Perth, Feb 11: Perth Glory has fired Ian Ferguson and appointed former Socceroo Alistair Edwards as interim coach for the remainder of the A-League season.
Glory owner Tony Sage announced the decision at a news conference Monday, a day after a 2-0 defeat to Melbourne Heart extended the Western Australia-based club's winless stretch to eight matches.
Ferguson is the fourth head coach to be fired or leave an A-League club during the 2012-13 season after Ian Crook at Sydney FC, Rado Vidosic at Brisbane Roar and John Kosmina at Adelaide United. There are still seven rounds remaining in the regular season.
The former Glasgow Rangers midfielder had a stint as head coach at the now defunct North Queensland Fury before leaving in 2010 to join Perth. Ferguson guided the Glory from near the bottom of the standings to the grand final last season.
But the Glory has struggled this season, compounded by the departure of some key players, and was languishing in last place in the 10-team league with only five wins and a draw in 20 rounds. Only the top six teams qualify for the playoffs, and Perth is five points adrift of sixth-placed Sydney FC.
Sage said Ferguson "agreed it was unacceptable to be at the bottom of the league with the team that we have."
