A crushing 4-0 defeat in winter temperatures was a disappointment for Der Club and 4,000 travelling fans.

With the score 3-0 at half-time, it can be considered that the second half performance was an improvement on the first, but in truth, from as early as the 8^th minute Kevin Großkreutz goal, 1.FCN were always chasing a game which was all but over when Barrios and Zidan added Dortmund’s second and third goals.

Coach Michael Oenning was left to contemplate many defensive mistakes, although he did have praise for the talents of second choice goalkeeper Alexander Stephan.

For the second successive game, Der Club suffered a 4-0 defeat, this time at home to Hamburg SV.

An almost full easyCredit Stadium braved freezing conditions and will have taken some hope from the 0-0 half-time scoreline. However, this only added to the bitterness of defeat as HSV took control after the break.

Andi Wolf was disappointed that the team had conceded a goal and let their heads drop so soon after the break, especially after a reasonable first half performance. He also highlighted the importance of getting on with the job of returning to winning ways. “There is no point burying our heads in the sand now. I understand the dissatisfaction of the fans.”

Javier Pinola also felt for the fans. "It is normal that the fans are angry… For us at the moment nothing is running well, we try to play, but it goes wrong…. I'm speechless at the moment, we need to focus more"

The cathedral city hosted Der Club for the last Bundesliga game of 2009. With both teams struggling for points and goals, this was always going to be a decisive encounter. Unfortunately for 1.FCN, it was Cologne who were able to make progress up the Bundesliga table at the final whistle.

Many workers spent hours removing snow from the pitch before the game. Nuremberg will have wished that they had not bothered.

Cologne took the lead through Geromel on the 37^th minute. Until the 70^th minute Der Club were still in the game but a Novakovic goal then made it 2-0. Seven minutes later, the same player hammered the final nail into the coffin of defeat for 1.FCN, with a headed goal to make it 3-0.

Following the defeat in Cologne, at a Monday press conference1.FCN announced that they had parted company with coach Michael Oenning.

President Franz Schaefer said, “After lengthy discussions and analysis we decided that we will separate from our head coach Michael Oenning. We are sorry we have to change the coach but we want to make a change to keep us in the Bundesliga.” The President also went on to thank Oenning for his services to 1.FCN and in particular the promotion back to the Bundesliga in May 2009.

1 FCN appointed  Dieter Hecking (45) as the new coach on 22^nd December. The former Aachen, Luebeck and Hannover coach signed a contract until the end of the season, with the reward of a further year in charge if Der Club maintain their Bundesliga status.