Huub Stevens has stepped down as coach of struggling Bunedsliga outfit Hoffenheim, after he was diagnosed with heart problems.
The 62-year-old Dutchman said he had decided to quit after being informed that he had heart arrhythmia that may require surgery.
“I am sorry to be leaving the club in this difficult situation but I think everyone will understand that my health takes priority,” Stevens. “I took my decision following the advice of doctors.
“You have to be 100% fit and I am not. It was a big risk for me to continue. I don’t have a lot of years left, but I want to make the most of the ones I have left,” he said.
Stevens, who saved Stuttgart from relegation in the past two seasons after twice taking over midway through the campaigns, replaced Markus Gisdol at Hoffenheim in October.
But Hoffenheim have managed one victory over the course of his ten-match reign and are languishing in 17th place on 14 points, level with bottom side Hanover.
The assistant coaches Alfred Schreuder and Armin Reutershahn have been placed in temporary charge of first team affairs, with youth team coach, the 28-year-old, Julian Nagelsmann, set to take over next season.
The much travelled Stevens, who has also coached Hertha Berlin, Schalke, Hamburg, Stuttgart and Cologne in Germany, as well as Roda, JC and PSV Eindhoven in his native Holland, had signed a deal with Hoffenheim until the end of the season.
