We've all heard the English idiom "to kick the bucket," which means "to die." There are various theories about where the phrase originated from, the Oxford English Dictionary mentioning that the Old French word buquet was a beam on which animals were hung by the feet after being slaughtered, hence "kicking the bucket." The closest to this idiom in German is probably ins Gras beißen, or literally "to bite into the grass," which itself is a close parallel to the English idiom "to bite the dust," again meaning "to die." 

There is, however, a German idiom relating to the word "bucket" with negative connotations:

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Dann ist das ganze Lied im Eimer.

Then the whole song is in the bucket [idiom, ruined].

Caption 29, Monsters of Liedermaching - Kleiner Zeh mit Ansage

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Wenn Thorsten beim HSV nicht genommen wird,

If Thorsten is not accepted at the HSV [Hamburg Sport Association],

ist seine Karriere im Eimer.

his career will be in the bucket [idiom, ruined].

Captions 18-19, Die Pfefferkörner - Eigentor

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If someone or a situation is im Eimer, it means he or she or the situation is completely ruined. According to the Duden Dictionary, Eimer in this case is alluding to der Abfalleimer, or trash can. Der Eimer is also German slang for an old ship or an old car. This has English parallels in the slang expression "rust bucket" for an old boat or an old car.

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Further Learning
Look for further examples of Eimer on Yabla German and see more examples of how this word is used in a real world context. 

The German language has a colorful variety of idioms for describing when a situation is in decline or when things have gone badly.

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If something is "in the bucket" in German, at least it's not as bad as "kicking the bucket" in English!

Wenn Thorsten nicht genommen wird,

If Thorsten is not accepted

ist seine Karriere im Eimer.

his career will be in the bucket [idiom, ruined].

Captions 18-19, Die Pfefferkörner - Eigentor

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The less polite version of the above is im Arsch, which for politeness' sake is perhaps best left untranslated.

Whereas something going badly is said to be "going downhill" in English, in German the expression relates to water rather than mountains.

Seit ich wieder angefangen hab', geht unsere Ehe den Bach runter.

Since I started again, our marriage has been going downstream [idiom, falling apart].

Caption 7, Mama arbeitet wieder - Kapitel 3: Papa ist weg

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If things get too bad, maybe it's high time you hightail it out of there!

...und macht sich aus dem Staub.

...and makes herself out of the dust [idiom, absconds].

Caption 45, Alpenseen - Kühle Schönheiten

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Further Learning
This extensive listing of German idioms is amusing for the fact that the English translations are all literal and intentionally humorous. Pick out a few whose real meaning is unclear to you and look online to discover what the expressions really express, then search for some examples used in real conversations on Yabla German.