Stefan Effenberg has been appointed to his first coaching position, taking over 2. Bundesliga club Paderborn on a contract until 2017.
Effenberg, 47, was confirmed as the new head coach of the German second division club on Tuesday after negotiations with club bosses were concluded in Mallorca.
"I've been thinking seriously about becoming a head coach for a while now," Effenberg said. "Paderborn is a great place for me to enter into this profession, as the impressive careers of my predecessors show.
"Paderborn have a lot of quality within the squad and we've now got to form a successful team out of this as quickly as possible."
Offiziell bestätigt: Stefan #Effenberg wird neuer Chef-Trainer des #SCP07 | http://t.co/rFfokCSJ50 |
- SC Paderborn 07 (@SCPaderborn07) October 13, 2015
Effenberg replaces Markus Gellhaus, who had only been appointed in the summer following the club's relegation from the Bundesliga and departure of Andre Breitenreiter to Schalke.
Gellhaus was fired just a week ago, in the wake of a defeat to Duisburg which left the club just a point above the relegation zone.
"In the situation we are in, after relegation and a huge revolution within the team, and with the dismissal of Markus Gellhaus, it seemed to make more sense to us to hire a coach with leadership qualities and a career as a top-class player," explained Paderborn president Wilfried Finke on the East Westphalian club's official website.
"The chemistry is right. Stefan Effenberg is a first-class football expert and really motivated for this challenge at Paderborn.
"He's going to drill new self-confidence into our team and also excite the fans."
Effenberg leaves his job as a panellist on Sky Sport Deutschland to take on his first coaching role since ending his career 11 years ago.
Despite his lack of coaching experience, he more than makes up for it with his enthusiasm and charisma, according to the club's director of sport Michael Born, whose idea it was to approach the 47-year-old.
"Stefan Effenberg convinced me he was the right man for the job right from the first chat we had," Born said.
"He further consolidated this impression over our second talks with the president."