They actually hired Yallop after the first person the offered the job to turned it down to take the Burn job.... Mike Jeffries. Sounds to me like the odds just changed on who the next head coach will be... Now neck and neck are Schellus (Clark Hunt's former coach at SMU) and Dominic Kinnear (ast to Yallop)
I was looking through Kinnear's bio and I'm a bit concerned that he's apparently never had any head coaching experience. http://www.sjearthquakes.com/the_team/dominickinnear.htm Kinnear certainly had a pretty successful playing career: 5 years in MLS, 56 caps for the USMNT, etc., but his coaching experience is just 3 years as a San Jose assistant. Colin Clarke, on the other hand, had a playing career as good (or better) than Kinnear's: 12 years in English football including stints with Portsmouth, Southampton, and QPR; 38 caps for Northern Ireland, etc. But Clarke has more coaching experience than Kinnear: 3 years as a Burn assistant and 3 years as a head coach in the A-League (54-27-3 record). Now of course a short bio doesn't tell the whole story -- does Kinnear look like a Bob Bradley in the making when he's involved in Earthquake practices? Can the Burn's collapse this season be blamed on Clarke in addition to Jeffries? -- but at least at first glance, Clarke seems to have stronger credentials than Kinnear.
Thanks Dustin and all. I feel much better now about the future of this team. Now lets go beat the crap out of the Phire.
Interestingly enough, Yallop had the exact same resume as Kinnear does now when he was hired in SJ. The difference is that Yallop was an assistant coach for two weak teams (at the time) in Tampa Bay and DC. Kinnear has only known success in his coaching career. Quake fans are REALLY hoping that Kinnear doesn't get hired away. Yallop may land the Canadian National Team gig and we want Kinnear to be the successor. Dominic looks like a player's coach. He is more vocal and passonate then Yallop... The story I heard regarding Yallop's hiring went like this: Frank was one of the last guys to get interviewed. Instead of talking about what a great coach he would be (like everyone else who had been interviewed did) he showed them his "plan" to resurrect the team. He was very detailed in who should stay and who should go. He had a draft strategy in place. He explained why he'd play a 4-4-2 and how it would be effective in MLS. Yallop showed them how SJ would be winners, not how he would be a genuis. His approach was so unique, he got a second interview and ultimately the job...
I think he meant to say that soccer fans, regardless of ethnicity, will go to games to see great players and a great team. It's party true, it's partly not. My counterpoint is that if the Burn got into the Confut Champions League and kicked some ass, then his statement might come true. Meanwhile, his staff needs an hispanic marketing director, and I hope he realizes that.