Schaaf steps down as Eintracht Frankfurt coach after just one season
Thomas Schaaf has stepped down as coach of Eintracht Frankfurt after only one season in charge.
The 54-year-old felt he no longer had the club's total support after ending the season in ninth place, pointing the finger at some of Frankfurt's bosses who criticised him in public towards the end of the campaign.
"We had a great, spectacular season, particularly at home,"Schaaf said in a statement. "There were plenty of difficult situations we had to come through, particularly the many serious injuries which accompanied us throughout the entire campaign and beyond.
"[But] I cannot and will not accept the statements made in public and the way I and my work were being depicted, as well as the incredible and absolutely unacceptable accusations and insinuations that were being made to the media.
"That is what has led to this parting of ways."
Schaaf had been accused by the club's financial director Axel Hellmann of having lost the trust of his players after a run of poor results saw the club slip out of contention for a place in Europe next season.
Chairman Heribert Bruchhagen, who had repeatedly backed Schaaf, said on Tuesday that he regretted the former Werder Bremen coach's decision to resign after only one season.
"We had tried to the very end, unfortunately in vain, to convince him to change his mind," Bruchhagen told reporters in Frankfurt, according to Sport1.de, dismissing at the same time the rumours that he had already held talks with a possible successor.
"Thomas Schaaf had more than fulfilled the aims the club had given him, with ninth place and 43 points, and our collaboration with him was good, and we kept telling this to him and in public over the past few days.
"We are very sorry that Thomas Schaaf no longer wishes to join us on the path we were on."
Schaaf is the second Bundesliga coach to resign on Tuesday following Roberto Di Matteo's departure from Schalke.
Already Schaaf is being linked with the newly vacant post in Gelsenkirchen, while his place in Frankfurt could be taken by former Bayer Leverkusen coach Sascha Lewandowski.
