The Houston Dynamo have found a replacement at head coach; at least for the remainder of 2016.
On Tuesday, the Dynamo announced that Wade Barrett will take over as the team’s interim head coach, after spending the last seven seasons at the club.
Barrett, 39, coached the team in their two most recent matches since Coyle’s exit, both of which resulted in 1-1 draws against the Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas.
“I want to thank Gabriel Brener and the ownership group, Chris Canetti and Matt Jordan for the chance to lead this club forward,” Barrett said. “Houston is my home and this club, in its entirety, is in my blood. We have a tremendous opportunity to create a standard of performance that will make the city and our fans proud.”
During his time as a player, Barrett played in two separate stints with the San Jose Earthquakes, before finishing his MLS career with the Dynamo in 2009. The former defender played a part in the team’s back-to-back MLS Cup winning seasons in 2006 and 2007.
Old School: Lest we forget, that was the Championship SJ EARTHQUAKES Team roster (less Cameron, Ashe, Boswel) including coach Dom, that had previously won two Championships, before MLS Ownership Cartel shipped them off to Houston. SJ should have 4 Cups, not 2.
I dislike “interim” tags. It basically says, we (the Dynamo FO) are too chicken to actually name you coach because we are afraid to lose our job if you blow it. So we’ll wait and see if you blow it, and then hire someone else. If you do great, then we look like heroes. No balls….
I have nothing insightful to add to his coaching candidacy, but he was a part of my favorite MLS roster (which coincides when I started watching MLS) in that 2006-2008 era for the Houston Dynamo.
Names like: Brian Ching, Brad Davis, Eddie Robinson, Geoff Cameron, Stuart Holden, Kei Kamara, Chris Wondolowski, Pat Onstad, Ricardo Clark, Corey Ashe, Bobby Boswell, and Dwayne De Rosario.
Was a fun team to watch with a good collection of talent (for MLS) and characters/personalities playing under Dom.