John Spencer, the affable face of the Portland Timbers who helped prepare the team for Major League Soccer last season, was fired as coach, a person close to the situation said. General manager Gavin Wilkinson will coach the team the rest of the year.
The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the dismissal had not yet been made public. The Timbers scheduled a news conference for Monday afternoon.
Spencer's dismissal was first reported by The Oregonian.
The Timbers are coming off a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake on Saturday. They are 5-8-4 and in next-to-last place in the Western Conference, with no road wins.
Spencer was hired on Aug. 11, 2010. In the Scotsman's first year as coach, the Timbers finished 11-14-9. The 11 victories tied the team with the 2006 Houston Dynamo for fourth on the list of wins for an expansion team. Portland is 9-5-3 at home and 7-6-4 against Western Conference opponents.
Demand for season tickets at Jeld-Wen Field was so high in the offseason the Timbers increased the allotment this season by 2,000 seats, with a remaining waiting list of some 5,000 supporters. The team also increased stadium seating capacity to more than 20,000.
But while the Timbers were still a major draw, selling out all their MLS home games this season, the enthusiastic fan base has been vocal in calling for on-field results.
Wilkinson joined the Timbers in 2001 as a player when the team was part of the USL First Division. He was coach of the second-division Timbers from 2007-10 and was an assistant with the Houston Dynamo for five seasons before coming to Portland.
Spencer played professionally for 18 seasons, with stints in Scotland, England and with the MLS Colorado Rapids. A striker, he scored 43 goals for Chelsea from 1992-96.
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