Sept. 20--The Chicago Fire dismissed head coach Frank Yallop and two assistant coaches on Sunday and named technical director Brian Bliss as interim coach for the remaining five games.
The Fire announced a series of staff changes in a statement, hours after a 1-0 loss to the expansion Orlando City. The loss left the last-place Fire on the verge of elimination from Major League Soccer's postseason.
In addition to Yallop's dismissal, the Fire parted ways with assistant coaches Marc Bircham and Clint Mathis.
Nelson Rodriguez, a former Chivas USA and MLS executive, was named the team's general manager. Joining Bliss on the on-field staff is former Fire captain Logan Pause as interim assistant coach.
"I share our fans' frustration and, while we've enjoyed success off the pitch, I'm obviously not happy with the results on it," Fire owner Andrew Hauptmann said the statement. "I felt the need to make changes now in order to better position ourselves for the off-season and beyond. I have tremendous confidence about the future of this Club in Nelson's hands and am beyond thrilled to bring him to Chicago."
The Fire were 7-16 with six ties and just 27 points, the worst record in MLS. Yallop, who won an MLS championship in San Jose, had a two-year record of 13-26-24 record (63 points) in Chicago.
Bliss joined the Fire in 2013 after serving six years as Columbus Crew technical director. On Sept. 2, 2013 Bliss was appointed Crew interim coach.
