ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC has fired coach Bradley Carnell mid-way through its second season with just three wins.
Carnell led the team through a historic inaugural season, winning the Western Conference with a 17-12-3 record. However, the team fell in the first round of the postseason.
The team's second season has been markedly different, with a record of 3-7-10. City SC is winless in the last nine games, losing six of those. It is currently 12th in the Western Conference; to make the postseason a team has to be in ninth place or higher.
"Given Bradley's many contributions to the club, this was not an easy decision," said sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel in a press release. “Unfortunately, based on our Year 2 results to date, we believe a coaching change is in the best interest of the club as we regroup and look to improve both our performance and our results.â€
People are also reading…
In January, Carnell received an extension of his contract through 2025. At that time, Pfannenstiel described the move as a "no-brainer."Â
“On behalf of everyone at CITY SC, we would like to extend our deepest gratitude to Bradley for his time with the club. He was integral to the club’s success during our historic first campaign,†said President and General Manager Diego Gigliani in a statement.
John Hackworth, the team's technical director, will be the interim coach. City SC has 14 games left in the MLS season; it next plays at CityPark on Wednesday against the San Jose Earthquakes. On Saturday, after losing to the Vancouver Whitecaps, Carnell described the San Jose game as one the team must win.
City SC lost Saturday 4-3, after holding an early two goal lead.
Several key players for City are injured, including: Rasmus Alm, Joakim Nilsson, Tomas Ostrak, Joao Klauss and Celio Pompeu.Â
Carnell had been an assistant and then interim head coach with the New York Red Bulls. Under his leadership, City SC played a pressing style that saw success in its first season.
In its second season, the team has struggled at times with scoring goals. So far in 2024, through MLS and non-MLS play, the team has taken a median of 15.5 shots a game, but only five of those are on goal. In 2023, the team scored no goals in nine MLS games; so far in 2024, it hasn't scored at all in six MLS games.Â
Hackworth is an experienced coach who previously was head coach with the Philadelphia Union and USL side Louisville City SC.
MLS coaches don't have much job security; in January, only seven coach in the league had been with their team for three full seasons.Â
City SC hired Carnell a year before the team played its first MLS game.Â