San Jose Earthquakes fire head coach Mikael Stahre

Following a lopsided home loss and in last place in MLS, the San Jose Earthquakes announced on Monday they have fired head coach Mikael Stahre, less than a full season into his tenure.

Stahre’s last game for the Quakes was a 5-1 loss against Sporting Kansas City on Saturday at Avaya Stadium, giving the manager a 4-16-8 record in league play this year, with San Jose beating just two teams, Minnesota United and FC Dallas.

The Swede was hired in the offseason after coaching in his native country (Vasby United, AIK, IFK Goteborg, Hacken), Greece (Panionos) and China (Dalian Yifang). Joining MLS as an unknown, Stahre joined a club going through a rebuilding project, but the team struggled to play coherently, and failings on both sides of the ball sealed his fate. Assistant coach Alex de Crook will also be leaving the team.

“I would like to thank Mikael and Alex for their hard work and professionalism this season,” said Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli in a statement. “Mikael has qualities, both as a person and a coach, that will be missed by players, staff and the front office alike.

”We felt we needed a change and decided that the six remaining games represent an opportunity for all of us to begin heading in a new direction and to evaluate our options actively with a single goal in mind: to strengthen our First Team for the upcoming season and beyond.”

Assistant coach Steve Ralston will serve as interim manager for the remainder of the MLS season, while Alex Covelo will move back into an assistant coach role.

San Jose have six games left in the season, with a date at home against Supporters’ Shield leaders Atlanta United up next, on Wednesday.