Berlin  - Swiss coach Lucien Favre was sacked by Hertha Berlin Monday after attending crisis talks at the Bundesliga basement club.

The dismissal comes a day after a 5-1 defeat at Hoffenheim - the club's sixth defeat in a row - left Hertha languishing at the bottom of the table with three points from seven games.

Favre's contract was due to run until the end of the 2011 season but the 51-year-old has presided over Hertha's worst start to the season since 1990/91 when the team was relegated.

Assistant coach Harald Gaemperle, who blamed the players for Hertha's plight, was also sacked with U-23 coach Karsten Heine named as caretaker coach. Hertha next face Sporting Lisbon Thursday in the Europa League.

Favre is the fourth Bundesliga coach to lose his job so far this season following Marcel Koller (VfL Bochum), Joern Andersen (Mainz 05) and Dieter Hecking (Hanover 96).  dpa