Former Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke (left) with sacked RSL head coach Jeff Cassar watching Bruce Arena’s first national team practice in Carson, Calif. in January. (Michael Lewis/FrontRowSoccer Photo)

SANDY, Utah – When Real Salt Lake comes to Red Bull Arena to face the Red Bulls, RSL director of goalkeeping Daryl Shore will run the show as interim coach in the wake of Jeff Cassar getting fired Monday night.

Cassar was axed only three games into the season. RSL is winless at 0-2-1 with one point and with one goal, having not produced a victory in his last 10 regular-season games. RSL ended the 2016 season with a seven-game winless streak.

It is believed to be the earliest sacking in Major League Soccer history. One interesting possibility as Cassar’s successor — former Red Bulls head coach Mike Petke, who is directing the Real Monarchs in the United Soccer League.

The 43-year-old Cassar guided RSL to a 38-37-30 mark in three plus seasons.

“At the conclusion of last season, we felt that while we were disappointed in the end result, Jeff had done enough to earn another shot to lead the team in the 2017 campaign,” RSL general manager Craig Waibel said in a statement. “We have a high sense of urgency for progress this season, and have made many off-season changes towards that endeavor.

“So, while these decisions are always difficult, we, as an organization, felt that it was necessary to make the change in our head coaching position now. The process for a hiring new head coach to lead the club has already begun. We will work quickly and diligently to ensure that we find the right leader that shares our values, passion, commitment and vision.”

“We want to thank Jeff for his many contributions to the success of Real Salt Lake over the past decade, including our championship run in 2009. Jeff has always handled himself with class and dignity and represented the organization and community extremely well,” RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen said in a statement. “We wish Jeff and his family much success in their future endeavors.”

Cassar came to the organization as an assistant coach under Jason Kreis in 2007 and remained in that role through the 2013 season. During that span, RSL reached the MLS Cup final twice, winning the league title in 2009 in a shootout victory over the LA Galaxy. The club also reached finals in the 2011 CONCACAF Champions League – the first MLS club to do so – and the 2013 Lamar Hunt/U.S. Open Cup.

After Kreis left, Cassar took over as head coach prior to the 2014 season and reached the playoffs in two of his three full seasons. RSL qualified for CONCACAF Champions League in 2014 and advanced to the quarterfinal round before falling to UANL Tigres.

“We want to thank Jeff for his many contributions to the success of Real Salt Lake over the past decade, including our championship run in 2009. Jeff has always handled himself with class and dignity and represented the organization and community extremely well,” RSL owner Dell Loy Hansen said in a statement. “We wish Jeff and his family much success in their future endeavors.”

The rest of the RSL technical department will remain on staff.

Front Row Soccer editor Michael Lewis has covered 13 World Cups (eight men, five women), seven Olympics and 25 MLS Cups. He has written about New York City FC, New York Cosmos, the New York Red Bulls and both U.S. national teams for Newsday and has penned a soccer history column for the Guardian.com. Lewis, who has been honored by the Press Club of Long Island and National Soccer Coaches Association of America, is the former editor of BigAppleSoccer.com. He has written seven books about the beautiful game and has published ALIVE AND KICKING The incredible but true story of the Rochester Lancers. It is available at Amazon.com.