Korkut chosen as surprise Schmidt successor by Leverkusen

Tayfun Korkut has been appointed Roger Schmidt’s replacement as Bayer Leverkusen coach until the end of the season.

Schmidt was dismissed on Sunday, 24 hours on from the 6-2 hammering at Borussia Dortmund that saw the club’s board lose patience and left Leverkusen trailing the top four by 11 points.

Former Turkey international Korkut has been charged with steadying the ship, as Leverkusen at least attempt to haul themselves back into contention for European football.

However, his appointment is not likely to result in a swell of anticipation with the 42-year-old’s two most recent jobs leaving a lot to be desired.

The Stuttgart-born coach spent just under a year-and-a-half at Hannover before being sacked in April 2015, with his final match – coincidentally a 4-0 defeat to Leverkusen – stretching their winless run to 13 Bundesliga matches.

That was his solitary taste of top-flight coaching, with Korkut’s only other first-team role coming in the second tier with Kaiserslautern, but that spell lasted a little over six months before he resigned last December following only four wins from their opening 16 league games.

Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann had been linked with a potential switch to the BayArena, but reports claim the 29-year-old will not be available until the end of the season.