Troubled Bundesliga giants VfB Stuttgart have announced that they have dispensed with manager Christian Gross’ services with immediate effect after the former Tottenham boss failed to lift his side and improve results.

The 56-year-old came in last season in place of Markus Babbel and enjoyed a good second half of the season as he led the club to a sixth place finish despite another poor start under the former German international. Qualifying for the Europa League also raised expectations for the new season as Gross also talked up his side’s chances.

Gross – who endured an equally tortuous spell with Spurs during a nine-month period between 1998 and 1999 – suffered from poor form of his players though as they could not live up to the expectations set from their performances of last season and are currently lying bottom of the Bundesliga standings with just three points from seven games.

Stuttgart clearly lost confidence in Gross despite giving him a vote of confidence just a few weeks ago and have decided that action had to be taken now in order to save the club from further problems later on.

The Bundesliga outfit have named assistant coach Jens Keller as the interim manager until a permanent replacement is found. Reports are linking Christoph Daum as one of the leading candidates to replace Gross.

Tags: Bundesliga, Christian Gross, Christoph Daum, football managers, VfB Stuttgart