John Buttigieg has stepped down as the coach of Floriana FC after just six weeks in the job, the club announced on Thursday.
In a brief statement, the club said that Buttigieg had decided to resign from his position with immediate effect.
“John Buttigieg has informed the Floriana FC committee that this decision was taken for the best interest of the club. The Floriana FC committee would like to thank Coach John Buttigieg for his commitment throughout his tenure at the helm of the team”, the statement read.
Buttigieg was announced as Floriana coach on 26 December 2020, replacing Italian coach Enzo Potenza in the role as the Greens struggled in their BOV Premier League title defence.
However, six weeks down the line things have not gone to plan at all: Buttigieg leaves the club without a win to his name.
Three draws and three losses in his six league games in charge and an FA Trophy exit at the hands of Santa Lucia mean that Floriana have not won a match since they beat neighbours Valletta 3-0 on December 6 last year.
Floriana’s struggling form has left them sitting in 13th place out of 16 teams in the BOV Premier League, with 20 points to their name from 19 games.
Finishing in this position by the end of the season – which is only 11 games away – would mean that Floriana would be relegated to the BOV Challenge League: a significant fall from grace after they won the league, albeit after it was cut short by the Covid-19 pandemic, last season.
While there has been no official confirmation on Buttigieg’s successor, NET Television’s Replay have reported that Enzo Potenza is the favourite to the take over the helm of the club – a swift return, given that he was the man to make way for Buttigieg last December.