In what has been a surprising turn of events, Borussia Mönchengladbach's head coach, Lucien Favre, has left the club.
The Foals have been in rotten form this season, so perhaps it is not as shocking on the face of it. The Borussia-Park side have lost every game in the Bundesliga in the 2015-16 campaign and fell to defeat against Sevilla in their opening UEFA Champions League group game against Sevilla. The only victory came against FC St. Pauli, where they came back to win 1-4 in the DFB-Pokal.
However, Favre has been through his fair share of rough times at the club. He took over when Gladbach were threatened with relegation back in 2011. They were seven points adrift at the bottom of the league but the Belgian managed to turn things around and secured a relegation play-off win over VfL Bochum to keep them in the league.
Now he believes that the "time has come to make a change" and that he is no longer "the perfect coach for Borussia Mönchengladbach". Favre's four-and-a-half years in Westfalen seen him guide the club from nearly playing in the 2. Bundesliga to getting them back to the pinnacle of European football.
The reaction to the decision
When speaking to SID, where the news broke, Favre explained the decision: "After careful consideration and intense analysis of the situation. I have come to the realization that the best decision in this situation is for me to step down from my position as head coach of Borussia Mönchengladbach."
Obviously this has come as a huge shock to the club. “We had hoped that we would be able to overcome this episode together, but his decision to make his resignation public knowledge has resulted in the creation of a situation which hurts us," commented club president, Rolf Königs.
Max Eberl, sporting director, admitted that he thought the club could overcome the difficulties on the pitch with him as head coach. Vice-President Rainer Bonhoff, who was also speaking to SID, was shocked: "We're completely bowled over." He added, "We refused to accept his resignation because we were of the opinion that together we could get the job done. But he went public on his own."