Several Major League Soccer teams are nearly ready to name their head coaches.
The resignation of Ron Newman from his position as head coach of the CISL Arizona Sandsharks clears him to accept the MLS job in Kansas City, and an MLS source has confirmed that ex-San Jose Earthquake Tony Simoes is the leading candidate for the MLS head coaching post in San Jose. He is also a possibility for Tampa Bay.
Simoes is Portugal’s assistant national team coach and also coaches the nation’s women’s team. If he declines the San Jose job, the likely choice is Laurie Calloway, who played for the NASL Earthquakes from 1974 to 1979, and coached the San Francisco Bay Blackhawks to the APSL title in 1991.
Former Brazilian internationals Carlos Alberto and Paulo Roberto Falcao, and Englishmen Phil Neal and Trevor Francis are among the foreigners being considered.
Ex-Cosmos star Carlos Alberto resigned after serving as head coach of Nigeria’s national team for about two months. Eddie Firmani, the former NASL coach, and Carlos Alberto are two foreign coaches being considered by the New York/New Jersey team. Bob Bradley, the head coach at Princeton University, appears to be the leading candidate for the New York/New Jersey job if an American is picked.
Falcao’s last job as head coach of Japan’s national team ended last year. He also had a brief spell as Brazil’s national team coach.
The list of possible college and U.S. Soccer candidates has been clouded by the firing of Olympic coach Timo Liekoski. He is likely to be replaced by either Clive Charles or Bruce Arena, both of whom have been contacted by MLS teams.
John Kowalski and Glenn Myernick, who have coached national youth teams in the past two years, are among the U.S. Soccer staff coaches in contention for MLS jobs.
MLS team names, logos and uniforms are scheduled to be unveiled at a press conference Oct. 17. One or two teams may be ready to name their coaches at about the same time.
by Soccer America Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney