Holstein Kiel has fired head coach Tim Walter following a 2-1 defeat to Arminia Bielefeld that dropped the club to 18th place in the 2. Bundesliga, welt.de reported.
The dismissal arrived one day after Walter celebrated his 51st birthday. Alongside Walter, assistant coaches Michael Wimmer, 46, and Julian Hübner, 42, also lost their jobs, welt.de reported.
Walter took over a struggling squad and successfully saved Holstein Kiel from relegation last season, earning a one-year contract extension. However, the current campaign brought struggles, yielding just one victory across their opening 11 league fixtures.
Across 25 league matches in total under Walter, Holstein Kiel managed an average of just 1.14 points per game. The latest setback against Bielefeld left sporting director Olaf Rebbe questioning the team’s direction.
“We have to put everything to the test,” Rebbe said, according to welt.de. “We have a different standard, we want to win games, to perform differently. A real setback. This is a damn situation that we want to get out of.”
Club officials have already begun evaluating potential replacements to steer the club away from the relegation zone. Mitch Kniat has surfaced as a candidate for the vacant managerial role, welt.de reported.
Kniat previously managed Arminia Bielefeld from 2023 until the summer of 2026. During his tenure, he guided Bielefeld from the third division into the 2. Bundesliga and reached the 2025 DFB-Pokal final, where the club lost 2-4 to VfB Stuttgart before parting ways with the club by mutual agreement.
The urgency behind the coaching change stems from both sporting and economic pressures. Holstein Kiel is currently constructing a new stadium involving multi-million-euro costs, making a drop down to the third division a severe financial risk, welt.de reported.
The team’s progression to the DFB-Pokal round, where they face Bundesliga side 1. Holstein Kiel returns to league action following the international break on November 21 with an away fixture against Bundesliga-relegated VfL Wolfsburg, welt.de reported.
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