Bremen wants to extend contract with coach Schaaf

BERLIN (Reuters) -- Werder Bremen want to extend long-time coach Thomas Schaaf's contract despite the team's involvement in the Bundesliga relegation battle, the club said on Wednesday.

Schaaf, who has been coaching Bremen since 1999 after also having played for the northern club for 14 years, has endured a bad season, with his team in 13th place, six points above the danger zone with five matches left.

"We want to continue with Thomas Schaaf and extend his contract," Bremen sports director Klaus Allofs told Bild newspaper. "We are thinking past 2012 when it comes to our players and it is the same for the coach."

Schaaf's current deal runs to 2012 and Allofs was confident the manager would agree to an extension.

"I know he is on the list for many clubs but we have been working together for 12 years, we know each other well and I am relaxed about it," added Allofs. (Writing by Karolos Groh