Werder Bremen sacks manager Viktor Skripnik

Berlin - Werder Bremen sacked coach Viktor Skripnik on Sunday after the club's third Bundesliga defeat in a row marked its worst ever start to a season.

Werder were thrashed 4-1 by Borussia Monchengladbach on Saturday and are bottom of the table with zero points and 12 goals conceded after just three league games.

"We took this decision because after the match at Monchengladbach, we no longer held the conviction that a positive turnaround was possible in the current configuration," club sports director Frank Baumann said.

Under-23 coach Alexander Nouri will stand-in as first team coach until a successor is found for Skripnik, 46, a former Ukranian international who helped Werder to a league and cup double as a player in 2004.

Saturday's defeat was the fourth in a row for the club, including the latest league defeat to Moenchengladbach, Werder's elimination from the German Cup by a third division side as well as league defeats to Bayern Munich (0-6) and Augsburg (1-2).