The on-going coaching search for next year’s expansion club Seattle Sounders FC continues today with the news of their approach of New England assistant Paul Mariner. The Boston Globe had this little blurb in their write-up after last night’s game:

Mariner told the Arizona Republic recently he is interested in the position.

Sounders FC is an MLS expansion team set to play next season. Mariner also told the Arizona Republic he interviewed for the head job with the Chicago Fire earlier this year.

“If [becoming an MLS head coach] doesn’t happen, I’ll probably stay with [Steve Nicol], and then move on and work in Asia in media and coach,” Mariner told the newspaper.

Mariner joins the rumors of Sigi Schmid and current Seattle Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer for the expansion club’s opening. I have also heard they were interested in former Colorado head coach Fernando Clavijo.

So on one hand you have Schmetzer and the other now Mariner. I think either one is a perfect fit for the club. Mariner is a head coach in the waiting for the most part. He’s been waiting on the right situation and an expansion club is just that I believe. If he doesn’t take this job in Seattle I look for him to wait it out until one of the 2011 expansion clubs. For some reason I just don’t see him going to Philadelphia.

My feels are still that Schmetzer will stay on board with the club as it’s coach once they move into the big league.

This will sort of go down like the Dallas coaching search from earlier in the year. Only difference will be the owners of the LA Galaxy are probably a bit clueless about who exactly they want to bring in to coach their club, and FC Dallas knew who they wanted from day one (or five years ago depending on how you look at it).

Lots of names will float out there and with 11 games left on the menu for the Galaxy I am beginning to wonder if the Galaxy will just hold on to interim coach Cobi Jones for the rest of the year. Would it really work out to bring in a coach this late in the year to take over? I think the smart answer is no. But with the way AEG wants to bring in the money I have a feeling they may push hard for a quick change here in the coming week. Even Jones has said he has the club for the next game and that’s all he’s been told about the timetable here.

Though if they do the smart thing and give Jones the time for the rest of the year, that will allow themselves to get the coach they all want for this club.

SO who exactly will be on that short list of coaches that the Galaxy could be looking at here? Continue Reading…