Hoffenheim is parting company with coach Holger Stanislawski, one day after losing 1-0 at home to second-division Greuther Fuerth in the German Cup quarterfinals.
Stanislawski joined the club at the start of the season from second-division St. Pauli on a contract that was set to expire in 2014. Hoffenheim said Thursday it was terminated by mutual consent.
Hoffenheim has won only one of its last 10 Bundesliga games.
No successor was immediately named. German media said former Stuttgart and Hertha Berlin coach Marks Babbel was the leading candidate. Babbel was fired by Berlin in December after a dispute with club officials.
''We regard Holger Stanislawski highly as a person and as a competent coach,'' managing director Ernst Tanner said. ''But after a long, constructive talk we came to the conclusion that it was better for all to end the cooperation. The latest results were decisive.''
Stanislawski's fate appeared sealed even before the loss to Greuther Fuerth after Hoffenheim's financial backer and de facto chief Dietmar Hopp criticized the team's slumping performances, although the players and the fans seemed be behind the coach.
The charismatic Stanislawski enjoyed a near cult status in St. Pauli in Hamburg, but appeared out of place in provincial Hoffenheim.
Hopp's millions helped Hoffenheim move from the third to the first division in successive seasons and the club topped the Bundesliga halfway into its debut in 2008-09.
But Hoffenheim has since stabilized in the middle of the standings and has not been able to crack the top five permanently. The club currently sits eighth.
Leading striker Vedad Ibisevic left the club in the midseason transfer period, along with several other players.
