Good morning all. It is a busy day in the MLS world as the news is permeating throughout the league. My colleagues around the country are cranking out the information, which is definitely a good sign.
Here are some MLS-related stories to digest with your morning coffee:
Spencer out of the Fire race
Houston Dynamo assistant John Spencer tells the Houston Chronicle’s Bernardo Fallas that he turned down the Fire coaching job, claiming that he did so because the contract offer was too low. If true, this is thoroughly embarassing for the Fire, which have managed to make England’s coaching search look like a masterpiece by comparison (the difference being that England broke the bank).
Sources tell me that the job Spencer really covets is the Colorado Rapids job currently held by Fernando Clavijo, and he may be willing to wait a year to get it.
So what now for the Fire? Well, Denis Hamlett is the leading candidate, and potentially the only viable candidate. Mike Jeffries and Frank Klopas were considered outside possibilities.
At this rate, the real question is which will be hired first, a replacement for Osorio or a replacement for Fire president John Guppy. The worst part for Guppy? The same man he wanted to be the Fire’s coach, Spencer, is the same one who winds up airing his dirty laundry. OUCH.
Crew have a DP target
As you may have read on SBI yesterday, the Columbus Crew expects Guillermo Barros Schelotto to return AND is serious about keeping its designated player slot. The Columbus Dispatch’s Shawn Mitchell followed up on both topics and found out just how serious in a story today that reveals that Crew president Mark McCullers has a very specific DP target in mind.
McCullers didn’t name the player but did take time to turn it into a game of 20 Questions, giving a bunch of clues about the player. Crew fans all over Ohio are cranking up their editions of Football Manager to narrow down the candidates (And yes, I would have too if I weren’t trying to crank out posts).
Twellman transfer chase is on
English club Preston North End is hot on the trail of New England Revolution forward Taylor Twellman, with the Boston Globe’s Frank Del’Apa reporting that PNE is set to up its offer to $2 million.
Someone should tell Preston North End that they need to give up now. There is almost no way the Revs are going to give up their leading scorer, not for the kind of money PNE can afford anyway. He is too vital to their team and I doubt New England would blink for anything less than $8 million, particularly given the weak state of the U.S. dollar.
D.C. close to adding forward
This one is a day late but in case you missed it, Washington Post guru Steve Goff reported on Wednesday that D.C. United is closing in on signing Argentine forward Franco Niell.
Here are some other tidbits from the SBI mill:
Duilio Davino will NOT be a designated player for FC Dallas.
The Columbus Crew IS in the process of hiring a technical director and is down to three finalists.
D.C. United is set to begin serious talks with Christian Gomez’s representatives about re-signing.
That’s all for now. I’ll be checking back in with some more news throughout the day so stay tuned.