Bobic sacked by struggling Stuttgart

Stuttgart have seemingly blamed their shambling Bundesliga season on Fredi Bobic, who has been sacked from his role of sporting director.

Bobic has held the position since July 2010, but just one of his four seasons in charge resulted in a top-half finish – 2011-12’s placing of sixth.

Last season saw Stuttgart flirt with relegation for the entire campaign, and they have started 2014-15 in a similar malaise, taking a solitary point from their opening four games – leaving them bottom.

Five different coaches have been employed by Stuttgart in Bobic’s time, which has also been clouded by perceived failings in the transfer market.

Sami Khedira was sold to Real Madrid early in Bobic’s reign, while the likes of Bernd Leno and Shinji Okazaki have been cast aside before going on to thrive at Bundesliga rivals Bayer Leverkusen and Mainz respectively.

News of Bobic’s departure broke less than an hour before Stuttgart’s fixture at Borussia Dortmund on Wednesday.

Stuttgart chairman Dr Joachim Schmidt commented: “The continued negative sporting results, as well as the fact that we see no more prospects in the current personnel have led us to initiate a sustainable development plan.

“We thank Fredi Bobic for his work and commitment. He was the face of our association through a difficult phase and had to deal with some diversity.

“The bottom line is, after four years he has not been able to put together a team able to reach a position in the table corresponding to our budget.”