Neuchatel fire coaching staff after two games

Coach Francois Ciccolini, team manager Sonny Anderson and the rest of the staff, appointed in June, were dismissed immediately after a 2-0 loss at champions FC Basel left them pointless and goalless at the bottom of the league after two games.

"They can't ask us to perform magic," Ciccolini told the online edition of 20 Minutes newspaper.

Anderson added: "He [Chagaev] is the chief shareholder, he makes the decisions."

His replacement Jean-Francois Bedenik had to pick the ball out of the net after just 83 seconds as Benjamin Huggel put the hosts ahead in Sunday's game.