Football: Fringer replaces Dries at Aarau

Two days after Roy Hodgson left Grasshoppers Zurich, another coach is bidding farewell to his club. However, unlike Hodgson, FC Aarau's Jochen Dries had little choice in the matter.

The German has already given way to Austria’s Rolf Fringer, who held his first training session on Tuesday.

Dries had been with Aarau since March last year. He said he was bitter about his dismissal, since the club had only narrowly missed this season’s final round.

After three decades in Swiss football, he said he planned to stay in the business. He also said he had known since the end of April that Aarau didn’t plan to extend his contract.

Fringer, a former coach of the Swiss national side, led Aarau from 1992 to 1995, and took them to the league championship in 1993. After a year in Germany with VfB Stuttgart, he became the Swiss national coach in 1996, replacing Artur Jorge.

He has been out of a job for over a year and a half since being sacked by Grasshoppers, whom he joined in 1998, and was in fact rumoured to be returning to the side after Hodgson’s surprise exit.

Fringer has a contract with Aarau until the end of June 2002, and his first task will be to ensure they hold onto their place in the National League A, the top division.

swissinfo with agencies