Chennai City FC, a new entrant in the I-League, has sacked coach Robin Charles Raja, seven games into the new season. Sources close to The Hindu confirmed that Raja has been sacked due to unsatisfactory results, with the Chennai club currently lying at the bottom of the points table.
Assistant coach Andrew Oakley will take over as the caretaker coach until a replacement can be found. The 38-year-old Australian, who was a player-cum-coach of the Madras Eagles team way back in 2006 in the Chennai Football Association first division league, will most likely guide the team in its home match against Mumbai FC on Saturday.
The decision was conveyed through a phone call to Raja. “The management called me to inform their decision. They said the sponsors were unhappy with the results,” he told the The Hindu . “I’m happy with what I’ve done, especially in our home matches. In the limited time, I don’t think anybody could have done a better job.”
Scoring goals has been a problem for Chennai City FC this season and Raja said the Brazilian strikers Marcos Tank and Charles de Souza are still warming up to the demands of the I-League.
The club’s general secretary Vikram Murali said that Raja was not in the same page as the management when it came to the team’s approach and philosophy. “Our philosophy was to nurture and project unknown local talent (young players based out of Tamil Nadu) in the squad by fielding them more often,” he said.
But the outgoing coach seemed to believe that the management’s insistence on playing local talent might have played a role in the team’s below par performances. “We were trying to fit in too many local players in the team. But they will take time to settle and reach the levels required in the I-League.”
The team management will meet on Wednesday to find a successor for Raja.
