Moldovan side FC Sheriff have announced that manager Stepan Tomas has resigned from his post just two days before facing Manchester United at Old Trafford in the Europa League.
Sheriff third in Group E and are likely to be transferred to the Europa Conference League, while they put up a respectable fight in their 2-0 defeat at home to the Red Devils in September.
However, they will have to continue their campaign under a new manager following Tomas’ sudden resignation having only taken on the job four months ago.
“In four months…Stepan Tomas managed to create a team from scratch, which successfully passed the qualification for European cups, having managed, in fact, with the new team, which he created from scratch in a short time, to break into the group stage of the Europa League,” Sheriff said in a statement.
“FC Sheriff collectively thanks Stepan Tomas and his coaching staff for the work done, contribution to the development of the club and its promotion in the international arena.”
Sheriff were beaten 1-0 by second-place Petrocub in the Moldovan National Division at the weekend, inflicting their first defeat of the season. Nevertheless, they still sit six points clear at the top of the league.
But Tomas was furious with his players’ drop in concentration and asserted that they had one eye on their trip to Old Trafford.
“It seems that the players were thinking about the match in Manchester, there was no concentration. This is my mistake,” Tomas said.
