Bob Francis was fired as coach of the struggling Phoenix Coyotes on Tuesday after leading the team to the playoffs twice in the last four seasons. The Coyotes have won just two of their last 14 games and are in last place in the Pacific Division and 13th in the Western Conference with a record of 20-24-15-3.

A poll on the azcentral.com sports page asking if fans agree with the decision is running 2 to 1 in favor of Francis "lacking talent to succeed". I wanted to vote in both categories - true, player play has been subpar and some of the recent trades have been atrocious and harmed the team badly, but I've never been a fan of Francis coaching style. But I think the fans (or the 284 that have voted thus far) may be on the mark and maybe the GM should get his walking papers.

While you continue to embark on a crusade that places the welfare of departing players over constructing a competitive team, ex-season ticket holders like myself will continue to boycott the subpar product.

It's not just the recent trade of Sean Burke, it's the repeated pattern of dealing away your best players (and some of my favorite Coyotes) and seemingly being more concerned with their future prospects rather than building a Stanley Cup caliber squad.

• You traded away my favorite Coyote, an all-star two way defenseman for a third line forward.
  
  
• You forked out money for free agent Tony Amone at the beginning of last season, then let him go for a bag of pucks.
  
  
• You traded the immensely talented Daniel Briere who's on his way to another 30 goal season and leading his team in scoring for Chris Gratton, who'll soon lay claim to being a washout with four teams.

When you guys show that you desire to put a quality product for show, then perhaps I'll pony up for some tickets.