Bundesliga strugglers Darmstadt have appointed former Germany international Torsten Frings as their new head coach.
Frings had been out of work since being dismissed as assistant coach of Werder Bremen together with boss Viktor Skripnik in September.
Darmstadt is his first position as head coach and the 40-year-old will have his work cut out with a side who are sitting at the bottom of the Bundesliga with just eight points from the first 16 games of the season.
Torsten Frings wird neuer Cheftrainer bei den #Lilien. Der 78-malige Nationalspieler unterschreibt einen Vertrag bis Juni 2018 beim #sv98. pic.twitter.com/B9AoTt4dWl
- SV Darmstadt 98 (@sv98) December 27, 2016
"I'm really happy that Darmstadt have put their faith in me," Frings told the Bundesliga club's official website.
"I'm really burning for this challenge at this special club. I am aware of the difficulty of the task, but I was always a fighter and a team player and that is how I will approach this challenge."
Darmstadt had been searching for a new coach after dismissing Norbert Meier in early December and promoting Ramon Berndroth to the position on a temporary basis.
They lost three games out of three under Berndroth's guidance and will hope to turn the corner with Frings leading his first training session on Jan. 3, in preparation for the second half of the season.
"We are delighted to have appointed Torsten Frings, who is a person who embodies directness and authenticity," Darmstadt president Rudiger Fritsch said.
"Furthermore, Torsten has years of experience in the Bundesliga and as a Germany international.
"We are therefore convinced that, even without a great deal of coaching experience, he will show to us that he has the expert understanding, ambition and team capabilities to resolve the situation in the best way possible, just as he did in his playing career.
"We can sense he has that famous fire burning inside him. He has will, passion and energy to fight, which are precisely the characteristics that Darmstadt thrive on.
"This is another reason why we have decided to go down this avenue."
Frings ended his playing career in 2013 and has worked as assistant at Bremen, first with the youth team and then, since October 2014, with the first team. He gained his coaching badge in March 2015.