Twitter reacts as David James is sacked by Kerala Blasters on same day as Jose Mourinho

James, who led Kerala Blasters to the ISL title in the inaugural 2014 season as player-coach, has been unable to manage to a second win this season. Kerala's only win came in the opening match against ATK and the club has suffered five losses in 11 games since then.

Blasters are languishing in the bottom half of the table after 12 games. They are placed eighth with just nine points and are no longer in the contention for a spot in the ISL playoffs.

The end was inevitable for James as the Manjappada, Fan Army of the Kerala Blasters, were unhappy with the team's display for over a month. Manjappada even boycotted Blasters' game against Jamshedpur, which saw the attendance drop shockingly to just around 8,000.

The Manjappada did a U-turn for the next game against FC Pune City but there were few takers for that match too with the team eventually losing 0-1.

James took over the role at Kerala for the second time at the start of this year after the club had fired Rene Meulensteen for the team's poor performance in the 2017-18 season.

Interestingly, James' departure was on the same as that of Jose Mourinho, who parted ways with Manchester United on Tuesday.

While James' Kerala Blasters lost 1-6 to Mumbai City FC, United were handed a 1-3 defeat by Liverpool over the weekend.

The Kerala Blasters management didn't exactly swoop in to fire James. They gave him about 12 games - five more than what Meulensteen received last season - before wielding the axe. Barring the 2-0 opening day victory over ATK, James' side have looked clueless in the ISL.

Constant chopping and changing, overreliance on a few individuals and the lack of a Plan B cost James his job at Blasters.

Twitter had a field day debating James' departure. Jamshedpur FC compared his exit with that of Mourinho and 'recommended' Mourinho to the Kerala side. A few other fans felt James should have stayed and it was the management which got its recruitment wrong in the place.

About the author

Aravind Suchindran is a sports reporter from Bangalore, who has previously worked with the Times Of India and Bangalore Mirror. When not writing, he likes to read between the lines. When bored of reading between the lines, he likes to play football and explore the world.

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