Mainz release head coach Schwarz

BERLIN - Mainz have released head coach Sandro Schwarz from all his duties with immediate effect, the struggling German Bundesliga outfit announced on Sunday.

Mainz and Schwarz reached a mutual agreement to part ways as the "Nullfunfer" slumped into the relegation battle.

"The decision was extremely difficult for us. We have gone through difficult stages with great mutual trust in the past and have always agreed that we want and need to go the same way with 100 percent conviction. Unfortunately, this conviction was no longer present after the current results," Mainz' sporting director Rouwen Schroder said.

The 41-year-old coach was born in Mainz and started his professional career there. In the summer 2017 he was promoted to the head coach.

Co-assistant Jan-Moritz Lichte will be the interim coach at Mainz.

"We will take our time before appointing a new head coach. A quick decision will not help if it is not the right one," said Schroder.

Mainz currently occupy the 16th position, which is a relegation play off spot. The "Nullfunfer" sit one point away from safety and will encounter in form Hoffenheim in the 12th round of Bundesliga.