GMA News reports that former Best Import awardee Marquin Chandler is back to reinforce the Purefoods Tender Juicy Giants for the PBA Fiesta Conference campaign. The mercurial Chandler led Purefoods to the finals of the 2005-06 edition of the tournament, and Purefoods coach Ryan Gregorio is hoping to duplicate that success.

But that was three years ago, and in Chandler's last stint with the team in 2007, Purefoods was eliminated in the wildcard stages of the tournament. The conference marked the start of an alarming trend for the proud franchise, who have failed to make it out of the wildcard stages in three of the last four PBA tournaments. The Purefoods lineup features superstars James Yap and Kerby Raymundo--the duo have been gangbusters so far for the Powerade-Team Pilipinas selection tapped to play in this year's FIBA-Asia qualifier for next year's World Basketball Championships--but the talent has not translated to wins. Things hit rock-bottom in the last Philippine Cup when Yap got into a verbal altercation with assistant coach Koy Banal in the fourth quarter of a blowout loss to Air 21 in their wildcard elimination game.

While fans of the popular team have been calling for Gregorio's head, it seems that Gregorio still has the trust of Purefoods management. In fact, an intrepid Giants fan caused a minor ruckus on Pinoy Exchange after revealing that team governor Rene Pardo dismissed fans calling for Gregorio's ouster as "fair-weather fans" in a Facebook message. I asked for Pardo's side, and he stressed that his statement was taken out of context, and left out was the part where he said that he appreciated supporters who stuck with the team "come hell or high water."

Gregorio attributed the team's poor showing during the 2007 Fiesta Conference to Chandler to a lingering injury that affected the import's performance. However, with Chandler back and healthy, Gregorio might finally be out of excuses for the team performing poorly. The fans are almost at the end of their patience; management, meanwhile, still feels loyal to the coach who has led the team to two championships. But this conference might be Gregorio's last chance to prove himself, and if it is, then Chandler might be holding Gregorio's job in his hands.