In his one-half season as interim coach, I thought RW did a much better job than the Druler at any time during his tenure. That being said, he had the chance to work under someone who knew what he was doing, and this should only make RW better as head coach.
Someone's continuing to make personnel decisions for the Crew. In today's Dispatch: "The team filed discovery claims on multiple players with the league office Monday." I assume that RW and Bliss are pulling the strings here. Nice to know who we've claimed.
Good to hear that we're not sitting back on our laurels and we're continuing to improve the team. As for "who we've claimed", those discovery claims are almost always kept quiet for most teams in the league.
Bobby will do well as coach, mark my words. Especially with Brian Bliss around to help with player acquisition decisions. We will go deep into the playoffs next year, at least to the EC finals, if not back to the cup, if not winning it all again next year. And we will certainly qualify for the next round of the Champions Cup. Bobby will take all competitions seriously. And here's something we have not discussed... who gets the open assistant's position? I still vote Dunc for player/assistant.
With today's naming of Robert was head coach, it sort of feels like the un-official beginning of the 2009 season. The only huge remaining question is related to Chad Marshall, and the rumor is that he'll re-sign soon (one rumor I very much hope ends up being true). If Chad does come back, gotta say, I'll go into 2009 pretty damned confident in this club's capacity to do extremely well next season. Robert knows these guys, they know him, and player leadership seems to respect him already. He inherits a team brimming over with chemistry, one with a great mix of youth and experience, league MVP, defender of the year (God willing), and basically an entire roster that knows what it takes to win. What's there not to like?