- Andries Jonker dismissed by Wolfsburg after less than seven months in charge
- The Dutchman left his role with Arsenal’s academy to take charge in February
- Wolfsburg say ‘stagnated development’ is behind the reason for his departure
Wolfsburg have parted company with head coach Andries Jonker after less than seven months in charge due to a lack of progress at the club.
The 54-year-old Dutchman, who replaced Valerien Ismael at the Volkswagen Arena in February, successfully staved off relegation from the Bundesliga last season.
His departure comes after Saturday’s 1-0 loss at Stuttgart left Wolfsburg with four points from their opening four league games of the new campaign.
Andries Jonker has been sacked by Wolfsburg after just seven months in charge
Wolfgang Hotze, spokesman for the club’s board, told vfl-wolfsburg.de: ‘Decisive for us in taking this step at this point in time was not just the impression made upon us during the game against Stuttgart, but rather based upon the perception of stagnated development amongst the team, which was to a great extent newly formed during the summer.
‘We expressly wish to thank Andries Jonker and his coaching staff for rescuing VfL’s position in the top flight at the last minute at the end of last season.’
Jonker left Arsenal to become Wolfsburg’s first-team manager in February 2017
Former Arsenal academy manager Jonker won eight of his 19 matches in charge in all competitions.
He departs alongside assistant coaches Uwe Speidel and Fredrik Ljungberg and match analyst Jan van Loon.
Wolfsburg intend to act quickly in appointing Jonker’s successor, with the new man expected to be unveiled later on Monday and then take a training session ahead of Tuesday’s match with Werder Bremen.
Sporting director Olaf Rebbe, who is currently in discussion with the new head coach, said: ‘We have two difficult games ahead of us this week, but we didn’t want to implement a caretaker solution, rather install a new head coach with immediate effect.’
Former Arsenal winger Freddie Ljungberg (right) has also been released by Wolfsburg
