Slumping Bundesliga club Cologne fired coach Zvonimir Soldo on Sunday.
The move came one day after Cologne fell to its sixth defeat of the season with a 2-1 loss at Hannover that left the club next-to-last in the standings.
The 42-year-old Croat is the second Bundesliga coach to be fired this season after Christian Gross of Stuttgart.
Frank Schaefer, coach of Cologne's under-23 team, will take over and will guide the club in Tuesday's German Cup match against second-division side 1860 Munich, Cologne said.
Soldo still directed Cologne's practice earlier Sunday, despite swirling rumors about his imminent dismissal. His assistant Michael Hanke was also dismissed.
Cologne has struggled under Soldo despite the return of Germany forward Lukas Podolski. Podolski recently criticized the club's lack of ambition, although he himself has failed to live up to expectations.
Soldo, a former Bundesliga player with Stuttgart, took over as coach at the start of last season from Christoph Daum.
