Jason Kreis is out at New York City FC after just one season in charge of the high profile, high priced MLS expansion club.

With NYCFC missing the playoffs in its inaugural MLS season, rumors of a coaching change have been in the air. A Sports Illustrated report recently inflamed the issue, linking Manchester City youth coach and former Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira with the NYC job.

Subsequent speculation named former England boss Fabio Capello as the man likely to replace the former Real Salt Lake coach, although no news was forthcoming in the team’s statement.

Assistant coaches Miles Joseph and CJ Brown also got the axe on NYCFC’s Monday night purge. The only upper management name attached to the statement dismissing Kreis is that of New York City FC President Tom Glick, with the club’s Director of Football Operations Claudio Reyna’s name conspicuously absent.

Here is a key portion of the New York City statement: Prior to the start of the season, it was agreed with the coaching team that securing of a playoff place was an appropriate target for this year. A win rate of less than one in three games and a points tally which was the second lowest in the league is clearly not in line with the targets that were agreed.

While no one would suggest that New York City FC’s season was a smashing success, making the playoffs always figured to be a big challenge for the expansion team.

Fellow 2015 debutantes Orlando finished above NYC in the Eastern Conference standings, but like the Gothamites, the Lions also missed out on the postseason.

With Manchester City as the major player in a partnership with the New York Yankees, NYCFC was met with suspicion on its introduction to MLS.

Hiring Reyna and Kreis to run the club lessened fears in some quarters that the New York club would be operated directly from the Home Office in Manchester but Kreis’ firing with no comment from Reyna furthers the perception that NYCFC is merely a satellite of the big club in Manchester.

GotSoccer has just confirmed through a source at New York City Football club that the decision to fire Kreis was made at the local level by Reyna and Team President Glick, while adding that Reyna would remain with the club and that his position and responsibilities would remain the same.

The source also stated that Reyna declined to add his name to the statement on the Kreis firing so as not to appear too harsh. As of now, the source is not expecting Reyna to release a statement.

The NYCFC statement concluded by saying: The Club is committed to ensuring that a suitable candidate is in place in good time to prepare for the 2016 season and an announcement will be made when a candidate is confirmed.

Not many expect Kreis, a 2009 MLS Cup winning coach with Real Salt Lake, to remain on the market very long, with the Chicago job looking like a natural fit.