Football
Tom Marshall, Mexico correspondent 9y

Carlos Bustos resigns as head coach of struggling Chivas Guadalajara

Argentine Carlos Bustos resigned as the coach of Chivas Guadalajara on Thursday, shortly after the team's 3-1 loss to Toluca in Liga MX. The team is on the relegation track right now.

"I think it's for the best at this moment," said Bustos in a statement  on the club's website and Twitter feed. "Someone can come in that can help the team get out of this [bad] moment."

Bustos was the third permanent coach at the club in 2014, with Chivas going through a string of managers and directors in recent years as the Mexican giant failed to win matches with any regularity. He denied that he was pressured to leave and thanked team owner Jorge Vergara via statement.

"I would like to thank the club and all the people who work with Chivas, from Jorge [Vergara] on down. With everyone I have always had the best support, but sadly, sometimes things don't go the way one plans," Bustos said. "I have my dignity, I could insist upon my place, I have not been thrown out of the club. This was my decision, on behalf of my coaching staff, we want the best for a great team such as Chivas and we are grateful to have been part of this institution. Thank you."

The club's record this Apertura 2014 is two wins, four draws and four losses from its 10 games and the team has secured victory only once in its last eight matches, leaving Chivas down in 15th position in the Liga MX table.

Bustos' departure comes just two days after sporting director Francisco "Paco" Palencia also resigned from the institution, citing differences in decisions relating to the team.

On Thursday, Toluca opened the scoring through a header from captain Paulo da Silva in the 24th minute, before a sliced clearance from Toluca's Richard Ortiz in the 52nd gifted Chivas an equalizer.

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Edgar Benitez then struck in the 58th and again two minutes later to seal the points for fourth-placed Toluca.

Team captain and forward Omar Bravo called the news disappointing ahead of Chivas' next match on Sunday against Guadalajara city rivals Atlas. Atlas are in third position in the Liga MX, securely in the playoff places, with six rounds of matches of the Apertura regular season to play.

"I understand that the fans are upset and irritated, that is part of everything, but the only thing that we can do is to keep working so we can give the fans happiness and above all, get ourselves out of this situation we are in," Bravo said after Thursday's loss. "There is a team with more will that the results indicate, a good group, and within it I believe there are many areas of opportunity.

"Of course, this news [Bustos' departure] is not agreeable. You come here with a project and when things culminate in this manner, of course, it is disagreeable. We have 21 points to dispute still and even though some of the team is down, we must overcome this and try to get as many points as possible.

"In today's match, for example, we were playing a good game and then as soon as they scored we lost steam. We need to overcome quickly, I think we played a good match despite the score but we need goals and we haven't been scoring them."

Mexico's relegation system is worked out based on average points per game over the past three years or six short seasons and Chivas is currently ahead of Leones Negros, Puebla and Veracruz, with one team set for the drop next May.

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