Spartak Moscow has dismissed head coach Massimo Carrera, citing what the board of directors said were "unsatisfactory" results over the past year and uninspiring play by the soccer team this season.
In an October 22 statement, Spartak’s board expressed gratitude to the Italian coach for "inscribing his name with golden letters" in the club's history and being "one of the creators" of its success.
But "the results of the past season have been...unsatisfactory: Not one of the club's goals has been reached," it said. "And the team's results and performance in the current season have shown that there is no tendency toward improvement."
Carrera, 54, who played as a defender for the Italian national team and various European clubs had been head coach of Spartak Moscow since August 2016.
The former Juventus coach took Spartak to its first Russian title in 16 years in his first season in charge, but the team finished third last season and lost in Champions League qualifying this year.
Carrera had a tense relationship with some Spartak team members.
After being accused of "liking" a video of a poem recital criticizing Carrera on Instagram, players Denis Glushakov and Andrei Yeshchenko were dropped to the reserves in September.
Spartak is currently in sixth place in the Russian league, seven points behind leader Zenit St. Petersburg.
The statement said that assistant coach Raul Riancho, a Spaniard, will be acting head coach.