St. Louis City SC parts ways with head coach Bradley Carnell

Major League Soccer team St. Louis City SC announced Monday that it parted ways with head coach Bradley Carnell. Technical Director John Hackworth will serve as interim head coach as a search for Carnell's replacement begins.

“Given Bradley’s many contributions to the club, this was not an easy decision. Unfortunately, based on our Year 2 results to date, we believe a coaching change is in the best interest of the club as we regroup and look to improve both our performance and our results," Sporting Director Lutz Pfannestiel said in the announcement. President and GM Diego Gigliani also extended gratitude and thanks to Carnell on behalf of the team.

Carnell was hired in Jan. 2022. He led the team to a historic expansion debut season topping the Western Conference. Carnell was also a finalist for MLS Coach of the Year last season. He previously served as an assistant and interim head coach for the New York Red Bulls from 2017-2021 before taking the job as St. Louis' first-ever head coach. He played professionally from 1993 to 2011 including winning two UEFA Intertoto Cups at VfB Stuttgart. From one angle, a change was needed due to the team's poor performances so far this season. On the other, some figured he had enough credit in the bank given the team's debut MLS season.

Carnell joins a list of recently fired head coaches that includes Gonzalo Pineda (Atlanta United), Gary Smith (Nashville SC) and Luchi Gonzalez (San Jose Earthquakes).

Interim head coach Hackworth previously served as assistant coach for the U.S. Men's National team and as head coach for the Philadelphia Union. He notably won the 2018 USL Cup as head coach of Louisville City FC.

St. Louis will hope there's a new manager bounce when taking on the San Jose Earthquakes in a mid-week clash.