Union Berlin officially sack Svensson

Union Berlin confirmed on Friday that they are parting company with trainer Bo Svensson and his entire coaching staff with immediate effect. 

Having declined to back head-coach Bo Svensson following Union’s latest defeat in the league on Saturday, 1. FC Union Berlin managing director Horst Heldt has now officially terminated Svensson and his entire coaching staff. 

Svensson’s tenure with die Eisernen lasted only 17 games. Union won four, drew five, and lost six league fixtures under the Danish gaffer. Third tier side DSC Arminia Bielefeld eliminated Svensson’s team in the second round of the Pokal. 

Svensson – after VfL Bochum’s Peter Zeidler and TSG 1899 Hoffenheim’s Pellegrino Matarazzo – becomes the Bundesliga’s third coaching casualty of the season. 

There is no word yet on who Heldt will appoint as a successor. Heldt’s last coaching hire, whilst serving at Köln, was Steffen Baumgart shortly after the conclusion of the 2020/21 campaign. 

Heldt himself was sacked by Köln days after he appointed Baumgart. The last man Heldt trusted to lead a club is himself unemployed after being dismissed by Hamburger SV earlier this year. 

Union are set to resume training camp on January 2nd, ideally with a new head-coach in place by then. 

“After a thorough analysis of the season so far,” a Heldt penned statement released on the FCU website read. “We are convinced that a significant change is necessary to reverse the trend.”