Gladbach hire Dieter Hecking

Borussia Mönchengladbach on Thursday made official what had been widely anticipated since they sacked Andre Schubert following Tuesday's 2-1 defeat at home to Wolfsburg, confirming that they have appointed Dieter Hecking as their new head coach. A statement posted on the club's official website said the 52-year-old former Wolfsburg, Nuremberg and Hannover coach had signed a contract that runs through June of 2019.

"In light of the developments over the last few weeks we decided that we needed to inject fresh impetus into the team. Dieter Hecking is precisely the right man, he is a coach with a lot of experience, who has been successful with various teams at different levels," Gladbach's sporting director, Max Eberl said in the statement.

Sacked by rivals Wolfsburg in October

Hecking, who began his career as a player at Mönchengladbach, enjoyed his greatest success to date at Wolfsburg, where he took over in late 2012 and led them to a second-place finish in the Bundesliga and victory in the German Cup in 2015. Last season he took the Wolves all the way to the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

However, Wolfsburg fired Hecking in mid-October after the team got off to a disappointing start to the current campaign, despite having made significant new signings in the summer, such as Germany striker Mario Gomez.

Threat of relegation

In Gladbach, Hecking has taken over a team who are in 14th place with 16 points - just three above the relegation playoff spot. Coincidentally, his former team, Wolfsburg, are level with the Foals on points, but just above them in the standings based on goal difference.

Schubert, who initially took over Gladbach on an interim basis in September 2015, went on to lead the team into the Champions League group stage, but the Foals' weak start to this Bundesliga campaign made him the seventh coach to lose his job - before this season is even half over.