“I have never experienced something like what happened on Saturday in my whole career. Four weeks after the Robert Enke tragedy shows that the fans and the football scene have not learnt a thing. The events on Saturday tell me that it’s all hypocrisy.”

These are the parting words of Markus Babbel – trainer of VFB Stuttgart – as he was shown the door on Sunday afternoon. His side had been held to a 1-1 draw against Bochum on Saturday. Following the game some 3000 ‘fans’ attempted to storm the club’s premises and were only prevented from doing so by the police.

The players received hate-mail and death threats prompting Babbel to make the fans partly responsible for the dire situation at the club: “Even so-called football millionaires do not deserve death gestures and hate.”

His successor, Christian Gross, was appointed only hours after Babbels dismissal. The Swiss trainer, aside from a short stint at Tottenham Hotspur in 1997, has not coached outside of Switzerland. He inherits a team in the relegation zone with only 12 points to their name and a meagre two wins this season. Given the turmoil at the club and Wednesday’s decisive Champions League fixture, the situation Gross finds himself in is unenviable.

Elsewhere in the Bundesliga

Bayern Munich and Schalke are the winners of Matchday 15. The Bavarians overcame visitors Gladbach 2-1 while Schalke beat ailing Hertha Berlin 2-0. League leaders Leverkusen missed the sparkle of past weeks and secured a draw against Hannover thanks to some great saves by keeper Rene Adler

Borussia Dortmund also chalked up a victory with a convincing 4-0 against Nürnberg. The despondent Nürnberg players trudged off the pitch to sound of Dortmund fans singing “Auf Wiedersehen” and waving white handkerchiefs.

Elsewhere the derby between Frankfurt and Mainz only featured 5 yellow cards and a red for a repeated yellow card offense. A tame affair as far as this particular derby goes. After the match goalscorer Maik Franz was flicked the bird by Mainz forward Aristide Bancé – who accused him of verbally abusing him throughout the match.

Franz is no stranger to controversy – the hot-headed player is one of the most provocative players in the league and regularly manages to put opposing players off their game by taunts and robust tackling. Last season striker Mario Gomez went so far as to call him an assh*** in an interview. Despite the controversy Franz is not likely to change his ways – his success speaks for itself.

For a German bundesliga blog click here

Matchday 15

Bayern München – Borussia Mönchengladbach 2:1

VfL Wolfsburg – SC Freiburg 2:2

VfB Stuttgart – VfL Bochum 1:1

Hamburger SV – 1899 Hoffenheim 0:0

Borussia Dortmund – 1. FC Nürnberg 4:0

Hannover 96 – Bayer Leverkusen 0:0

Eintracht Frankfurt – 1. FSV Mainz 05 2:0

1. FC Köln – Werder Bremen 0:0

FC Schalke 04 – Hertha BSC Berlin 2:0

League Table

1 Bayer Leverkusen 31 P

2 Werder Bremen 28 P

3 FC Schalke 04 28 P

4 Bayern München 27 P

5 Hamburger SV 25 P

6 1899 Hoffenheim 24 P

7 Borussia Dortmund 24 P

8 VfL Wolfsburg 23 P

9 1. FSV Mainz 05 23 P

10 Eintracht Frankfurt 22 P

11 Borussia Mönchengladbach 18 P

12 Hannover 96 17 P

13 SC Freiburg 17 P

14 1. FC Köln 14 P

15 VfL Bochum 13 P

16 VfB Stuttgart 12 P

17 1. FC Nürnberg 12 P

18 Hertha BSC Berlin 5 P