FC Pune City set to sack head coach Miguel Angel Portugal

The Spaniard has failed to replicate the Stallions' previous campaign's display so far this season.

According to reports, Indian Super League (ISL) side FC Pune City are set to sack head coach Miguel Angel Portugal. The Spaniard was appointed by the Stallions only a few months back and have failed to win any of his side's last three games on the trot.

The news of Portugal’s departure came in through various reports, however, the official announcement by the club is expected to be made on Thursday. The decision to sack the former Delhi Dynamos head coach came as a result of the recent downfall of the Stallions, who are yet to find a win in the ISL with three games played.

Under his reign last season, Delhi Dynamos languished at the bottle of the league table for the majority of the season. Interestingly, during a recent interview, the 62-year-old blamed the Dynamos’ low budget for their failure to deliver. He also mentioned that the budget of Pune City was better than the Dynamos and that could act as a plus point. However, the manager failed to prove his point as the Stallions showed a poor string of performance in all the three matches played.

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Pune City, who had an excellent run of form under Ranko Popovic last season, parted with the Serbian’s services after the end of last season. Under Popovic, the Stallions finished at the fourth position in the table and qualified for the playoffs, for the first time in their history. However, they fell short against a mighty Bengaluru FC in the semi-finals as skipper Sunil Chhetri fired all cylinders to inspire the Blues to reach the finals.

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Pradyum Reddy, the current Technical Director of FC Pune City, is likely to step up as an interim manager for the time being. Reddy previously coached I-League side Shillong Lajong in 2011 and led them to a 10th place finish. Following that season, he joined the then newly established Bengaluru FC in 2013 as the assistant coach under Ashley Westwood. During his tenure, the Blues won the I-League twice and the Federation Cup once.

However, when Khel Now contacted the club for comment on the reports, the club officials denied the veracity of the claim.