Jaap Stam has been fired as trainer of FC Cincinnati, the Major Soccer League club announced on Monday afternoon. The Ohio club is in penultimate place in the Eastern Conference and has lost six of its last seven league games. The helm is temporarily taken over by Tyrone Marshall, trainer of the Under-19.
His dismissal is a new scratch on Stam’s trainer career, after he resigned as trainer of Feyenoord in October 2019 due to disappointing results. In March 2018 he was already fired by Reading, after which he guided PEC Zwolle to a ninth and thirteenth place. Stam was hired from Cincinnati in May 2020, taking assistant Said Bakkati with him. He was brought in by director Gerard Nijkamp, who also left last month. This makes keeper Kenneth Vermeer and defender Maikel van der Werff the last Dutchmen at Cincinnati.
Stam’s 4-2 defeat against DC United on Sunday was fatal. His team has picked up 20 points from 25 games so far and is one point ahead of the last-placed Toronto FC, who have also played one more game. Stam had been under pressure for months. Cincinnati has only won one of its last 16 games in the MLS. “After a long deliberation, the club has decided not to continue with Jaap as head coach,” said chairman Jeff Berding on the club site.
For the past month and a half, Cincinnati has been looking for a successor to general manager Nijkamp. “During that process it became clear that a new coach was necessary. We believe that the club would benefit from a manager change. A new general manager will look for a new coach. We are an ambitious club and we want to stay focused on our goals “including the ambition to make Cincinnati a city that can celebrate a championship. We thank Jaap for all he has done for Cincinnati and wish him the best as he can return home to be with his family.”
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