The Miami Fusion announced Ray Hudson as interim head coach today. Following are quotes from today’s news conference plus additional quotes from Fusion players. Fusion VP and General Manager Doug Hamilton “I’m real excited to announce that Ray Hudson is joining us, and expanding his role to be the interim coach of the Fusion. Ray is intimately familiar with the organization, the players, and our expectations and he is somebody we feel that during this time can serve us well. Additionally, we are going to have Eric Eichmann a member of the 1990 World Cup team and former MLS player, local resident, help us and help Ray specifically as an assistant coach during this transition. We thank them both in advance. “The obvious point here is that a change was needed for us, the environment needed to change. The responsibility doesn’t fall solely on the coaching staff for where we are presently, it’s a responsibility that as an organization we all share a bit … the players, management, ownership, we’re all responsible for where we are currently, and we are all responsible for where we want this organization to go.” On the search for a permanent head coach “The search has begun, and it is one that we will do in house. We will seek guidance from the league, as it would be poor business for us not to use their resources if they know of someone who would be available, but it will be an internal search for the most part. Ray is intimately involved with this organization from top to bottom and he knows the players as well as anybody. He’s been here since the inception, he knows the expectations that we have of this team, and I think he’s got the ability to communicate that to them and bring it out of them. So, the interim label is because we are actively pursuing, but I won’t put a time-table on it. Sooner is better than later. We are confident that while Ray and Eric are working with the guys we can reach the level of success that we need.” Interim Head Coach Ray Hudson “Ladies and gentleman, I just want to say how proud and privileged I am to represent this club and be involved, however short term it may be in the transition … it’s my honor. This has been my town for over 25 years, and that stadium [Lockhart Stadium] over there is where I grew up and I want these boys to start growing up and start bringing those sorts of great performances that this crowd should be getting. The talent is there, there’s no question. I was with the boys this morning, and Eric [Eichmann] and I had a great session with them, the moral is tremendous, the attitude seems to be very upbeat, but the talent is just waiting to explode. “We’ve got an uphill battle, there’s no question about that. We’ve got a hard game to start off [Wednesday against D.C. United at Lockhart Stadium], but the bigger they come the harder they fall, that’s the way I’m looking at it and that’s the way I want our lads to look at it. It will be a good battle against the championship team and we’ll see if we can topple them, and we can go into Colorado and we can win there. The belief has got to be instilled in these boys. There’s no question about the talent, it’s coming out of their ears, and I want along with Eric to provide that spark and to challenge them and to give them the challenge of going out and performing. That’s a wonderful stage out there at Lockhart Stadium, it’s a great stage, and we’ve got the talent, we’ve got the performers and I think we’ve got to challenge, and it’s up to us to try to spark the team.” Fusion defender and captain Francis Okaroh “It is part of the game that changes happen. I think the team should take it upon itself to take the responsibility for whatever happens from now on. There’s no more excuses. Now we have to be more accountable for our actions.” On playing for an interim coach “Whoever the next coach will be is probably somewhere watching, so you can never relax, even if you are a captain or starter. We just have to do our best, help out the guys who are here now and wait for word that’s going to come in. Hopefully we will all work together to achieve our goal, which is to be a very good team.” Fusion 1999 Defender of the Year Pablo Mastroeni “We have to come to the realization as professional athletes that we have to take responsibility for our wins and our losses. It’s not so much any system you play or what kind of drills you do, it’s just about having heart and everyone being on the same page. I think this year we lack a lot of heart and guts out on the pitch. If we can all come together, fight as a team, win every 50-50 ball, scrap, punch and fight and do whatever it takes to win, I think then we will become a winning team regardless of who we have on the field and who’s leading the team as far as the coach goes. On playing for Ray Hudson “Ray is a real knowledgeable person of the game. As far as his position as an interim coach, he knows the game and he’s not going to do any over-coaching. He’s just going to set the team up and help us along the way. In terms of a new coach, we have to work with the one we have now, and as far as I’m concerned, Ray’s our coach.”