Sportfreunde Siegen and promotion coach Thorsten Nehrbauer are parting ways with immediate effect. His successor has already been named.

Not much remains of Sportfreunde Siegen’s strong start to the season. The club has not won any of its last six Regionalliga games. This has now had consequences.

As the club announced, coach Thorsten Nehrbauer, who led Siegen back to the regional league last season, has to step down. “We would like to thank Thorsten for his great commitment and the work he has done over the past few months. His contribution to the promotion to the regional league is undisputed and will remain closely associated with his name. That is precisely why this decision was not an easy one for us,“ explained managing director Matthias Georg in a club statement. He added: ”After a thorough analysis, we have come to the conclusion that we have increasingly different ideas about the sporting direction of the club. We believe this step is necessary in order to steer the team’s development in the desired direction in the long term.”

Boris Schommers, who the club has already presented as his successor, is now set to turn the tide. The 46-year-old from Leverkusen was previously head coach at 1. FC Nürnberg in the Bundesliga (13 games) as well as at 1. FC Kaiserslautern and MSV Duisburg in the 3. Liga (56 games in total). Schommers also brings with him many years of experience in the youth department of 1. FC Köln, leading the U17 team to the German championship in 2010/11. The UEFA Pro license holder is familiar with the Regionalliga West through his work at 1. FC Düren.

“We are convinced that Boris is an excellent fit for us, both personally and professionally. He brings extensive experience from professional and youth soccer, knows the Regionalliga West, and has a clear game plan that will get the team back on track for success,” said Georg. Boris Schommers will be officially presented at Sportfreunde Siegen on Tuesday, October 28, at 5 p.m.