only nine points in their last 13 games.

Crucial game on Saturday
The 45-year-old Wolf, who has signed a contract that runs until 2005 which means he will stay with the club even if they are relegated, said he is relishing the challenge. "I'm the type of guy who loves this kind of situation. I like to roll up my sleeves," he said, adding that Saturday's game against TSV 1860 München would be crucial. "Saturday's game will be the big game. And if we succeed in the final match against [Bayer 04] Leverkusen, then we will stay up," he said.