VfB Stuttgart have parted company with Markus Weinzierl with immediate effect, bringing in Nico Willig as interim head coach until the end of the season.

Weinzierl arrived at Stuttgart on 10 October 2018, himself a replacement for Tayfun Korkut, with the club bottom of the Bundesliga table. He oversaw four wins, four draws and 14 league defeats in 22 games, the crushing 6-0 loss away to fellow relegation candidates Augsburg on Matchday 30 proving to be the final straw.

That result left VfB in the relegation play-off place in 16th, just three points ahead of Nuremberg and six behind Schalke in 15th.

Nico Willig has been in charge of the Stuttgart U19s since January 2016. - imago images / Pressefoto Baumann

Willig, the club's U19 coach, will take over first-team duties for the final four games of the 2018/19 campaign against Borussia Mönchengladbach (h), Hertha Berlin (a), Wolfsburg (h) and Schalke (a).

"We wanted to bring the season to a successful conclusion with Markus Weinzierl and his coaching team," sporting director Thomas Hitzlsperger said in a statement on the club's website. "However, after the extremely disappointing match in Augsburg we chose to review the situation again and decided that a clear break is necessary in order to secure our Bundesliga survival. We didn't take this decision lightly, but VfB's success comes first and we have to act accordingly."

"Over the last few years Nico Willig has done very good work in the VfB youth academy and immediately agreed to help out in this difficult situation," he continued. "We believe he is capable of quickly bringing fresh impetus to the team and helping them avoid relegation."

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