V-League football club Sai Gon FC decided on Tuesday to dismiss its coach Lu Dinh Tuan after the club suffered its third successive defeat over the last three weeks.

Tuan said he was surprised with the decision because the team were still on the way to achieve the goals set by the club leaders, including entering the top five by August, the end of the current season.

"I only knew about the decision through a text message from the managing director Tran Tien Dai, and I am still waiting a written decision from the club," Tuan told Viet Nam News.

Until the ninth round, the club's form was impressive, winning five games and drawing four games to take the top spot on the V-League table, emerging as one of the contenders for the title.

However, the club lost 2-0 to Ninh Binh, 1-0 to Binh Duong and 1-0 to Ha Noi T&T in three recent rounds, which left the team at fifth place, four points away from the leading team Ha Noi T&T.

The coach's dismissal was a bit harsh as Sai Gon FC's recent narrow losses are partly due to the absence of some key players, including captain Phuoc Tu, midfielder Nguyen Rogerio and strikers Antonio Carlos and Nsi Amougou.

The 44-year-old coach turned down the club's offer to become the technical director of the club. — VNS