Eric Tinkler left his job at Cape Town City on Tuesday, the second coach in the Betway Premiership to be shown the door in a single day.
Tinkler leaves with City floundering three points above the relegation zone in 12th place.
His departure follows the 1-0 home loss to AmaZulu on Sunday which left them on 11 points from 10 matches in a disappointing start to the season despite a raft of new signings before the campaign began.
“Cape Town City and head coach Eric Tinkler have mutually agreed to part ways. The club expresses gratitude towards Eric for the last three seasons where he presided over 2nd, 4th and 5th place finishes. We wish Eric the very best for the future,” said a brief statement released on Tuesday.
“The club will announce a new interim coach as we build up to an exciting new project for the 25/26 season and beyond.”
Despite their poor form, the decision comes as something of a shock as City are to host Kaizer Chiefs on Sunday and Orlando Pirates next Wednesday, January 8 in league clashes at the Cape Town Stadium.
It was Tinkler’s second spell at City, having been the first coach at the club when they played their inaugural season in 2016-17 after chairman John Comitis bought the Mpumalanga Black Aces franchise.
City’s first season saw them win the Telkom Knockout and finish third in the league race, after which Tinkler was poached to join SuperSport United.
He returned to City at the end of the 2020-21 season after the departure of Jan Olde Reikerink. In total, Tinkler took charge of 161 games at City with 66 wins, 49 draws and 46 losses.
The 54-year-old Tinkler has been in charge of 354 games in the top flight of South African football, having also worked at Wits University, Orlando Pirates, Maritzburg United and Chippa United.