Henriksen takes over as coach of struggling Mainz 05 in deal to 2026

BERLIN: Bo Henriksen took over as new Mainz 05 head coach on Tuesday with the task of lifting them out of the relegation zone, signing a deal to 2026, the Bundesliga club said.

The 49-year-old Dane, who joins from FC Zurich, takes over from Jan Siewert, who was sacked on Monday with the team in 17th place in the league on 12 points, level with bottom club Darmstadt 98.

"We undertook an intense analysis of the tough situation we currently find ourselves in to determine which type of coach and which style of play would fit best to us," Mainz 05 head of sport Christian Heidel said in a statement.

"This led us to Bo Henriksen, a coach that has managed to bring his teams together and get them to play a pragmatic, yet courageous and ultimately successful, brand of football several times already in his career."

Mainz, who have won just once in their 21 league games this season, host Augsburg on Saturday.