Kjetil Rekdal was sacked as manager in February with Kaiserslautern in 16th place with only 3 wins from their first 19 games. Milan Šašić, who had taken TuS Koblenz from the fourth tier to midtable in the second tier, was appointed as his successor and secured safety on the final day of the season with victory over already promoted 1. FC Köln. However, this represented Kaiserslautern's worst finish in the German league pyramid since the formation of the Bundesliga in 1963.
