'Gladbach coach Favre resigns after dismal season start

MOENCHENGLADBACH, Germany (AP) Lucien Favre resigned as Borussia Moenchengladbach coach on Sunday following the club's dismal start to the season.

''I no longer have the feeling that I'm the perfect coach for Borussia Moenchengladbach. I have to be honest with myself and my partners,'' Favre told news agency dpa in a statement. ''I have to take this decision for Borussia and the future.''

`Gladbach is bottom of the Bundesliga with five losses from five games and was beaten 3-0 at Sevilla in its Champions League opener last Tuesday.

`The club said that sporting director Max Eberl held long discussions with the 57-year-old coach in an attempt to keep him on board.

''As before we are completely convinced that Lucien is the perfect coach for Borussia and that we would have overcome the current very difficult sporting situation together with him,'' Eberl said. ''We had hoped that we could also convince him this time to carry on for us and with us.''

Eberl said the club was ''very disappointed that this way together is now clearly at an end.

Favre took over at `Gladbach in February 2011, when he saved the club from relegation. The Swiss oversaw consistent progress in the following years, culminating with the side's third-place finish for direct Champions League qualification last season.