New coach Hecking to give Gladbach 'new lease of life'

BERLIN ( Reuters) - Struggling Borussia Moenchengladbach named Dieter Hecking as coach on Thursday, two months ago after he was sacked by Bundesliga rivals VfL Wolfsburg.

The 52-year-old was fired by Wolfsburg, where he had been since 2012, in mid-October after his team took only six points from their first seven games of the season.

Hecking will replace Andre Schubert who parted company with Gladbach on Wednesday, less than 24 hours after they suffered a 2-1 home defeat by Wolfsburg.

"After what has happened in the last few weeks we want a new coach to give us a new lease of life," said sporting director Max Eberl.

"Dieter Hecking is the right man for this, a coach with a lot of experience who has worked successfully with different teams at different levels."

Five-times Bundesliga champions and twice UEFA Cup winners Gladbach are 14th in the table with 16 points, three above Hamburg SV who occupy the relegation playoff spot.

Hecking has been a near permanent fixture in the Bundesliga since leading Alemannia Aachen to promotion in 2006.

He then spent three seasons at Hanover 96 followed by two-and-a-half seasons with Nuremberg.

Hecking's best campaign was 2014-15 when Wolfsburg won the German Cup and finished second in the Bundesliga.

(Writing by Brian Homewood in Berne; Editing by Tony Jimenez)