Dortmund rewards coach Niko Kovač with contract extension

DORTMUND Germany AP Borussia Dortmund coach Niko Kova has extended his contract by a year through June Niko has thrown himself wholeheartedly into his role at BVB Lars Ricken the club s managing director for sport declared in a declaration on Tuesday He knows football inside out he has clear principles he s thoroughly honest he s direct in his communication and he rewards good performance Kova who previously won trophies with Bayern Munich and Eintracht Frankfurt took over in February when the squad was th in the Bundesliga after a intricate start to the season under Nuri Sahin He made the band more resilient and oversaw a marked improvement to finish fourth for Champions League qualification on the final day Under him our club is on the up again Ricken explained Dortmund s start this season has been complicated by a spate of injuries in defense with Nico Schlotterbeck Niklas S le and Emre Can all injured Stand-in defender Filippo Man was sent off on his Bundesliga debut against St Pauli last weekend and won t be available for the next match against visiting Union Berlin on Sunday because of the automatic suspension Dortmund held on to draw - with St Pauli after the -year-old Man was sent off After the tournament Jobe Bellingham s father engaged in a heated discussion with Dortmund sporting director Sebastian Kehl when he reportedly longed to know why his son was taken off at halftime Ricken declared the matter has since been cleared up The club is also reportedly in talks with Chelsea about signing Argentine central defender Aaron Anselmino to alleviate its shortages at the back Kova is looking further ahead We feel that we can achieve something special here together with the club and the fans the -year-old coach declared The conversations we have had over the last scant weeks have reinforced my conviction that building on our achievements so far we can deliver long-term success at this club Our aim is to play our part in getting Borussia back to where it used to be AP soccer https apnews com hub soccer Source