Daily news roundups

Curtin announcement today, Chaco makes Newcomer list, Gaddis a bargain, Hack named US U-15 coach, more

Photo: Daniel Gajdamowicz

Philadelphia Union

The Union has scheduled a major announcement today at 11 am, one that Kevin Kinkead and The Inquirer report will name Jim Curtin as permanent head coach.

The 700 Level argues that naming Curtin as head coach is all very well and good, but the team needs to name a GM so fans know who is really pulling the strings.

Cristian Maidana comes in at No. 10 in Soccer America’s Newcomer of the Year list.

Ray Gaddis comes in at No. 8 in a comparison of the Castrol Index and player salaries at Business of Soccer aimed at determining “the biggest bargains in the League.”

When it was announced last month that Houston goalkeeper Tally Hall was on his way to Orlando City, Union fans wondered how that would affect the status of Zac MacMath, whom many naturally speculated might end up in Orlando because he grew up in Florida. With Hall currently recovering from ACL surgery in September, which means he will not be available until after the start of the 2015 season, Orlando City general manager Paul McDonough has made it clear the team is still looking for more goalkeepers.

We always knew we needed a couple goalkeepers. We knew we were going to go with Tally, but we know that we’re going to need at least one more in the Expansion Draft, maybe two. And if we don’t get that then maybe we look into USL or into college because there’s going to be a few good ones coming out in the college draft.

One would hope that if MacMath is not going to be with the Union in 2015 that the team is able to get something in return for him rather than losing him in the Expansion Draft. You will recall that MacMath recently said he is working under the assumption that he will remain in Philadelphia. “At this point I expect to be back. Right now I have a contract with the Union and think I have proven I can handle the starting role.”

Tommy Smith talks to the BBC about leaving Rangers to be director of the Philadelphia Union Academy director. He says,

The owner really wants us to learn and challenge ourselves, so I’ve been fortunate to visit academies in all corners of the world. I’ve been to Dortmund and Schalke, and AZ in Holland, Feyenoord, we have a partnership with Hoffenheim, and I’ve been to Bayern.

Facilities are not at the same level as they are back home. That needs to improve, as does the overall standard of coaching, but in terms of the sheer volume of players, my catchment area is a 75-mile circle, and there are 11m people in there. That’s twice the size of Scotland.

YSC Academy leads Top Drawer Soccer’s look at whether high school-development academy residencies can work.

An updated review of PPL Park at Stadium Journey gives it an overall rating of 3.7 out of five. The “Crowd Score” is 3.9.

Local

The Neumann men’s team defeated Centenary College 4-1 on Thursday in the semifinals of the Colonial States Athletic Conference playoffs. The team will face Marywood in Saturday’s championship final.

The Philadelphia University women’s team defeated Felician 1-0 on Thursday to advance to the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference championship match. They will face Post University on Saturday at 11 am at LaMoy Field.

The Penn men’s team faces Princeton on the road on Saturday at 7 pm.

Temple women’s soccer junior Kelly Farrell made Top Drawer Soccer’s list of the top 20 players in the American Athletic Conference.

GameTimePA has a report on the overtime loss suffered by the Council Rock South girl’s team against Archbishop Ryan that saw them knocked out of the state tournament.

Philadelphia Fury close out their fall season at home at Washington Township High School on Saturday at 7 pm. The opponent is the Evergreen Diplomats and admission is free.

MLS

The second leg games of the conference semifinals take place over the weekend and on Monday. Here’s the schedule:

At Soccer Gods, Steve Davis on why MLS teams should stay away from “the England-bred boss” when looking for a head coach.

The Washington Post on efforts to keep a deal together for DC United’s proposed new stadium following the release of a report on Wednesday that said the stadium would cost $286.7 million.

Canadian Soccer News reports, “Multiple sources have confirmed that TFC brass intends to target Wesley Sneijder and Steven Gerrard.” The report concludes, “Sources did not indicate whether the players had been approached in any way, nor did they handicap whether TFC would be able to land either target. However, they are confident that TFC’s plan is to approach the players.” Oh, Canada.

Chicago Fire’s Patrick Nyarko underwent surgery on Thursday to repair a torn Anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He is expected to be out six to eight months.

Colorado Rapids have named Pádraig Smith as Sporting Director. Smith comes to Colorado after three years with UEFA’s Financial Analysis Group. Before that, he spent four years as Internal Compliance Officer with the Football Association of Ireland.

The Sacramento Bee reports that the league will not decide on the next round of expansion until “early next year at the soonest.”

Former Union man Danny Mwanga, now with Colorado Rapids, has seen his loan to New York Cosmos extended through the end of postseason play. Mwanga has one goal from eight appearances with the Cosmos. Soccer America has a preview of this weekend’s NASL semifinal games.

US

Former Union head coach John Hackworth has been officially named the head coach of the US U-15 BNT. Hackworth’s first camp with the U-15 team will take place Dec. 13-20 at a still to be determined location. “After the initial camp, focus will shift to a domestic camp in March of 2015, followed by a tournament in Gradisca, Italy, from April 22-May 2.”

Jurgen Klinsmann said of Hackworth’s appointment, “It’s great that we have John on board. He has a clear understanding of the development process, and his experience will be hugely beneficial to the U-15 Boys’ National Team. He has coached at all levels in the sport and will be a great resource for young players on their developmental path. This is another important step in connecting all the dots throughout our National Team programs and the Development Academy.”

Hackworth described his role as head coach in a Q&A on the US Soccer website,

I’ll be assisting the other youth national teams, working closely with Tab Ramos, and part of that will be scouting and trying to bring along and further the Development Academy. I’m going to try to be helpful in all ways to both the youth national teams and the Development Academy. But most importantly, it will be my responsibility to develop a large pool of players who fit philosophically with what Richie Williams is doing with our U-17s. The idea is that when he gets this group of players, he won’t have to teach them a lot of new things. It will be a continuum from one group of players to the next. Having this group for two years and then handing them off to the U-17 program is going to be the key in establishing the right fundamentals and principles so that these players can continue to develop.

TopDrawerSoccer.com says of the hire,

The U15 age group is the first team that gets extensive time on international trips, which leads to exposure from noteworthy clubs. The opportunity to push the best players in the U.S. system should fall to a coach who is willing to recognize that talent as well as lend advice when parents are looking for what’s best.

Hackworth shouldn’t and won’t be judge on game results. He will be judged on if he makes the right call on where a player should go to develop at the club level when the time comes.

More Hackworth’s appointment from Soccer America.

FC Dallas rookie Tesho Akindele has declined an invitation to join the Canadian national team with an aim to joining the US. ESPN reports, “Akindele would be free to join the United States training camp in London this month, but a source told ESPN FC that a call-up to Jurgen Klinsmann’s side could depend on how FC Dallas fares in the MLS Cup playoffs.” More at Goal.com.

ASN talks to Brian McBride.

Elsewhere

Check out the latest Footy on the Telly for listings of live soccer on TV, online, and on satellite radio for the upcoming week.

The Guardian reports that England manager Roy Hodgson “has expressed his annoyance about the Football Association’s decision to stage American football at Wembley, blaming it for leaving the pitch in poor condition for England’s next Euro 2016 qualifier and being openly critical of his employer for not thinking more about the national team.”

The Guardian on “The fan who applied to manage Ireland – and received a reply from the FAI.”

10 Comments

  1. John Hackworth has proven himself to be a good youth coach and I wish him well.

  2. We need a nickname for Jim Curtain. Sparrow hawk. Bears a resemblance to one in the picture above and Birdman has been taken by Michael Keaton.

    • I have a nickname. How about “coach?”

      He’s our guy for the foreseeable future. Can we all get behind him, at least for the moment?

      I’ve been a critic, but he’ll have a bigger say now, especially with regard to roster, and I think we at least owe him a good, solidly supported shot at this.

    • its ‘Curtin’.

      • I know, I was playing off of George’s previous comment in another spot today about the auto correct Curtain.
        .
        Okay JT. “Coach” it is.
        .
        Just having fun. Ben Hogan was The Hawk too.

  3. James Lockerbie says:

    As far as nicknames someone else said,

    “Jim the Bethlehem steel Curtin”

    I like it, but like Mr. Curtin said this morning at the press conference things have to be earned. I hope as the next season plays out he can earn that nickname.

    As far as Supporting him I agree with you. We have to give him and the team our full support. We have to look at ourselves too. Coach Curtin shared with the media, the players and he himself put their hands up and took some responsibility for their short comings.

    We as fans voiced our concerns for change. I was there at the announcement with my son James. I believe there are still some changes coming as far as the technical staff is concerned.
    They shared their desire to look for additional players a striker is on the list of priorities. So now that the team has chosen Mr. Curtin as it’s new head coach. We should give him our support and the best opportunity to be successful.

    The Union and Jim Curtin have my support I hope they have a successful off season to carry them into next season with some real confidence for a truly amazing Season. Here’s to season 6

    • I love it. Damn, good one.
      .
      The guy has my support. I’ve not been in total agreement with him a full time coach but I certainly support him now that it is a done deal. Discernment and time will tell us all if it was correct.

  4. Wish Hack well. If you recall he id’d Subotic as a star as an U-17 only for Rongen to drive him away by not picking him for the U-20 side. Lets hope he finds another few stars.

Leave a Reply to James Lockerbie Cancel

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*