Stuttgart fire coach Trapattoni

Stuttgart have fired Giovanni Trapattoni as coach eight months after bringing the former Italy manager to the southern German province.

Armin Veh, a 45-year-old former Hansa Rostock coach, was named yesterday as Trapattoni's successor.

Under Trapattoni, the ninth Bundesliga coach to be sacked this season, Stuttgart managed only five wins in 20 matches.

They have scored only 21 goals this season, none in the last three games, and Trapattoni's emphasis on defence after years of high-scoring Stuttgart teams attracted widespread criticism.

"Giovanni Trapattoni is an absolute gentleman and one of the most successful trainers in the world," said VfB president Erwin Staudt.

"Nevertheless, his work with the team has not been as efficient and successful as we had hoped."

Trapattoni's assistant Andreas Brehme, who served as Trapattoni's translator, was also fired.

Trapattoni, 66, came under pressure in December but his team won two matches before the winter break. Their main target is a top-five finish to return to the UEFA Cup next season.

They have reached the UEFA Cup group phase and face Middlesbrough next week.

A day before sacking Trapattoni, Staudt praised the coach.

"I can't blame him for the fact that the team aren't scoring goals anymore," Stadut told the General-Anzeiger newspaper on Thursday.

"I can't see that we're doing anything wrong."

Trapattoni has had a glittering managerial career and his broken German style of speaking brought him a cult following in the country where he also coached Bayern Munich in the 1990s.

Trapattoni stepped down as Benfica coach in May after steering them to their first Portuguese championship for 11 years and joined Stuttgart a month later.

The Portuguese championship was his ninth league title in a long career with several European clubs, including six Serie A titles with Juventus. He has won three UEFA Cups, a Cup Winners' Cup and secured Juventus's first European Cup triumph in 1985.

As a defender with Milan Trapattoni won the European Cup in 1963 and 1969 and two Serie A titles.

Bundesliga

Playing Today - 3.30 p.m.
A. Bielefeld vs Stuttgart
E. Frankfurt vs Hanover
Hamburg vs Mainz

Duisburg vs B. M'gladbach
Schalke vs B. Leverkusen
Wolfsburg vs Hertha Berlin
W. Bremen vs Kaiserslautern

Tomorrow - 5.30 p.m.
Cologne vs B. Dortmund
B. Munich vs Nuremberg