Rioch reign ends at Aalborg

Villarreal loss
The 61-year-old Scot arrived in the summer as a temporary replacement for Rosenborg BK-bound Erik Hamrén and immediately steered the club past FK Modriča and FBK Kaunas and into the group stage of the UEFA Champions League. AaB, however, have struggled in Group E where they followed an opening draw at Celtic FC with three-goal losses to Manchester United FC and Villarreal CF, 6-3, on Tuesday. The Danish champions have fared little better in domestic football, and sit just one place off the bottom of the 12-team table with eight points from ten matches.

Kuhn steps up
AaB announced a fortnight ago that Rioch would depart when his contract expired at the end of the year, but they have brought that forward and put assistant coach Allan Kuhn in temporary charge until the new year, when a permanent appointment will be made. "The qualification for the Champions League group stage was successful but apart from that we have to admit that our results in the Liga have not been satisfactory," said sporting director Lyng Jakobsen. "We have chosen to end this arrangement now as we no longer agree with Bruce Rioch as to how we can secure the results we desire in the future." Former head coach Poul Erik Andreasen will assist Kuhn.