Swedish coach Hans Backe takes over a tall task of coaching the New York Red Bulls. (Getty Images)

After weeks of waiting for the New York Red Bulls to hire a coach today they have announced the hiring of 57-year-old Swedish coach Hans Backe. He most recently worked as head coach of English League two side Notts County, a job he quit after just seven weeks.

Richie Williams and Des McAlennen will remain with the Red Bulls as assistant coaches.

Backe was a long-time confidant to Sven-Goran Eriksson. He worked closely with Eriksson on multiple occasions, including with Manchester City and as an assistant coach with Mexico during Eriksson’s failed time as manager there.

The Swede takes over a club that was beyond pathetic in 2009. Throw in the fact that he has no knowledge of MLS and this could be a bad move once again by this club. Let’s not forget that the man who hired him, Eric Soler has just a little more knowledge about the league than Backe does here.

The club is keeping Williams which should help out a bit but I can’t say this move is a good one yet.

Seeing how Backe’s time with Notts County ended, I kind of think this could go down the same path. I wouldn’t be shocked to see Williams take over as manager by the middle of the season here if things go bad once again in New York.

What do you make of this hire? Backe has a good resume but that doesn’t always do well in MLS.

Curt Onalfo is set to become DC's next manager. (Brian Stevens, WVH Photo Correspondent)

In a way one could say DC United is settling for Curt Onalfo as their next head coach. They’ve looked high and low but in the end it seems like Onalfo is their guy.

A couple reports suggest that DC will make the change as early as today. This decision comes just a couple weeks shy of Akron head coach Caleb Porter turning down the job to stay with the Zips on the college level. (EDIT: DC announces the hiring of Onalfo as their head coach.)

This should be the first of a lot of changes this offseason for DC. Onalfo will be set to guide a DC club that has underachieved for two seasons in a row, or four if you count the disappointing Supporter’s Shield winning seasons that didn’t yield a MLS Cup birth. The club is also going to have to make some big decisions on players too this winter. Ben Olsen just retired and forward Luciano Emilio could be set to leave MLS as well.

But thankfully for the Black-and-Red the talent is there with young stars like Chris Pontius and Rodney Wallace. If they have yet another solid draft next month they could be set to contend once again in the eastern conference.

Is Onalfo the right man for the job after getting canned in KC after two and a half seasons? Even with his ties to DC from the late late 90s I do question the move. I do see it as a settling move since there were no other coaches out there that wanted this position. DC does have a long way to return to it’s glory days if you ask me and I’m not sure if Onalfo is the right guy for that task. His KC clubs for some reason never progressed into anything special and typically stayed around .500% each year.

With Onalfo off the market and DC out of the coaching search race it now leaves both New York and Chicago left to find a manager here.

What do you all make of this hire by DC? Good move or are they just settling for someone here?

I first read this report earlier this morning and thought the idea was a good one. Goal.com is reporting that former US Men’s National team star Eric Wynalda is in discussions with the Chicago Fire about their head coach opening.

Fire technical director Frank Klopas flew down to the LA area recently to meet with Wynalda. Klopas has interviewed several candidates in the search for Denis Hamlett’s replacement. Two successive appearances in the Western Conference final wasn’t enough to save Hamlett’s job, as locker room disturbances and a lack of titles brought an end to his two year stint as the Fire head coach.

Now some don’t like Wynalda, some hate him and I’m sure there are few out there that do love him. I really have no issue with him and the things he’s said over the years on ESPN and now on FSC.

He may not have the coaching experience but in a way I kind of think this is the shot in the arm the Fire need here. They’ve been good for the last few years but haven’t gone to that next level. With a guy like Wynalda leading the way it could work out. In a way I’d kind of like to see this happen.

DC's Kevin Payne is looking high and low for a new coach.

Some more news has come out today about DC United’s on-going coaching search to replace Tom Soehn. Yesterday we mentioned that Richie Williams is out of the running but a few more names have emerged thanks to Steve Goff’s latest report this afternoon. One name isn’t shocking at all if you follow the college game here in the States.

Akron head coach Caleb Porter is said to be one of the top candidates for DC’s head coach spot. Porter is a very good coach that has taken his Zips on an impressive run over the last few years going 68-11-7 record in four seasons, including 23-0 and a College Cup berth this year. As good as Porter has been in Akron one has to wonder will a 34-year old college coach that has very little MLS experience (played for both San Jose and Tampa) be a good fit for a big time club like DC? Continue Reading…

This may come to be a bit of a surprise to most that follow DC United. According to Steve Goff the club has removed interim New York manager Richie Williams from their shortlist of coaches that they are looking to hire.

Goff says the club is looking to make a hire this week and is looking currently at former Kansas City manager Curt Onalfo, some college coaches and some from overseas.

If you ask me this is quite a shocking development. For months I’ve been under the impression that Williams was the guy for DC. I wonder what changed along the way or if Williams himself decided not to head to DC. My guy feeling is if Onalfo isn’t the guy then DC turns to a college coach here.

Chivas USA is set to name a new head coach tomorrow afternoon at the Home Depot Center and according to both SBI and Steve Goff that man will be Martin Vasquez.

Vasquez apparently beat out former LA Galaxy and USMNT head coach Steve Sampson for the gig. Obviously his roots were a big factor for this hire, not to mention his background with clubs in Mexico and with Bayern Munich in Germany helped him out.

He has spent time as an assistant coach for Sigi Schmid in Los Angeles and with Bob Bradley at Chivas USA. This is Vasquez’s first professional head coaching position.

With the Chivas USA out of the coaching search game, Chicago, DC and New York are still without a head. According to reports all three are expected to be filled in the next two weeks.

Preki is headed north to Toronto FC. (Getty Images)

Former Chivas USA head coach Preki will be introduced as Toronto FC’s fourth head coach.

Preki led Chivas USA to the playoffs in all three seasons he was head coach, but he will be looking to improve on three first round exits.

With Preki in town you have to believe the Toronto roster may get a little makeover in the winter months. We all know about the history between him and former league MVP Amado Guevara during their time together with Chivas. But he does come in at a time when talent is very good in the midfield with guys like Dwayne De Rosario, Sam Cronin, and DP Julian de Guzman are on the roster.

While I was hoping Preki would take up shop with Bob Bradley and the national team I do think this will be a good fit for him as there is already more talent there in Toronto than when he got started with Chivas. He’s the tough coach this team needs and if he can work that defense into shape like he did with Chivas this year then I have to think Toronto will turn into a playoff team next season.

Now that Toronto is off the coaching search it leaves a coupe clubs without a manager still. New York, DC and Chivas USA all still have manager questions going into next week’s expansion draft. From the sound of things I doubt any of those will make a decision before next week.

What do you all make of Toronto snatching up Preki as their next coach? Wish they had gone a different direction or is he the right fit?