Mainz dismiss head coach Jan Siewert
Mainz have parted company with head coach Jan Siewert after only three months in the job after Matchday 21’s 3-1 defeat to VfB Stuttgart left the team in the automatic relegation zone.
Siewert took over Mainz following Bo Svensson’s decision to step down in November, originally on a caretaker basis before being handed the job on a permanent two-and-a-half-year deal over the winter break. The loss in Stuttgart was only Siewert’s fifth in 12 games at the helm, but the 05ers also haven’t won a match since the 41-year-old’s debut when they beat RB Leipzig 2-0.
Watch: Highlights of Mainz's loss in Stuttgart
“We would like to expressly thank Jan for his commitment. He took on the task at a difficult time with a lot of passion and meticulousness and gave the team good impetus with his work,” said managing director Christian Heidel in a statement. “Unfortunately, however, this has not been reflected in a fundamental turnaround or results. Instead, the situation in the relegation battle has become much more acute for us in recent weeks. Unfortunately, we now see the change in the coaching position as a necessary step to be able to bring about a positive turnaround.”
Formerly in charge of Borussia Dortmund’s second team and Huddersfield Town in England, Siewert joined Mainz in 2020 as academy director. He oversaw a 5-2 defeat to Bayern Munich as caretaker coach of the senior squad in January 2021 before taking over the 05ers’ reserves in 2022 before stepping in for Svensson.
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“I would like to thank Mainz for almost four years. This is a special club for me. Many colleagues have become friends here. Together with my coaching team, I did everything I could to keep the club in the league, but unfortunately we also lacked the luck we needed. I wish the team and the club all the best - and above all that they can still stay in the league,” said Siewert in the announcement of his dismissal.
Siewert’s departure comes on Rosenmontag, one of the biggest days of Karneval in Mainz, and with the team 17th in the table, only above bottom side Darmstadt on goal difference, four short of Cologne in the play-off spot and nine away from outright safety.
A successor is set to be unveiled in due course. Mainz’s next game is at home to Augsburg on Saturday.
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