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Who would you hire to fill the remaining MLS coaching vacancies?

Richie Williams (ISIphotos.com)

Three MLS teams are left searching for head coaches after Chivas USA's hiring of Martin Vasquez and at this point it is no easy guess as to which coaches will be hired in this last go-round.

Denis Hamlett, Curt Onalfo, Tom Soehn and Richie Williams all started 2009 with head coaching jobs and all are in the mix for new gigs elsewhere in MLS. Whether this group winds up filling the remaining jobs, or if MLS teams decide to go the foreign route, is very much up in the air as teams consider a myriad of options.

It is your turn to play team owner and/or general manager. Who would you hire if you were the one doing the hiring in New York, Chicago and D.C. United? Now is your chance to vote.

Cast your votes after the jump:

Who would we hire? New York should have hired Richie Williams weeks ago, but any of the former MLS head coaches listed would be much better fits than a foreign coach. D.C. United has the ability to tempt fate and go with a foreign coach or college coach because of its strong front office, while Chicago should probably seriously consider Tom Soehn or John Spencer before tapping the foreign market.

Who did you vote for? Who do you see filling the remaining three MLS coaching vacancies?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. Well put Dr. If the Fire see Armas as a future coach for them, bring him on as an assistant to Soehn.

    Soehn brings exactly what the Fire need. Let’s get it done and done fast.

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  2. didn’t know Richie start 2009 with the ehad coaching job…I must have a faulty memory!!!

    But he sure as hell shoud start 2010 with it…

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  3. Do you all realize that Onalfo took a last place Wizards team to the playoffs the 2 years he was there. They were in the middle of the pack when he was let go and that is because Vermes wanted his job.

    What coaching experience did Vermes have? NADA!! Give Onalfo a chance. He proved himself the 2 years he was with KC. They gripe that it’s all about the playoffs. Onalfo got that done in a very short time.

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  4. Judging by this post and past posts it’s clear that Ives knows next to nothing about the Chicago front office beyond his own conjecture, so why should we pay any heed to what he says?

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  5. Where was Richie Williams a head coach at the start of 2009? Did I miss that one? Just checking! Thanks for all your great info Ives!

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  6. Ives,

    I know Williams has done a good job as an interim coach for the RB and it would have been nice if the team had settled on him already. However, the argument that only MLS insiders could do the job is wearing thin because we have had our share of failures too.

    The detractors of foreign coaches have plenty of fodder because of the past failures, but I think the big mistake has been going for the glitzy coach name. But if we had a team with a good sporting director (not hacks like Agoos or Lalas) that knows the MLS intricacies, and a solid soccer coach, you can accomplish a lot.

    If you told me that the RB could get a coach from a solid program like Holland or Germany (and it does not have to be Klinsy), I would take him in a second. MLS needs good solid soccer coaches, that will have no problems telling hacks like Khano Smith that they have no business being in professional soccer, and therefore help the league get rid of mediocrity and elevate the quality of play.

    You can bring in Guus Potato to MLS, but I guarantee you that he will fail miserably if you pair him with guys like Agoos or Lalas.

    Cheers

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  7. Personally, I would like to see DC United go after a big name Latin American coach, such as Jose Pekerman. I think it would be ideal for the way the team plays with the quick pass latin style of soccer

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  8. As long as we can avoid Williams or Onalfo! A couple of weeks ago the fear was that the front office was going with one of them.

    Now the best possible scenario is that Williams will be taken by RBNY and Onalfo can go back to the youth ranks.

    Spencer would seem to be a fairly nice fit for DCU.

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  9. I realize that, for perfectly understandable reasons, ALL foreign coaches in MLS have earned the ire of everyone in MLS circles, but if there aren’t names to be named, isn’t it a bit silly to write “A European coach” or

    “A Latin American coach” rather than a specific person? Surely they aren’t all exactly the same?

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  10. My vote right now is with Richie. Its the smartest move they could make at the moment. Hire him, sign the DP everyone speaks of, and get some role players. Playoffs 2010.

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  11. RBNY really have to hire Williams. This Soler clown better get that straight or there’s going to hell to pay from the fans the moment something goes wrong. Should Soler hire one of his buddies instead of Williams, I will put money on us finishing last (even with Henry) in the East and both Soler and whatever manager he hires being out by next February. Honestly, Soler having zero experience worries me when it comes to the draft–this guy has no clue about college players in the US; probably has no clue about the salary caps, etc. What a dumb move by RBNY! Bunch of clowns.

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  12. I really hope RBNY goes for Williams. Looks like they will hire a foreign GM so it would be good to have the trainer be a MLS insider.

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  13. Why was John Spencer not a listed candidate for DCU? He was listed for Chicago? Preki’s taken, so I would have voted for Spencer and DCU.

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  14. Why would Curt Onalfo be a better fit than ANY foreign coach? What exactly die he achieve at Kansas City?

    Most of the foreign managers who have failed were not successful because they were simply bad managers, not because they were foreign.

    I think we are running a real danger of training methods never improving here in the States if we continue to insist that every manager be some MLS insider or former player

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  15. I’ve got a soft spot for Williams. Back before you had to pay a “trainer”, and while he was in high school/college, Williams would run my club team (St.Mary’s Eagles) practices for free.

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