Hamburg have fired coach Bert van Marwijk after just 143 days in charge in the wake of Saturday's 4-2 drubbing at Bundesliga bottom side Eintracht Braunschweig, the club has confirmed.
"We were forced at this time to make this regretful decision and we thank Bert van Marwijk for his work," said Hamburg's sporting director Oliver Kreuzer after the board met on Saturday night.
The 61-year-old ex-Netherlands boss, who steered the Oranje to the 2010 World Cup final, was sacked after eight straight defeats with Hamburg second last on the table.
German daily Bild reports Mirko Slomka, sacked by Hanover 96 in December, is favourite to replace Van Marwijk.
Hammered 5-0 at home by Bayern Munich in the German Cup quarter-finals, Hamburg have also lost their past seven league games - an unwelcome club record.
They have the worst defensive record in the Bundesliga leaking 51 goals in 21 matches and are desperate to avoid being relegated from the top flight for the first time.
The defeat at Braunschweig means only four points separate the bottom five teams.
There were already angry scenes after Hamburg's 3-0 league defeat at home to Hertha Berlin last Saturday when angry fans pelted the players and attacked their luxury cars.
Van Marwijk was Hamburg's 10th coach in a decade and only replaced Thorsten Fink in September.
Elsewhere in the Bundesliga on Saturday, Bayern Munich warmed up for Wednesday's Champions League last-16, first-leg clash with Arsenal by trouncing Freiburg 4-0 to stretch their lead to 16 points.
Bayern coach Pep Guardiola, whose side extended their record unbeaten league run to 46 matches, rested several stars ahead of the clash with the Gunners in London, but still started with 10 internationals.
Brazil centre-back Dante headed home after 19 minutes, and Swiss Xerdan Shaqiri added the second on 34 minutes. The stocky Swiss added his second just before the break, and veteran striker Pizarro netted a fourth two minutes from fulltime.
Second-placed Bayer Leverkusen, who host Paris Saint-Germain in the Champions League on Tuesday, crashed to another home defeat, 2-1, to Schalke 04.
Having suffered a shock 1-0 extra-time loss to second-division Kaiserslautern in the Cup quarter-finals, Leverkusen stumbled to their fifth defeat in seven games.
Borussia Dortmund enjoyed a 4-0 romp against Eintracht Frankfurt to stay third, while Hoffenheim enjoyed a 4-1 romp at home to VfB Stuttgart.
Poland international Ludovic Obraniak netted his first Bundesliga goal since joining Werder Bremen from Bordeaux when he equalised two minutes from time to secure a 1-1 draw at home to Borussia Moenchegladbach.
