Top 5 Managers for FCD

Hugo

1. Hugo Sanchez – He’s just off a disastrous stint as Mexico’s head coach, but prior to that he had a successful stint at Pumas. Hugol mentioned he had interest in coaching an MLS club and he played with the Burn for one season in 1996. Ok, he might do a really terrible job, but it would be so darn entertaining. I think Sanchez isn’t as far fetched a choice as he looks at first glance; Hitch just fired a coach for not increasing attendance and Sanchez would do that. Hitch needs to cover his butt and Hugo Sanchez would really be the only man he could sign that would make a significant increase in tickets sold (Mourinho too but, yeah).

2. Paul Mariner — He knows the league and has been assistant to arguably the most successful coach in MLS history, what more can we as FC Mediocre fans expect? Mariner seems to be mentioned in just about every coach search, but as far as I know, he has never been approached. I bet Mariner really wants to step up to the manager position and he would be willing to join us.

3. Marco Feruzzi — He hasn’t even been head assistant at the club, but I am still advocating him as a strong decent choice for our new manager. Why? To quote DJ Walker who,

a) wants the job
b) would be any better than Marco, and
c) would be willing to accept the Hunt Sports Group pay scale?

Not many. Hitch is a lame duck general manager and the job offer next to no stability. HSG should have just cleared the board and fired everyone rather than give a failing GM with six months left on his contract the authority to fire a guy who was building for the future. Oh well, it’s history now and I think Feruzzi would be a good sacrificial lamb for Hitchcock’s incompetence.

Tigana

4. Jean Tigana – Big European names generally don’t do well in MLS (exception: Ruud), but I’d be willing to give it a try in Dallas. Tigana, the former Fulham man, is well traveled, has a wide knowledge of global soccer events and, most importantly, he is ready to return to management after a one year family sabbatical. Joining Dallas would be like another personal break because no one would recognize him at the super market and the media would only bother him at practice and after games. And he coached in Turkey which I’m sure is death pit of heat and empty fields similar to or slightly worse than Frisco.

5. Ney Franco — The CAP man lost his job just before we fired Morrow. I think FCD would benefit from Samba futbol and we have the pieces to get it done; Alvarez, Toja, Avila, and Rico would all flourish under the creativity that a Brazilian style allows. Oh! And all the great contacts Franco has, we could be bringing in tons of talent for cheap. The only hang-up is if Ney Franco has any interest in the job; the soccer management carousel in Brazil moves around pretty fast and I’m sure he would have plenty of options open to him in the upcoming months. It would be fun though.

Finally, I did not include Oscar Pareja because it not the right time to bring in the little general. Hitchcock can’t offer Pareja the support he deserves and I would like to see Oscar gain a little more experience with U-17s. Pareja deserves better than to step into this mess, let’s wait three or four years than bring him in.