It is not a good time for Jon Gruden. He is now fired. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers gave up their fiery coach and general manager Bruce Allen. The decision came was taken on Friday, three weeks after the team made one of the biggest collapses in NFL history by losing four straight games following a 9-3 start to miss the playoffs.

Gruden was a hired seven years back, when he was a rising star. He was hired to get a team built by Tony Dungy to the Super Bowl. But Gruden only succeeded in guiding the Bucs to the postseason twice after

becoming the youngest coach to lift the NFL cup in January 2003. This was not enough for the owner Malcolm Glazer and his sons, who decided that they had seen enough of aging quarterbacks, mediocre drafts and a coach and general manager who often blamed injuries for poor performance.

Gruden, at the time of beating Oakland in the Super Bowl, went 60-57 in seven seasons, including a 3-2 mark in the playoffs. Allen was in charge of the general manager for the last five seasons in a reunion of a relationship that began when both were part of Raiders. Buccaneers co-chairman Joel Glazer said that the decisions were never easy. This was one of the toughest decisions that were made on an NFL franchise. He went on saying that Jon and Bruce are consummate professionals, who have poured their heart and soul into the franchise. It was even an honour to work with them. The Bucs got tied for first place in the NFC South heading into December, but ended up losing to Carolina and Atlanta on the road and San Diego and Oakland at home. Now what is waiting for the fans and the views is yet to not know. But it is sure, the coming days will be eventful.

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