Sure, this is jumping the gun a little bit. But we have time to dream and we aren't setting or steering any policy with a little bit of healthy speculation. Back on the other thread, Peter Vermes was mentioned as a possible coaching prospect. Does he currently have any head coaching experience? Other guys I have thought of a possible candidates. Dave Dir - Coached the Burn for a couple of years, but they never seemed to get it together with him there. Never missed the playoffs, then again, never made the MLS Cup final (and still haven't right, well I guess we got one on them...) Didn't they win the Open Cup with him though? Anyhow, I thought he might be a good choice as he coached the Foxes during their heyday so he certainly has Colorado ties. I don't know, I'm not big on coaching talent. I just don't know enough about the A-league, assistant coaches in MLS, etc... But, throw out some names, let's see who we have to choose from and if any of these people are on the Rapids radar (well, that is if the radar is even operating, and if it isn't, we're in more serious trouble than I thought...)
Steve Sampson would be an easy transition.....him and Hanki are so much alike. Rizo at central midfield........har har
I forgot Trittschuh and Bravo, although since they're a part of the coaching staff right now, it's hard to say if they should stay or go.
Coach Greenie, he knows about apostrophes although he should run a spell checker before posting to his website. ;-)
Bravo? OK it's a few games before they'd make a change, but interesting speculation. All coaches are hired to be fired. Bravo is the team's leading scorer..... Steve Trittschuh, captain in the first year or so, would be a interesting choice,too, as I really liked his game. Too bad I don't have any sense of these guys as head coaches. Even the Balboa/Vermes etc. ideas are OK as I like getting an ex-Rapid who wants to carry the torch into the future. I'd love to see Spencer as a coach in a few years, eh? Otherwise, we've got a bunch or re-run hacks, ugh. RLH
Ok Ok Ok, you guys don't have to yell or kick me.........I'll coach/manage the team. My first move is to bring in RapidMan at the attack position. He squirts the keeper in the eyes with the water gun, blinding him temporarily, and then any shot on goal can go in. It's a flawless plan, it's brillant in fact!!!!! On the serious side. Give Hanki a few more matches to see what happens. It's still very early in the season.
On the serious side. Give Hanki a few more matches to see what happens. It's still very early in the season. Why!?! Haven't we given him 2+ years and what does he have to show for it? Were the Mutiny underacheivers? Yes. Are we going forward? No. The time has come. Get rid of him.
"On the serious side. Give Hanki a few more matches to see what happens. It's still very early in the season." Why!?! Haven't we given him 2+ years and what does he have to show for it? Were the Mutiny underacheivers? Yes. Are we going forward? No. The time has come. Get rid of him. [/B][/QUOTE]
I agree! He is obviously bringing issues to the players and not getting their best performance from them on the field. A manager should lead, not destroy through tinkering. I'd like to see a successful A-league manager brought up but I can't name one since I have never read about any.
If you're looking for former players, Tim Martin has been coaching high school and college soccer for several years now. Also, I doubt Dominic Kinnear would leave SJ, but I bet he'd be a lot like Frank Yallop. Paul Holocher (sp?) is coaching at UC Santa Cruz. If you want exciting attacking soccer, give Octavio Zambrano a call. Of course your defense might leak like a sieve.....
That's actually a pretty good suggestion, I'd love to see Paul Holocher get involved in MLS coaching, especially with the Rapids. That is, if I knew who the hell he was.
I agree. Unless there is some great unknown talent that Counce has discovered, Dir is a very solid pick. Dir understands tactics, formations, and how MLS works. I think he could turn this group of players into consistent winners.
One of the biggest digs against Dir is that a large number of his players in Dallas couldn't stand him. That's beginning to look like our problem now. Note also that he too was relieved of duty in large part because he couldn't take the Burn to the championship level. I think if the Rapids are going to look for a replacement for Hankinson in the long term -- as in someone that truly is capable of making the team a contender (which is what Counce promised the fans we'd get when he fired mooch) -- they need to set their sights higher than a former MLS coach who's currently out of work or a former player with little coaching experience. The tough part is there simply aren't too many domestic coaches that have this kind of experience, and foreign coaches will not be used to a system where they have to do everything (scout talent, technical training, and personnel management). The Metros grabbing Bradley is a perfect example of the knid of move the Rapids need to make if they're going to be serious about their coaching. I'm not aware of what the A-League coaches pool looks like, but if there's a guy with 5+ years of head coaching experience who's run a consistently competitive A-League side (and whose philosophy will work with the current roster), then perhaps that's a strong candidate to dangle a carrot in front. Either that or convince Arena to step down from the national team to coach our lot.
Didn't that happen after a few years at Dallas? I think for this year it might not be a problem. Also, his unemployment may have humbled him a bit. The only other guy that springs to mind for me is Ralph Perez, the assistant coach at LA. He's been an assistant coach in MLS for 7 years now and has been learning from Sigi Schmid for several years. He comes from a winning orginization and may be the proper winning attitude. Maybe he's ready to step up to Head coach. http://www.lagalaxy.com/team/coaching.php He's got a very good resume.
I was going to keep quiet, but the guy is Bob Lilley. Montreal Impact current head coach, before that Hershey Wildcats. I don't know where he was before that. The guy wins everywhere. Players would run through walls for him. -- Chris Ramsey with Charleston Battery looks good as well. == Pat Ercoli with Rochester, but he may wait for that to happen. ---- Dennis Hamlet - Chicago assistant. -- I've heard some knocks on Perez, which is why I think he doesn't have a job now. -- Colin Clarke - Burn Asst. --- that looks like some interesting candidates.
He's younger than Robbie Robson at Newcastle, but no spring chicken. I think he could have coached Tampa Bay before Hankinson but turned the job down. The GM there at that time had been with the Thunder. http://www.mnthunder.com/bios/buzz_lagos.asp
What about Lorne Donaldson? I've never heard a bad thing about him from any player that's played under him, professional or otherwise. He's really close with a number of players in the league, and he has a great reputation with people who followed the Foxes. He's coached many players and retained great relationships with them: Joey DiGiamarino, Ross Paule, Wolde Harris, Chris Martinez, and Robin Fraser, among many others. I'm surprised to see that nobody has mentioned him yet. He was the assistant coach last year for the Rapids, and the players seemed to really enjoy themselves on the field. Colorado Foxes Player, 1990 Colorado Foxes Assistant coach, 1991-1993 Colorado Foxes Head Coach, 1994-1997 A-League Coach of the Year, 1996 Jamaica National Team, 1979-1980 Jamaica Premier League, 1976-1980 Metro State College- Colorado, 1980-1984- Degree in Sports Medicine Metro Sports Hall of Fame Inductee, 1995 Denver Kickers coach and player- National Championship, 1985 and 1994 Director of DCSA USSF "A" License Brazilian Coaching License So why not Donaldson as the new head coach of the Rapids?
Interesting list of players you choose, all of them ex-Rapids with the exception of Fraser. I would have suggested Lorne, however he too has left the team and the league, rather than stick with the Rapids or another MLS club. I think he's too tied in with youth soccer in Colorado these days to be a realistic candidate. For an interim replacement, I think it needs to be someone that is familiar with the team as it stands now. We don't need someone coming in from the outside who needs to spend their own time evaluating players. Hell, Hankinson has had two years with this team and he's still not done evaluating his players. For a long-term replacement, I really think the Rapids need a new direction, someone fresh that doesn't carry any coaching history of the team with them. For a long time I'd always thought Rene Miramontes might be a good choice, at least in the vein of giving him a shot for a year and seeing how he does. He always struck me as having a very different attitude towards players and coaching than Mooch did, but as his assistant never really expressed dissent or disagreement. Still, even though Henderson is the only player with Mooch Memories, one would have to wonder if there would be any carryover from those turbulent times.