Nürnberg axe falls on Geenen

Less than a week after sacking their coach Klaus Augenthaler and replacing him with Wolfgang Wolf, troubled 1. FC Nürnberg have parted company with general manager Edgar Geenen.

Fine pedigree
Chairman Michael A. Roth has reportedly attributed the decline of the club to Geenen and Augenthaler, and thus acted to relieve them of their duties. The champions of Germany on nine occasions and three-times winners of the German Cup, Nürnberg's pedigree counts for nothing right now as they struggle to avoid relegation to the 2. Bundesliga.

Licence trouble
The Franconian club are 17th in the 18-team division, and will be relegated at the weekend if they lose at BV Borussia Dortmund and BV Borussia Mönchengladbach and Bayer 04 Leverkusen win. With relegation looming, Nürnberg are preparing for a battle to obtain a playing licence for next season.

Young talent
However, with no significant bid yet tabled for any of Wolf's players, it is not clear how the club will obtain the funds necessary for the award of their licence. Roth, though, is reportedly preparing to put money from his personal fortune into the club, an investment which could buy Wolf the time he needs to develop the upcoming talent currently playing in the reserve and youth teams.

Leading candidates
The former VfB Stuttgart general manager Rolf Rüssmann and Andreas Köpke, a former Nürnberg goalkeeper who was in the Germany side which won the 1996 UEFA European Championship, are thought to be the leading candidates to replace Geenen along with another ex-Nürnberg player, Peter Knäbel.

'Lack of success'
Geenen took over at Nürnberg in February 2000 and oversaw promotion to the Bundesliga in 2002. He accepted his sacking, saying: "When there is a lack of success these are the rules of professional football."