Somehow this man still has a job. (Getty Images)

In light of Kansas City dismissing manager Curt Onalfo yesterday evening, I figured it was high time I updated my coaching hot seat look once again. Funny thing was yesterday I was already set to work on this and got caught up in something else, by the time I went back into it last night the news came down about Onalfo.

And yes, if you are wondering he was going to be on the list.

But looking at the rest of the sack race here I figure it is easier to break things up into a couple different groups. See we all figure coaches with clubs near the bottom of the table need sacked but in the case of a couple teams, that just won’t happen, at least not this season. In other cases there are a couple coaches that should feel some heat based on how their clubs are doing and based on pre-season expectations placed on them. Lastly, there is a group that just needs to go and saying that it really could be just a matter of time.

As always if you think I am missing on any coach below or think I need to add another to a certain group, feel free to post below. Continue Reading…

Chivas keeps rolling...but for how long? (Getty Images)

Looking back on this past week and even a season as a whole up until now there are plenty of questions surrounding these clubs. I think we are seeing who is contending this season, who is pretending and who is already playing themselves out of contention.

I’ve been jotting down a few notes recently about a few clubs and how they are playing. Some are coaching questions as we move into the first edition of the coaching hot seat (coming up soon I promise), and other random thoughts I’ve had so far this year. You all may be able to answer some and if not they could be good topics of discussion.

So let’s get to it shall we?

Just How Good Is Chivas USA?

This may be one of the biggest questions on everyone’s mind right now. Seven games in and this club has 16 points are the best club in the league. Or are they? Continue Reading…

A bit of a shock to some surrounding the club but today we’ve learned that DC manager Tom Soehn will return in 2009 as the club’s manager. Steven Goff is reporting that his sources have learned that the club is going to exercise his option for next season.

I felt Soehn was as good as gone after not making the playoffs this year but the club is doing a smart thing in letting him stay on to fix the mess that was started this past year. In all fairness he had a slew of injuries to deal with and a bunch of poor roster moves made by the club’s management.

At the end of the day stability is what counts in this league and DC is hoping they can get back to their stable winning ways with Soehn. They have a lot of work to do but Soehn is still a capable guy to do it in my book. First of all they need to get healthy and get some good defenders for them to move on here into 2009.

What do you all make of this news? Is DC doing the right thing in keeping him on board for another year or will they regret not getting rid of him sooner?

There really is no need to brag about getting something as right as saying a coach should be fired at anytime in the year. I know other sites will say they called it and what not but I like everyone else knew Fernando Clavijo’s time in Colorado was about two years too long.

So with that said it is time to figure out who is next in line or who is getting a warmer seat.

A little recap though for those keeping score at home. Below are the three coaches that have either been fired or have “resigned” on their own terms.

Fernando Clavijo, Colorado Rapids: Saw it coming from day one of LAST year. Finally happened though it probably wasn’t the way we all expected it to go down.

Ruud Gullit, LA Galaxy: I had him on the hot seat for the majority of the season, even during their decent spell of games that they won earlier in the year. While I didn’t expect him to get the boot this year the writing on the wall was pretty clear about it happening.

Steve Morrow, FC Dallas: Just as I start to mention him on the hot seat he gets canned this year. I previously mentioned at the start of the season that he would feel the heat and be in the discussion to get the boot if his club didn’t play well. Yeah, we all know how that one went.

So who’s next here? I’m closing the poll on the side of the page about this because of Clavijo’s resignation, most of you felt that it was his time to go as well but a few of you have picked on the other candidates that I provided.

Some of you have been pointing out to me about the top three now on the site and have asked why I put the three that I have. Simple, I will tell you as I always do. Pretty much this list is more geared towards this fall and winter. I highly doubt any more coaches will get the boot during this season but it is never too early to look ahead at these types of things. Continue Reading…

Fernando Clavijo is resigning as coach of the Rapids effective immediately, according to the Denver Post this morning. No real shocker here as Clavijo left the club earlier last week to be with his family in his native Uruguay. He mentions that he wants to help the club but needs to be with his family right now.

“A lot of things happened through the year that I was not happy with in many ways, but I think because of family now I’ve decided it’s the right time to put all my energy into my family and recharged my batters and myself, too,” Clavijo said.

Like I said last week, I believed it was one of those things were he was getting out before he was outed in the offseason. The front office decided not to do anything to him during the year but you can tell they gave him little confidence that he would be returning next season as the head coach of the Rapids.

Even though we all know he was going to get the boot at the end of the year it is almost always better to see someone leave on their own power.

Clavijo said he will inform the team of his decision and endorse assistant coach Gary Smith, who lead the team to a 2-1 victory over the Kansas City last weekend. My bet is Smith will carry out the duties for the rest of the season and Colorado will push heavy for Houston assistant John Spencer in the offseason.

Are you shocked at all to see Clavijo stepping down right now? What does this mean for the Rapids?

Not even 24 hours after a dreaded vote of confidence, Colorado Rapids head coach Fernando Clavijo has left the club to return to his native Uruguay today to attend to a family medical emergency.

According to reports he will not be back in time for the club’s weekend match with Kansas City, but he did not rule it out completely.

The situation comes at a time when speculation is surrounding his future with the club. His contract runs through this season. Currently the Rapids haven’t won a game since their July 4th blowout against New York. At 6-10-3 on the year, the Rapids are the second worst club in the league.

Its one of those odd things really, he knows his time is limited with the club right now. So does he go ahead and just bolt town before he gets the pink slip? We will have to watch and see but something like this always screams that the person is leaving on their own terms and not at the hands of some suit in the front office. Either way it doesn’t sound too good for this club right now.

What do you make of this news? Is he as good as gone here or is this just a thing to fuel the presses?

It is possible that in the coming days we could see another coaching change in Major League Soccer. This time it will be one that has been long over due in the minds of many around the league. According to Steve Goff, the Colorado Rapids are set to fire Fernando Clavijo and promote assistant Gary Smith.

Its about time right?

Yeah, considering the Rapids have been pretty terrible in recent weeks (1-5-3 in their last nine). Plus Clavijo’s all-time mark with the Rapids now stands at 39-49-24. Those aren’t exactly numbers that he promised when he started with the club. I think I recall him even saying by year three they would be a MLS Cup contender or something to that effect.

What happened in year three? The Rapids missed the playoffs.

This move could be coming in a matter of days so I will keep you up to date on what I hear.