Chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge admitted the situation was "catastrophic" and that he "needed a night to think" about where to go after yesterday's 3-1 defeat at Hannover.

However, neither he nor president Uli Hoeness showed up at the club's training ground today, fuelling rumours that they have been working on a plan to save Bayern's season by replacing Van Gaal as coach.

The Dutchman was present at today's training session, however, and gave the impression of it being business as usual following yesterday's defeat.

But after losing three games in a row for the first time in over a decade, business is far from usual at Bayern.

"We need to take action, not talk," said Hoeness yesterday.

He and Rummenigge appear to be taking their time before making any moves, though, and they let Bayern's media director Markus Horwick tell reporters congregating at the club's training ground that "no decision regarding the coach will be made today."

"There will be no press conference and no press release," he added.

A decision over Van Gaal's future has therefore been put back 24 hours with an announcement now due tomorrow.

According to reports in Germany, the main problem appears to be finding somebody to replace Van Gaal, who at the pre-match press conference before yesterday's defeat in Hannover predicted such a problem.

"The question is, who can replace Van Gaal?" he asked. "That is a difficult question."

His assistant Hermann Gerland and former midfielder Mehmet Scholl have emerged as early candidates to hold the fort until the end of the season as an internal solution.

Ralf Rangnick, Martin Jol and Matthias Sammer have also been touted as contenders.