Nuremberg fire coach Wiesinger

The first win of Bert van Marwijk's tenure as Hamburg coach also proved to be Michael Wiesinger's last at the helm of Nuremberg. Nuremberg called a press conference on Monday evening, announcing that Wiesinger would be replaced on an interim basis by under-23 coach Roger Prinzen.

"It was a very difficult decision, but in the interest of FC Nuremberg we feel forced to act," sporting director Martin Bader said.

Wiesinger, who represented Nuremberg more than 180 times as a player and went on to manage the reserve team, was promoted to head coach last December. His deputy, Armin Reutershahn, was also given his marching orders.

"It was not easy for us to inform Michael and Armin of this decision, both had close ties to the club and were always completely committed to the team," Bader said. "Sadly, the recent games showed that no consistent upward trend is developing."

One side of Nuremberg's league record appears respectable. The nine-time German champions have lost just three of their eight games this season; they even managed a draw against mighty Borussia Dortmund. However, Wiesinger's side is also yet to win a single league game this season - and five points is good enough only for 16th place in the Bundesliga table.

Wiesinger is the third Bundesliga coach to get the boot this season, just eight games into the league campaign. He follows in the footsteps of former Stuttgart boss Bruno Labbadia and Hamburg's Torsten Fink. Both those clubs are unbeaten in the league since their changes of leadership, although Hamburg have only played two matches under new coach van Marwijk.

Nuremberg's next Bundesliga fixture is in Frankfurt on October 19.

msh/ccp (dpa, SID)