Stuttgart have sacked Thomas Schneider and have brought in Huub Stevens as manager to try to prevent them from being relegated from the Bundesliga for the first time since 1975.
Die Roten are three points above the bottom of the table and only ended a run of eight straight defeats with a draw against Eintracht Braunschweig on Saturday.
The Stuttgart board have decided that it was time to act and have relieved Schneider, who spent 12 years at the club as a player, of his managerial duties, replacing him with former Schalke boss Stevens.
"The board took this decision together with Thomas Schneider," Stuttgart's president Bernd Wahler told reporters.
"The board of advisers are uniformly behind this. The current sporting situation requires awareness of the responsibility towards the club by taking this difficult step.
"Thomas Schneider is Stuttgart through and through and should continue working for the club in some capacity in the future."
Dutchman Stevens, 60, has also managed Hertha Berlin, Hamburger SV and FC Koln in Germany.
