By RYAN TOLMICH
Giovanni Savarese will remain in charge of the New York Cosmos for the foreseeable future, and turned down an opportunity in MLSÂ to ensure that future.
Sources have confirmed to SBI that Savarese has signed a new long-term deal to remain head coach of the Cosmos. Sources also confirmed that Savarese’s deal came after he turned down the head coaching job with the Houston Dynamo.
“Given Gio’s success and performance the past two years for us, there’s obviously been some interest from other teams,” Cosmos chief operating officer Erik Stover told SBI when reached for comment on Savarese’s new contract. “I can confirm that he received an offer from an MLS team this offseason.”
Sources tell SBI that the Dynamo was the team that offered Savarese its coaching job before eventually hiring Owen Coyle.
Savarese, who has been in charge of the club since its 2013 rebirth, led the Cosmos to the 2013 Soccer Bowl crown in the team’s first modern NASL campaign. The Cosmos returned to the playoffs in 2014, but were eliminated by the San Antonio Scorpions in the semifinals. The Scorpions went on to win the 2014 title.
The Venezuelan head coach’s extension is the latest move in a busy offseason for the Cosmos, who have added Real Madrid legend Raul and MLS veteran Adam Moffat in recent weeks.
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What do you think of Savarese’s extension? What do you expect from the Cosmos in 2015?
Share your thoughts below.
There is definitely a place for NASL in the US. There are a lot of markets across the US that can support a 2nd division league. Is the TV money going to be there? No. I think MLS has sealed things up with this last deal, and probably shut NASL out of national tv coverage for at least a decade. NASL can still make money with local deals and clever marketing strategies though.
NASL should be an important part of the pyramid, and I think it’s good that they are trying to do their own thing rather than buying into the MLS model.
News Flash – the old NASL model failed.
So too will MLS….it is using the same model.
I find it entertaining how the same MLS fans who hate when Euro snobs make fun of their league are so quick to mock and belittle NASL. Just remember the quality of play in NASL is a lot closer to that of MLS then MLS is to any of the top leagues of Europe.
Maybe it is backlaah from guys who want MLSto fail?
I hope that NASL crushes it. I hope the MLS hating trolls are crying in their half sleepful nights.
Fail? No they want to see it reformed into a league that isn’t an anti-trust and labor restricting club for billionaires, most who don’t even care about soccer and are only involved for development investments, filling stadium dates or securing NFL stadiums, or providing a nice tax shelter for their larger projects, or as an avenue to promote third part interests.
??? are you out for recess from “Occupy Wallstreet”?
fear a cosmo:)
they wil come back 🙂
garber is chewing his nails…….
Not an MLS outlet, so I do NOT approve. (Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go wedge my nose back up Garber’s butt.)
Thank you, Grant
This Savarelli or whatever his name is was once an MLS player, but he has not been loyal
He shall face my wrath!
No fair boss, I wanted to wedge MY nose up your butt. Hey Grant, can I get in there?
Take turns, my minions
*crickets*
Maybe he’s afraid of large crowds.
Maybe he doesn’t like overly Americanized NFL style leagues.
Smart man. When you get suspended from the bench in MLS, nobody will deliver you nachos and hot chocolate as you watch the game from the stands like the Dark Clouds did. Life is better in the NASL.
Probably not….. would have to slum it… settle for a beer and nachos.
Personally, I thought elevating a lower division manager was going to be a stretch and poor choice — like elevating an assistant — and I felt dignifying with press involvement on our part the turndown of even an interview by someone of this caliber makes you look worse, not better. He was asked, he said no, nothing to see her. I half wondered if Cannetti wanted to make his pal look better, though it was at our expense.
After all, I’d say the crazy choice is locking yourself into the minor leagues on purpose when given a choice. The best they can do is fight for minor league titles. The USOC and CCL ideas are pipe dreams. Houston has some presently relevant history and is a top division side wth as good a basic chance at big things as the better MLS teams.
Coyle is not my dream choice but he is a superior selection to Savarese.
What’s the end goal of a team like the Cosmos? Is it to join MLS? If so, is it reasonable to think that there would ever be three soccer teams in New York?
*three MLS teams in New York.
NY soccer will recover but seems to be in a strange place right now with all 3 teams, yeah? MLS probably was the endgame at one time, but they rather overplayed their hand, MLS called them, pulled out a wildcard in NYFC (It’s looking a Joker in this instant, but they’ve certainly got the resources to recover/field a winner. Nothing makes fans forget faster than trophies- esp in NY) Things will sort themselves out … Rumors of RBs corporate losing interest in MLS….. who knows, maybe Cosmos can find investors, buy them out and bring the show to NJ. Much as Cosmos supporters poo-poo MLS, they are severely fenced in/ limited playing in NASL and the burbs indefinitely and that is probably the best hope longterm. Becoming “World Class” via Lamar Hunt/US Open….. not so much.
Interesting comments, thanks for the response.
Why do the Cosmos “need” investors, they are already well capitalized and willing to spend millions to build a SSS on the Queens/Nassau County border. Those are not the intentions of an ownership that “cant’ hang” in a higher capital environment. The reason the Cosmos are not in MLS is pretty simple, the people that run that club feel that the 100 million investment and loss of many typical rights a club owner has in building their team isn’t worth it and better spent building their club with more control and autonomy. Whether that is the right call or not, the future will tell. But they have been doing a good job 18 months into the reboot. They won a title in 2013, went out in extra time in semi’s this year, crushed RB in the open cup, have a good team culture and identity, signed a couple players not typical for NASL and have actually helped NASL become a little more relevant these past couple years. They have good sponsors, a worldwide media company backing them, and wouldn’t be out of place at all as an MLS franchise on the field and off it. I think the end game is simply to be a top level well run and profitable club. Seamus talks about a 10 year plan, we are only 1.5 years into it…im excited to see where it goes. Especially considering the other 2 teams in the market are utter jokes and marketing ploys for a beverage and a EPL team.
But where does the revenue come from? Their attendance is poor and trending down. They have no tv revenue or hope of tv revenue any time soon. And if they can’t get enough fans in the seats, they certainly aren’t selling enough merchandise.
The investment is great, and I understand them wanting more control than MLS offers. But you can’t hemorrhage money indefinitely. At some point they need money coming in, not just going out. I still don’t see how they do that without MLS.
Because it is good standard business practice? If they are to build a stadium, I assure you there will be investors involved. If they were to buy one…. same thing. I think a strong Cosmos team is a good thing and a strong NASL is a good thing too. But it’s second division, always will be… with second division ownership and infrastructure. The clubs/ownership with any ambition at all know this and are looking to move to MLS. I don’t disagree with too much of what you said but none of that changes the main point: “They are severely fenced in/ limited playing in NASL and the burbs.” Big time TV deals and revenue/ major sponsors will not come calling for a team playing in front of 5,000 in backwater towns against scrappy upstarts week in and week out. Not going to happen. There is no getting around it….. other than maybe buying out RBs.
At this point why aren’t the red bull just embracing New Jersey?
From a marketing standpoint i am sure Austria feels the cache involved with being linked to NY (despite haveing zero contacts there) is higher than New Jersey.
This too has been my question. Top tier soccer in the US is MLS for the next…ever. The Cosmos has no doubt the best brand/history current not in MLS.
Could we see an NASL/MLS merger like the very old NFL/AFL merger with 40 teams and a playoff like the NFL? Just a wild thought (lots of problems)