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Hannover part company with coach Hecking

  • Story Highlights
  • German club Hannover accept the resignation of coach Dieter Hecking
  • The 44-year-old offered to stand down following a poor start to the season
  • Hannover lost in first round of German Cup to fourth-division opponents
  • Hecker's team lost Bundesliga opener and drew second match on Saturday
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(CNN) -- Struggling German club Hannover have accepted the resignation of coach Dieter Hecking following a poor start to the new season.

Dieter Hecking has departed Hannover after a poor start to the German football season.

Dieter Hecking has departed Hannover after a poor start to the German football season.

The 44-year-old offered to stand down on Wednesday night, having been under pressure since the shock first-round German Cup defeat by fourth-division side Eintracht Trier earlier this month.

Hannover lost their opening Bundesliga match 1-0 at Hertha Berlin and were then held 1-1 at home on Saturday by Mainz, whose coach Jorn Andersen quit just three days before the season started.

Club president Martin Kind and director of sport Jorg Schmadtke will now begin their search for a new coach to replace Hecker, who also spent three years with Hannover as a player from 1996.

"This development hits me very hard personally," said Kind, who appointed Hecker in September 2006. "I have known and admired Dieter Hecking as a special person and coach.

"After a difficult season, we wanted to lead into a successful new beginning together, but this has not happened."

Following his arrival from Alemannia Aachen, Hecker led Hannover to safety from bottom place in his first year in charge before achieving an eighth-placed finish in 2008 -- the club's best result since returning to the top flight in 2002.

"Despite the difficult present situation, it has got to be said that Dieter Hecking and Hannover worked excellently together for three years and were right for each other," Kind said.

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