BERLIN, Dec 10 - Arminia Bielefeld coach Ernst
Middendorp was sacked on Monday and will be replaced by amateur
team coach Detlev Dammeier for this weekend's Bundesliga match
against VfB Stuttgart .
"The facts don't lie -- we have only five points from the
last 11 matches," managing director Reinhard Saftig told a news
conference in Bielefeld. "I don't even want to start counting up
the goals we've allowed.
"There were matches there that I didn't think it could get
any worse, but it did," he added.
Bielefeld were beaten by Borussia Dortmund 6-1 on Friday.
The club announced the decision after a supervisory board
meeting.
Bielefeld have won just one of their last 11 matches in all
competitions. They are 15th in the league with 15 points, just
one point off the relegation zone.
It was the third time the club has sacked Middendorp. The
49-year-old also coached them from 1988 to 1990 and 1994 to
1998.
He was hired for the third time on March 14 and helped them
avoid relegation last season with a late four-match winning
streak.
"It's an emotional thing for me," said Middendorp. "I've
been attached to the club for 20 years.
Middendorp is the second Bundesliga coach to lose his job
this season after Petrik Sander of Energie Cottbus was sacked.
Bielefeld will search for a permanent replacement during the
winter break after Saturday's match.
(Writing by Erik Kirschbaum; editing by Alison Wildey)