Chennai City FC axe coach Robin Charles Raja
CHENNAI: After a dismal start in the ILeague, Chennai City FC have parted ways with chief coach Robin Charles Raja. While Robin is yet to get his pink slip, Express understands that he was informed of the management’s decision after the team’s training session late on Wednesday evening. “Robin was informed of the decision after the team returned from their session at SSN College.
The management told him that they had to make a change after the start that team has made to the season,” sources close to the team told Express. The news, as it filtered through to the team, caught a lot of players by surprise. “Several of them called the coach to tell them how shocked they were about the development. While Chennai City is at the bottom of the table, it was expected that Robin would get a bit more leeway, considering he had just a month to put together a team.”
Efforts to reach the team management for official comment were futile and it is not yet known who they intend to replace Robin with. Chennai City made a promising start to their maiden ILeague campaign, drawing their first game 0-0 with fellow newcomers Minerva Punjab FC, but reality hit in the next few matches, with consecutive losses to Bengaluru FC, DSK Shivajians and Mohun Bagan.
They bounced back with a win over Aizawl FC but then suffered away losses to Shillong Lajong and East Bengal. While Chennai’s performances were not as bad as the table suggests — they held their own for large swathes of the game against Bengaluru FC, Mohun Bagan and East Bengal — what ultimately did their coach in was their forwards’ profligacy in front of goal. With seven games gone, Chennai have scored a measly three goals.