Orlando City fires head coach Adrian Heath after eight years of service to the club—fans and players both blindsided.

Now the team has been underachieving and has played very poorly in their last two matches, in the wake of back-to-back losses, management decided it was time for Heath to go.  

There were rumblings around the locker room that Heath had lost respect from the players and that they no longer played with the same fire.

The team is coming off two consecutive losses and currently sits one spot out of the playoffs. Assistant Bobby Murphy is the interim head coach and says his promotion is bittersweet.

“It’s sad, he’s a dear dear friend we’ve been together on and off for eight years and for it to happen it hurts the heart without a doubt,” Murphy said.

“But at the same time I’ve got 24-some odd players need a lift and need an arm around them and need a boost and I have a job to do and I am going to do that job to the best of my ability as long as I am here.”

Reports indicate that Kaka played a role in heath’s firing. Kaka denied that report, saying he had a good relationship with Heath.

Kaka now hoping the coaching change will ignite the players.  

“Bad results that we had last games was the point of the situation,” Kaka explained on Thursday.

“It shows that the club not satisfied with what we’ve done til now and of course they changed the coach but it’s a big sign for the players that we need to change a lot of things to make these things happen.

The club will be looking to make the hire as quickly as possible—wanting the new coach in place before the team’s home match July 27th.

The team will take to the field on Friday to meet Houston at 8 pm.