Mattheaus favorite to land Hertha Berlin job

Lothar Mattheaus has emerged as the front-runner to replace Lucien Favre as coach of Hertha Berlin.

Favre was dismissed on Monday after a run of six straight defeats and Mattheaus, who has yet to coach in the Bundesliga after spells in Serbia, Austria, Israel and with the Hungarian national team, admits he would be keen to listen to what they have to offer.

“Berlin is definitely great and I’ll wait to see what happens,” he told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper. “Hertha has a huge task ahead and I think they will make the right decision.

“I have not yet had any contact with Hertha. My name always crops up when there is speculation.”

Hertha general manager Michael Preetz said that he and the board are “currently drawing up a job description” for the successor to Favre, who lasted just over two years in charge and led the club to fourth in the Bundesliga last season.

“He did a great job,” admitted Preetz, who added that it had become “necessary” to react to the club’s poor form.