ISL 2019: Chennaiyin FC sacks head coach John Gregory

Similar to the English Premier League, the managerial disarray reaches the Indian Super League as two-time champions Chennaiyin FC sacks head coach John Gregory on Saturday. 

In a joint statement, the Chennaiyin FC co-owners said, “The club would like to sincerely thank John for his services. He led us admirably well and delivered our second Indian Super League title. He thus also made us the first ISL club to qualify for the AFC Cup and oversaw our debut appearance in Asia while also reaching the 2019 Super Cup final. All of us at the club would like to wish John the very best in his future endeavours.”

“This decision has been taken after a detailed discussion with John, and all parties involved believe this will be the right step for everyone associated with the club.”

Earlier this month, Gregory quit his post following the club's 0-3 loss to Bengaluru FC.

The Chennai-based outfit started the 2019-20 season of ISL on a disappointing note, winning once in their six outings so far, in which they have scored only four times -- all coming in their last two matches -- against Hyderabad FC in 2-1 win and Odisha FC in 2-2 draw.

Gregory, 65, had joined Cheanniyin as head coach on July 3, 2017, and extended his contract with the club for one year on March 19, 2018. Following previous year's last-placed finish, it appeared that Gregory's patience had snapped. The Englishman had previously managed Portsmouth, Aston Villa, Derby County, Queens Park Rangers, among other.

Chennaiyin FC's next fixture is an away tie at Jamshedpur on Monday.