Stuttgart axe Keller

German side Stuttgart have dismissed manager Jens Keller after only two months in the job following their dismal start to the Bundesliga season.

Keller’s last match in charge of the 2006-07 German champions was Friday’s 2-1 away defeat to Hannover – a result that left the side second from bottom in the standings and four points behind 15th-placed Schalke, who are outside the relegation zone.

The 40-year-old German has been replaced by Bruno Labbadia, 44, once manager of Bayer Leverkusen, and who was dismissed from his job as boss of Hamburg in April.

Keller, a former Stuttgart assistant manager, took over from Christian Gross on October 13, but despite two wins and a draw from his first four league games in charge, the side is winless from their last five.

Labbadia has reportedly been offered a contract until the end of the current season with the option to extend the term if he is successful in avoiding relegation.

His first match in charge will be a Europa League clash with Danish outfit Odense on Thursday, with Stuttgart safely into the next round, before he takes the reins for the side’s final Bundesliga match before the winter break – against reigning champions Bayern Munich.