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Fire to hire Yallop as head coach

FrankYallop1 (Getty)

The Chicago Fire parted ways with Frank Klopas on Monday, and wasted no time finding his replacement.

The Fire have hired former San Jose Earthquakes head coach Frank Yallop as the team’s new coach, Goal.com reported on Wednesday night.

Yallop takes over after leaving the Earthquakes in mid-season following a terrible first half. In 2012, he helped lead the Earthquakes to the MLS Supporters Shield, before losing to eventual champion Los Angeles Galaxy in Western Conference semifinals.

What do you think of this development? See Yallop being a good hire? Surprised he didn’t go to Vancouver?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Great hire by Chicago. Especially since Yallop will have the final say on the players he wants to bring in and a franchise that will throw around much more cash than SJ. He was wrongly labeled by newbies as a one dimensional boom ball coach…he’s way more than that. Before Kreis and RSL there were the Quakes teams from 2001-2003, stellar beautiful football. Given the cash and the freedom to select his own players, he’ll put together a solid team in Chicago…he’s a great coach.

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  2. I’m pretty stoked about this; will be interesting to see if Yallop succeeds. I was going to head to Vancouver next summer to see the Whitecaps next summer, but now I’m gonna fly out to Chicago and check out the Fire!

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  3. awesome as a ‘quakes fan, can we trade you lenhart & gordon for Chris Rolfe and Joel Lindpere? I don’t think he’ll need or have any use for players w/ skills. ROUTE 1 futbol coming your way.

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  4. I like it. The worst thing the Fire could do is bring in a coach with no MLS experience who wanted to clean out the Fire roster. We do not need a total rebuild, with the likes of Nyarko traded for salary cap or roster space.I think the Fire have a solid roster that is a number 10, a striker and fullback away from being very good. Bob Bradley would be better but I don’t see that happening. I also like the stability of an early appointment rather than some last minute hire. The Fire need to trade their owner for a Robb Heineman or Merrit Paulson type. Someone who cares and is involved. I think for Hauptman the Fire is just another investment, rather than a passion.

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  5. Yallop is a low-key guy with a reputation of being well-liked by his players. He has proven that he can coach in this league and can meld individuals into a strong team with good chemistry, at least in the absence of big egos such as Beckham. However, his manner of leaving the Quakes was too similar to his exits from L.A. and the Canadian national team – bailing out of a bad situation before he could be pushed out. It makes me wonder if he has the negotiation skills to convince GMs and owners to get the players he needs to succeed.

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    • Sorry but he’s not a good coach at all. Had some good players at certain times in his coaching career that made him look good, that’s about it. He’s still living off the couple mls cups he won waaay back when mls was a different kind of league. Fire fans WILL suffer.

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      • It would be useful to note that Alan Gordon is on record as saying Yallop’s “failure” in LA had nothing to do with Yallop.

  6. I will give Yallop the benefit of the doubt. Bradley would be awesome (but a pipe dream). The perfect coach would have been Steve Nicol.

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  7. Wtf, mls is becoming like ligamx or even serieA where coaches just go around.bring new blood to the team n league. Hire a great latin coach n teach him english or bring a midtable european coach. Chicago is a great city, why wouldn’t bradley return. Chicago deserve 3 great dps, a better stadium and maybe a new name 🙂
    So i.guess chicago fire is just like the cubs, bulls and white sox, and bears. Forget the greatness n make ur team suck.

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    • Bradley will never return to the MLS. Why would he? It is a step down, a major step down. He has the respect of coaches around the world. If he does not take another national team, I think you will see him at a second division team in England or a lower top division team in somewhere like the Netherlands, Belguim, etc.
      I am a huge Chicago fan and would love to have him back but let’s look at this from a logical standpoint for him.
      I am guessing if he would come back that Michael would follow because he is not playing that much at Roma right now? Neither is going to happen.

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    • Your comment makes no sense and shows you know nothing about the fire. Denis Hamlett, Juan Carlos Osorio, and Carlos de los Cobos were all latin coaches.
      Have you been to the stadium? The stadium is fine.
      Hans Backe and Ruud Gullitt worked out real well in MLS…
      I will give Yallop the benefit of the doubt. Bradley would be awesome (but a pipe dream). The perfect coach would have been Steve Nicol.

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  8. It was great watching the Earthquakes play in 2012. It was a joy to see the players really enjoying their playing time on game days. However, already then, it was easy to see that there were going to be injuries. It was apparent that this could go on for only so long. That’s where Yallop should have watched the stress level the players were being put through. He was probably working them too hard. Knowing how things went with Yallop and the Galaxy, I would be extremely hesitant hiring him as a coach. But maybe Chicago is different. When Yallop coached the Earthquakes around the time when the MLS started he had the help of Dominic Kinnear, and it is said that’s why the Earthquakes were so good in those days. Kinnear was an excellent coach who didn’t show up as brilliant until his move to Houston.

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  9. For real though.

    Bob Bradley will be ready for a new job soon. And he’s already been successful there and knows the team. That club is dying before our eyes.

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    • Bob Bradley is not coming back to MLS anytime soon. If he’s done at Egypt, he will get another national team job or maybe a European club manager job.

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      • A second division French or Italian club or a third division English team is about the limit for Bradley. You guys act like these jobs are given out based on skill alone, every club has a club legend or a director who guides their friends into these jobs except at the very top of the best leagues and Bradley isn’t at that level and has no connections in Europe at this point.

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