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McCarthy's Musings: Decision Time in Chicago
Chicago coach Denis Hamlett's future with the club hangs in the balance as he awaits a meeting with Fire brass later this week. More changes could be on the way regardless of whether Hamlett stays or leaves, writes Kyle McCarthy.
Nov 18, 2009 5:04:20 AM
By Kyle McCarthy
After twisting in the wind for most of the fall, Chicago coach Denis Hamlett will likely resolve his future with the Fire this week.
Hamlett will meet with unspecified members of the Chicago front office to discuss his position with the club in the next couple of days, according to a Chicago Now report.
“We're supposed to have a meeting in the next couple of days,” Hamlett told Chicago Now on Tuesday. “We spoke yesterday and decided that we want to sit down and have a discussion.”
It's no wonder why Hamlett wants to have a chat with his bosses and vice versa.
Hamlett spent the past few months dodging rumors that the Fire wasn't all that keen on extending his soon-to-expire two-year deal – an unusually truncated contract in a league where three- or four-year coaching pacts are standard fare – and wanted to replace him with then-Chivas USA coach Preki. The scuttlebutt provided rather scant reward for Hamlett after he secured second spot in the Eastern Conference despite a rampant injury plague that claimed many of his key regulars and forced him to start untested players time and again. Hamlett's lengthy tenure in the Windy City (he joined as an assistant to Bob Bradley prior to the inaugural season in 1998) makes the Fire's approach to the tenuous situation even more unseemly.
That being said, the Fire brass has reason to harbor legitimate concerns about Hamlett's stewardship. For a team to built to win now, the Fire hasn't claimed any championships during Hamlett's tenure after losing out on penalty kicks in the SuperLiga final and falling in the Eastern Conference final for the past two seasons. A locker room confrontation with Bakary Soumare earlier this year hastened the Malian defender's move overseas and attracted unfavorable attention to the club, while the Fire's indifferent home form has also fostered some concern in the front office. Add in the fact that Hamlett wasn't selected by the current brass – former Fire general manager John Guppy picked Hamlett to succeed Juan Carlos Osorio as the culmination of a lengthy and circuitous hiring process that included a host of candidates and Houston assistant John Spencer's public rejection of the post – and a series of reasons emerges to end the relationship despite Hamlett's success over the past two seasons and a record that would normally merit a contract extension.
Most signs point to Hamlett and the Fire parting ways in the next few days, particularly if Preki continues to drag his feet in Toronto to wait and see whether the Fire job opens. If Hamlett does end up out of work, it will be just another in a series of changes that will remake Chicago's squad heading into 2010.
(Wednesday afternoon update: The Washington Post and other sources have reported that Preki has finalized a deal with TFC.)
The list of assured and possible veteran departures reads like a comprehensive tally of every experienced presence in the Fire locker room. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Veracruz) and Chris Rolfe (Aalborg) have signed elsewhere, though Blanco could return after the World Cup. Gonzalo Segares is also expected to ink a deal abroad when his contract expires at the end of the year. Wilman Conde has made noises about leaving MLS practically since he arrived in Chicago and may finally seal a move somewhere else during the offseason. Marco Pappa is only on loan from Municipal (Guatemala) and could tempt a foreign buyer. Brandon Prideaux is retiring and joining the University of Washington as an assistant coach. Brian McBride remains on the year-to-year plan and may or may not return. C.J. Brown has pondered retirement over the past few seasons, though he appeared to suggest he may play for another year in a September interview in the Oakland Tribune.
With a coach in peril and a host of players possibly on the way out, Chicago will have to adapt to the changes and retool intelligently sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the Fire will twist in the wind just as uncomfortably as Hamlett did over the past few months.
Around the League
- MLS Commissioner Don Garber issued his State of the League address via conference call on Monday. In a wide-ranging discussion, Garber offered plaudits to Seattle for Sounders FC's early success, warnings about reading too much into the machinations surrounding the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations with the MLS Players Union and carrots for those followers seeking a franchise in Montreal and a home site for MLS Cup in the future.
- Columbus will not re-sign Guillermo Barros Schelotto as a Designated Player, according to The Washington Post. Instead of presenting the veteran playmaker with a similar deal ($650,000 base/$775,000 guaranteed) to return in 2010, the Crew offered a substantial pay cut that has Barros Schelotto, 36, exploring other possible destinations in MLS and in Argentina. Columbus' contract gambit represents a significant wager despite the Argentine's advancing age and balky hamstrings because Barros Schelotto provides the sole bit of magic in a side that often needs his artistry.
- In more pleasant news out of the Buckeye State, Columbus coach Robert Warzycha and his coaching staff will lead a group of Generation adidas players on a tour of South Africa. The 18-man group will play three matches and attend the World Cup draw as part of the trip between Nov. 27 and Dec. 8.
- The travel party (listed by club): Patrick Nyarko (Chicago Fire), Baggio Husidic (Chicago Fire), Ciaran O’Brien (Colorado Rapids), Rob Valentino (Colorado Rapids), Rodney Wallace (D.C. United), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Bruno Guarda (FC Dallas), Eric Avila (FC Dallas), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), Daniel Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Chance Myers (Kansas City Wizards), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City Wizards), Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jeremy Hall (New York Red Bulls), Anthony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Stefan Frei (Toronto FC).
- Programming note: expect dispatches from Seattle starting on Thursday with consistent coverage leading up to MLS Cup on Sunday night.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
After twisting in the wind for most of the fall, Chicago coach Denis Hamlett will likely resolve his future with the Fire this week.
Hamlett will meet with unspecified members of the Chicago front office to discuss his position with the club in the next couple of days, according to a Chicago Now report.
“We're supposed to have a meeting in the next couple of days,” Hamlett told Chicago Now on Tuesday. “We spoke yesterday and decided that we want to sit down and have a discussion.”
It's no wonder why Hamlett wants to have a chat with his bosses and vice versa.
Hamlett spent the past few months dodging rumors that the Fire wasn't all that keen on extending his soon-to-expire two-year deal – an unusually truncated contract in a league where three- or four-year coaching pacts are standard fare – and wanted to replace him with then-Chivas USA coach Preki. The scuttlebutt provided rather scant reward for Hamlett after he secured second spot in the Eastern Conference despite a rampant injury plague that claimed many of his key regulars and forced him to start untested players time and again. Hamlett's lengthy tenure in the Windy City (he joined as an assistant to Bob Bradley prior to the inaugural season in 1998) makes the Fire's approach to the tenuous situation even more unseemly.
That being said, the Fire brass has reason to harbor legitimate concerns about Hamlett's stewardship. For a team to built to win now, the Fire hasn't claimed any championships during Hamlett's tenure after losing out on penalty kicks in the SuperLiga final and falling in the Eastern Conference final for the past two seasons. A locker room confrontation with Bakary Soumare earlier this year hastened the Malian defender's move overseas and attracted unfavorable attention to the club, while the Fire's indifferent home form has also fostered some concern in the front office. Add in the fact that Hamlett wasn't selected by the current brass – former Fire general manager John Guppy picked Hamlett to succeed Juan Carlos Osorio as the culmination of a lengthy and circuitous hiring process that included a host of candidates and Houston assistant John Spencer's public rejection of the post – and a series of reasons emerges to end the relationship despite Hamlett's success over the past two seasons and a record that would normally merit a contract extension.
Most signs point to Hamlett and the Fire parting ways in the next few days, particularly if Preki continues to drag his feet in Toronto to wait and see whether the Fire job opens. If Hamlett does end up out of work, it will be just another in a series of changes that will remake Chicago's squad heading into 2010.
(Wednesday afternoon update: The Washington Post and other sources have reported that Preki has finalized a deal with TFC.)
The list of assured and possible veteran departures reads like a comprehensive tally of every experienced presence in the Fire locker room. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Veracruz) and Chris Rolfe (Aalborg) have signed elsewhere, though Blanco could return after the World Cup. Gonzalo Segares is also expected to ink a deal abroad when his contract expires at the end of the year. Wilman Conde has made noises about leaving MLS practically since he arrived in Chicago and may finally seal a move somewhere else during the offseason. Marco Pappa is only on loan from Municipal (Guatemala) and could tempt a foreign buyer. Brandon Prideaux is retiring and joining the University of Washington as an assistant coach. Brian McBride remains on the year-to-year plan and may or may not return. C.J. Brown has pondered retirement over the past few seasons, though he appeared to suggest he may play for another year in a September interview in the Oakland Tribune.
With a coach in peril and a host of players possibly on the way out, Chicago will have to adapt to the changes and retool intelligently sooner rather than later. Otherwise, the Fire will twist in the wind just as uncomfortably as Hamlett did over the past few months.
Around the League
- MLS Commissioner Don Garber issued his State of the League address via conference call on Monday. In a wide-ranging discussion, Garber offered plaudits to Seattle for Sounders FC's early success, warnings about reading too much into the machinations surrounding the Collective Bargaining Agreement negotiations with the MLS Players Union and carrots for those followers seeking a franchise in Montreal and a home site for MLS Cup in the future.
- Columbus will not re-sign Guillermo Barros Schelotto as a Designated Player, according to The Washington Post. Instead of presenting the veteran playmaker with a similar deal ($650,000 base/$775,000 guaranteed) to return in 2010, the Crew offered a substantial pay cut that has Barros Schelotto, 36, exploring other possible destinations in MLS and in Argentina. Columbus' contract gambit represents a significant wager despite the Argentine's advancing age and balky hamstrings because Barros Schelotto provides the sole bit of magic in a side that often needs his artistry.
- In more pleasant news out of the Buckeye State, Columbus coach Robert Warzycha and his coaching staff will lead a group of Generation adidas players on a tour of South Africa. The 18-man group will play three matches and attend the World Cup draw as part of the trip between Nov. 27 and Dec. 8.
- The travel party (listed by club): Patrick Nyarko (Chicago Fire), Baggio Husidic (Chicago Fire), Ciaran O’Brien (Colorado Rapids), Rob Valentino (Colorado Rapids), Rodney Wallace (D.C. United), Chris Pontius (D.C. United), Brek Shea (FC Dallas), Josh Lambo (FC Dallas), Bruno Guarda (FC Dallas), Eric Avila (FC Dallas), Peri Marosevic (FC Dallas), Daniel Cruz (Houston Dynamo), Chance Myers (Kansas City Wizards), Roger Espinoza (Kansas City Wizards), Kevin Alston (New England Revolution), Jeremy Hall (New York Red Bulls), Anthony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Stefan Frei (Toronto FC).
- Programming note: expect dispatches from Seattle starting on Thursday with consistent coverage leading up to MLS Cup on Sunday night.
Kyle McCarthy writes the Monday MLS Breakdown and frequently writes opinion pieces during the week for Goal.com. He also covers the New England Revolution for the Boston Herald and MLSnet.com. Contact him with your questions or comments at kyle.mccarthy@goal.com and follow him on Twitter by clicking here.
For more on Major League Soccer, visit Goal.com's MLS page.
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