Bruno Labbadia takes helm at Wolfsburg

On Tuesday, Wolfsburg announced the appointment of Bruno Labbadia as their third coach this season, as the club seeks to avoid relegation to the second division.

"We are pleased to have been able to recruit Bruno Labbadia for VfL (Wolfsburg). Now we all have to look towards the future and work together to fulfill our duties in a calm manner," the club's managing director, Tim Schumacher, said in the statement announcing the appointment.

"Bruno is a very experienced coach, who has demonstrated his qualities in the Bundesliga on many occasions in the past," sporting director Olaf Rebbe added.

Labbadia, who has been away from the Bundesliga since getting sacked by Hamburg early last season, took his first training session at his new club a few hours after his appointment was announced.

"I feel well rested and am looking forward to working with my new team," Labbadia, who has also had coaching spells at Leverkusen and Stuttgart, said.

He replaces Martin Schmidt, who handed in his resignation on Monday. Schmidt, who had taken over from the sacked Andries Jonker just last September, left the club with a record of just three wins in 19 matches – to go along with 11 draws and five defeats.

Labbadia takes over a team that sits 14th in the Bundesliga table, two places and one point above Mainz, who are in 16th – the place that gives the team that ends the season there the chance to remain in the top flight through a playoff against the third-best team in the second division. Mainz also happen to be Wolfsburg's opponents in their next match, on Friday.