Report: Mainz to dismiss Jan-Moritz Lichte after Pokal match
Germany's SportBild reports that Bundesliga bottom-dwellers FSV Mainz 05 prepare to make a new coaching appointment after Wednesday's DFB-Pokal fixture against VfL Bochum.
Jan-Moritz Lichte's audition for the Mainzer head-coaching job has evidently come to an end. The 40-year-old interim trainer shall reportedly be removed after only attaining only four points in 11 league fixtures and a disastrous December that featured three defeats against relegation rivals Arminia Bielefeld, Werder Bremen, and 1. FC Köln.
Following Saturday's 0-1 defeat to Bremen, center back Alexander Hack lashed out against his teammates, advocating a more urgent attitude to the dangers posed by relegation. "We again played to score zero points," Hack said in a post-match interview, "We were too inactive in our counter pressing; not gallant enough. That's why we lost. You get the feeling that not everyone around here knows what this is about."
Lichte's title was never more than a caretaker. At present, there exists no reliable information as to who shall next fill the coaching chair. German footballing magazine Kicker reports that the club currently considers large-scale administrative changes, meaning sporting director Rouven Schröder may be on the move as well.
Since parting company with trainer Sandro Schwarz last November, the Rheinhessen were able to avoid relegation in the 2019/20 campaign under the auspices of just-released Köln coach Achim Beierlorzer. The former Jahn Regensburg gaffer immediately had difficulties with the team and was dismissed following a player training boycott earlier this autumn.
For a time it was rumored that Schwarz, considered by many to be the natural internal successor to the likes of Jürgen Klopp and Thomas Tuchel, might return to the club for whom he had such deep links. That possibility effectively no longer exists after Schwarz found gainful employment at Dynamo Moscow in October.
Asked about the rumors surrounding Lichte's departure, Nullfünfter CEO Stefan Hofmann more-or-less confirmed the move in an interview with SportBild.
"After [the Cup game], everything will be put on the table," he noted, "There will be clear decisions. We certainly can't go on like this. We won't stand idly by without marshaling all of our resources to stay in the league. That can mean drastic measures."