Hoffenheim coach Huub Stevens resigns on health grounds
Wednesday 10 February 2016 16:18, UK
Hoffenheim coach Huub Stevens has resigned on health grounds.
The 62-year-old Dutchman, who only had a contract until the end of the season and has been in charge for 10 games since last October, has quit the Bundesliga side due to an acute abnormal heart rhythm as he awaits surgery.
Stevens was examined in Heidelberg on Monday and announced his decision in a press conference on Wednesday afternoon.
"The risk is too great that something will happen and I don't want that," said Stevens. "I think my career is over. The drive isn't there anymore - it's a pity.
"The club needs someone who is 100 per cent fit and I am not. The doctors haven't advised me to quit, but I can feel it in myself. I haven't got so many years ahead of me any more and I want to enjoy them."
Hoffenheim are second from bottom of the table and in serious danger of being relegated after eight seasons in Germany's top flight - they are seven points adrift of safety with 14 games remaining.
Stevens' assistant coaches Alfred Schreuder and Armin Reutershahn have taken charge ahead of Hoffenheim's next league game at fellow strugglers Werder Bremen on Saturday.
The club has already appointed youth team trainer Julian Nagelsmann as head coach of the senior side for next season and, if they stay up, he will become the youngest coach in Bundesliga history at just 28 years of age.
Hoffenheim's director of sport Alexander Rosen has hinted that Nagelsmann may take over from Schreuder and Reutershahn in the near future.
The 2-0 defeat at home to Darmstadt last Sunday was Stevens' final game in charge.
He only took over from Markus Gisdol in October with the club, backed by billionaire software mogul Dietmar Hopp, in their current league position of 17th.
But Stevens, who has also coached Schalke 04, Hertha Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg, PSV Eindhoven and PAOK during his career, believes Hoffenheim will avoid relegation.
"Hopefully, I don't need to worry," he said. "I will keep following Hoffenheim and the Bundesliga."
