Eintracht Frankfurt will not be rushed into appointing a new coach and are comfortable with under-21 boss Dennis Schmitt staying in interim charge for now, sporting director Markus Krösche said on Monday. Dino Toppmöller was sacked on Sunday after an array of erratic results and defending.
Eintracht Frankfurt will not be rushed into appointing a new coach and are comfortable with under-21 boss Dennis Schmitt staying in interim charge for now, sporting director Markus Krösche said on Monday.
Dino Toppmöller was sacked on Sunday after an array of erratic results and defending. They sit seventh in the Bundesliga and 30th in the Champions League, where they travel to Azerbaijan's Qarabağ on Wednesday.
Schmitt is being assisted by former Frankfurt striker and current Under-19 coach Alexander Meier as well as Jan Fiesser, the only one of Toppmöller's assistants to remain.
"Dennis has been with us for a while, he has just completed his coaching licence. He is someone who has a certain amount of experience and has already worked at a higher level as an assistant coach. I believe he can provide a new impulse," Krösche told a press conference.
Schmitt, who was assistant coach in Belgium at Royal Mouscron and St Truiden, could also be in the dugout for the next Bundesliga match on Saturday against Hoffenheim.
"Dennis Schmitt is head coach until further notice, there is nothing more to say about that," Krösche added, before refusing to talk about his managerial targets.
"We are not going to discuss names here now," he said. "Our goal is to play in Europe. We want to appoint someone as coach who of course lets his team play attacking and bold football, and who is also able to develop players."
Kicker magazine reported on Monday that former Bundesliga coach Marco Rose is the favourite to take over.
The ex-Borussia Mönchengladbach, Borussia Dortmund and RB Leipzig coach has been out of work since being fired by the latter last year.
Kicker said the 49-year-old German, who previously coached Red Bull Salzburg, was interested in another foreign adventure but Frankfurt may still be able to do a deal.
Germany 2014 World Cup winner Mats Hummels, who played under Rose at Dortmund, thinks he is the perfect candidate.
"I rate Marco Rose extremely highly. For me he fits in anywhere because he really is a great coach, a top guy," Hummels, now retired, told reporters on the sidelines of the Legends Cup in Munich on Sunday.
Speculation is also linking Edin Terzic, Roger Schmidt and 2024 Bayer Leverkusen title-winning coach Xabi Alonso, recently let go by Real Madrid, to the Frankfurt job.
But German football icon Lothar Matthäus told Sky that the Spaniard would not be interested.
"Alonso is also thinking very big. Frankfurt is not big enough for that," he said.
Category: General Sports
