Babbel dismissed by Hertha

Markus Babbel has been sacked as coach of Hertha Berlin with immediate effect, just a day after announcing he would not extend his contract beyond the end of the season. The former Stuttgart coach was involved in a war of words with his club's general manager Michael Preetz over the last 24 hours, after both disputed the timing of Babbel's announcement not to sign a new contract. Babbel insisted he had informed Preetz of his decision to leave at the beginning of November. Preetz, however, claims he was only told last Tuesday and the club's president Werner Gegenbauer took his side, labelling Babbel a liar. Although Babbel led training this morning in preparation for Wednesday's DFB-Pokal clash with Kaiserslautern, his position at the helm appeared compromised and the club have announced a press conference will be held to explain the next step.