A 3-0 defeat at Cologne yesterday left the Bavarians in serious relegation danger with just 12 points from the first 17 matches of the season.

"We have remained below our requirements," said Nurnberg's president Franz Schafer yesterday, adding that the situation had become "catastrophic".

Three weeks ago, Schafer set Oenning the challenge of reaching the 15-point mark before the midway stage of the season, but with a 4-0 defeat to Borussia Dortmund, a defeat by the same scoreline to Hamburg and then yesterday's reverse, he has failed to deliver.

"After long discussions and analyses, we have decided to part company with our head coach Michael Oenning," explained Schafer at a press conference today.

"We are all very sorry to have to take this step."

Oenning becomes the fourth coach to lose his job in the Bundesliga this season after Bochum's Marcel Koller, Hertha Berlin'sLucien Favre, Dieter Hecking at Hannover and Markus Babbel with Stuttgart.

Furthermore, he becomes the 14th Nurnberg coach to fall by the wayside over the last 20 years.

And the 15th to try his hand at the helm of the Bavarian club could be one of the aforementioned four unemployed coaches with both Hecking and Koller emerging as early candidates for the role.

Schafer confirmed that a successor will be announced over the next few days, and they will have the task of lifting the Bavarians away from danger like Hans Meyer did in 2006.

Meyer took over with the club rooted to the foot of the table in November 2005 and he led them to an eighth-place finish that year.

In the following season, Nurnberg finished sixth and won the DFB-Pokal, but a collapse in the 2007/08 campaign, culminating in relegation, saw Meyer lose his job and Thomas von Heesen take over.

He lasted only a few months before Oenning took charge in August last year and led them to promotion in his first season as coach.

But his 16-month reign ended today, much to Schafer's regret.

The 74-year-old only took over as club president from Michael A Roth in the summer, and he had not imagined he would have to take this step so soon.

"We did not start work here with the thought we would have to change coach, but with the intention of staying in the Bundesliga," added Schafer, who paid tribute to Oenning for leading the club into the top flight last season.

"We wish him all the best for his future."