This is a rather odd time to fire someone but according to various reports (Soccer Insider), the New York Red Bulls have fired two assistant coaches today, including once interm head coach Richie Williams.

Both Williams and Des McAleenan were sent packing today. Some reports according to Steve Goff cite repeated rules violations, while another report cites punctuality.

The firing of Williams is more surprising here as he’s always been listed as a top assistant in Major League Soccer and has been with the club for 11 years. My gut feeling is the club will cite some lame excuse here for these two rather than this being a real big deal. You have to think that Williams will land someone fairly soon as he was in line for many head coaching positions. If I’m D.C. United or the LA Galaxy, I’m making room for him right now on the coaching staff, even if it is just as water boy.

As for what this means for the Red Bulls, who are left with just one assistant coach at the moment, I see this as a house clearing move by Hans Backe and Erik Solar. I don’t know if there was any in-house riff between them all but my first thought was this was a move for Backe to get more of the type of assistants in house that he wants. Williams was placed there when he took over so it seems to me that this is just a move to get someone else in.

I see this as a step back for the Red Bulls though, as Williams was someone players got behind. We’ll know soon enough whether or not this will make any impact on the club or not. The club will address the issue this evening according to the report.

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.

Juan Carlos Osorio didn't help matters in New York. (Getty Images)

Not much was good in 2009 for the New York Red Bulls. Fresh off a trip to the MLS Cup in 2008 many thought this could be a break out season for the club. Instead the season got started with a bang in a bad way by losing to an expansion club on opening day 3-0 in Seattle. The Red Bulls failed to get a win until the middle of April and by the time summer had rolled around the club had already lost seven games out of 12 regular season matches.

The times the Red Bulls did win was at home, all five wins came at home against clubs that had terrible road records on the year like Dallas, Real Salt Lake, San Jose and Toronto. Their only good win of the year came at home against the Columbus Crew on a day that saw the club reach it’s only winning streak of the season.

You could blame a lot of the season on poor coaching by Juan Carlos Osorio early on. Osorio changed the line-ups with this club more than most of us change clothes in a week. It seemed as though every time we turned around there was a different person in the starting lineup for Osorio. Throw that in with the fact that Osorio and Jeff Agoos made terrible calls on player pickups and the Red Bulls got to where they are at today.

When Osorio stepped down Richie Williams stepped in for the interim role. Not much changed but the club did win more games under Williams than Osorio. Still the club never won a road game all season and their winless streak on the road is growing still to this date.

So with the theme that I plan on using with all MLS clubs this year when I review their season I plan on asking a couple questions to sum things up. What went right? What went wrong? And what is next?

What Went Right In 2009?
Not much went right in 2009 but the five games that were won were done in mostly big ways when the offense actually came alive and was mostly healthy. Big results like 5-0 over Toronto on the season finale, 4-1 over San Jose, or even the 2-0 win over RSL. One could say the Red Bulls did draw six games on the year and while that isn’t bad it isn’t great either. Four of their draws did come before the All-Star break and only one was a shutout.

What Went Wrong In 2009?
Just about everything. Moves that were made never panned out to anything. Key players were hurt nearly all season like Juan Pablo Angel. The defense was by far the worst the league has seen in a couple years. You can’t have a -20 goal differential on the season and consider it good. It was certainly a season that Red Bull fans will want to forget and forget quickly.

What’s Next?
For starters finding a coach that actually understands the league setup. New York has had an issue with stability in coaching over the years and that has caused them to be the mess that they are today. Is Richie Williams the right guy for the club? Possibly but I see him going to DC instead. After finding a coach they need to gut this team. If anything this club needs to be a bit more like LA by getting the right mix of young and old on this roster. They’ve signed too many old guys that basically come here and contribute nothing. And they get too many young guys that are overrated and produce nothing. Rebuilding is going to be rough for a club that will want to do a lot for their move to Red Bull Arena. I have no doubt we will see plenty of money spent this winter by this club but it is only a matter of time before we see how well that money was actually spent.

Chester Stadium currently under construction. (Photo via Philadelphia Union)

Lots of attention lately has been given to the start of next season for each club. It mainly seems to boil down to two clubs that are causing the league to redo the start of the season schedule every other day.

Both Toronto and 2010 expansion club Philadelphia seem to have their own issues going on. Philly is trying to figure out where to play their first game (or two) while their new stadium is finished getting built. Toronto on the other hand is looking at the very likely chance of finally getting a grass field at BMO Field.

Yes grass. Something nearly every fan, player, writer, etc. has called for since BMO Field opened in 2007.

According to Soccer America, the new grass field is set to be voted on by the city of Toronto very soon which is causing the league to hold off plans of announcing their First Kick schedule for next year.

Back to Philly though and their opening slate for their first season. It could end up being a thing just like Toronto a couple years ago where they begin their season (reportedly in Seattle) on the road for a couple games until their new stadium in Chester is complete. That should also help the club to not have to play in a NFL stadium for a game or two.

Putting Philly on the road for a game or three wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if you ask me. Remember nearly all previous SSS owners had to begin their first seasons in their new stadiums on the road. Columbus was on the road for seven straight in 1999, LA was on the road for eight in 2003 and I believe Chicago saw nine road games in a row while Toyota Park was getting its final touches done a couple seasons ago.

Williams Proving He Deserves A Real Job

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Most of you know by now that I am a big Richie Williams supporter. And you all know by now that New York more than likely will drop the ball yet again on hiring a good coach by not removing the interim tag from Williams’ title at the end of the season. Sure you could say that New York is currently playing the role of spoiler but they are also playing for Williams’ future…and not just potentially with New York.

I think a decent run and possible an actual result on the road by the Red Bulls in three out of the last four games left for the Red Bulls could help Williams land a job somewhere in MLS. There are still a couple coaches on hot seats at the moment and we could see a change or two at the end of the year. Williams should definitely be at the top of most club’s lists if there are changes made.

Something tells me DC could be in line to hire their former midfielder.

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Refs Stinking Up Place In MLS

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A lot of talk this morning was on this piece by Ives. All I can say is what took him so long to finally come out and say how bad the refs really are in MLS? I don’t exactly read his stuff every day and he may have said something similar before but I don’t believe a full post was done on the matter. Still worth a read if you haven’t already. We’ve had far too many head scratches this seasons by officials who seems to want to take the game in their hands and not let the players just play.

Now I’m not saying Richie Williams should be the next New York coach, because let’s face it the Red Bulls front office brass aren’t smart enough to hire him for the full-time gig anyways. They didn’t do it before when they took over a few years ago and they won’t do it now.

Sad too since Williams should be a head coach in this league and will eventually get his chance to someday soon.

But you want some fun perspective about Williams? He is the club’s best coach in the history of the club. I’m not even kidding. Brad Lewis wrote this yesterday about William’s return to the main seat and the proof is how they say in the pudding:

Williams coached the team to a 4-3-2 record in all competitions after Mo Johnston got sacked in 2006, including 3-3-2 in eight league games. It’s a sad indictment of this woebegone club that now, with 14 points in his nine league games, that’s statistically the most successful tenure ever as coach. No, seriously.

Only Carlos Queiroz (34 in 24 for 1.42 ppg) and go-for-broke Octavio Zambrano (who eschewed ties and amassed 131 points in 85 games for 1.54 ppg) come close. With today’s win, Williams jumped up to 1.55 ppg and leapfrogged both of them by getting this dysfunctional and dispirited team to band together and work for each other for 90 minutes.

I love when things are like that for a club that just can’t seem to figure it out. The answer is right in front of them and yet they still will screw the next coaching hire up.

More on the Red Bulls Future

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SBI got a big long interview with Red Bull front-man Erik Stover about the state of things surrounding the club. A lot of usual management speak out of Stover here. But still worth a read to see what he has to say about the club’s future going forward here. All I can say it is a long and bumpy road ahead for this club.

Houston Stadium Getting Closer

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There has been a lot of money and tax hold up in the Houston Dynamo stadium situation but it is getting closer and closer here. The Houston Chronicle says the deal is in the home stretch and that can only mean we are closer to seeing some shovels in the ground.

Thornton’s 2009 Successes

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Zach Thornton’s successes this season have been well documented and talked about on here and other places this season. Hard to believe Thornton has eight shutouts this season! If you had told me at the start of the season that he would have done that I would have thought you were crazy!

I have to say thought he is easily on the fast track for Comeback Player of the Year and possibly Goalkeeper of the Year this season.

Jozy Experiment Going Well So Far

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Not a bad start to his EPL life for Jozy Alitdore. He comes in late in the game for Hull and quickly helps his club to a game-winning goal. I like this Big Soccer post because of the fun Twitter comments from Jozy. Its a decent read.