November 16, 2009
Jeff is reporting that Bob Lilley is the 4th head coach in Rochester Rhino history.
I like the fact that Lilley has more A-League/USL 1st Division Coach of the Year Awards on his shelf than Pat Ercoli. (2 to 1)
I like the fact that Lilley has won a USL 1st Division title at then PAETEC Park. (2006 with Vancouver)
I like that both Lilley and Ercoli want to work together to get back to the level that the Rhinos can win trophies.
About the only downside to the naming of Bob Lilley as the next head coach of the Rhinos will be concerns about the style of play that his teams played previously. Personally, I'm more worried about winning than I am style points. But, there will be fans that want teams that lead the league in goals for at home than they are with whether the team is getting results.
I think that replacing Matt Ford and Darren Tilley with Pat Ercoli and Bob Lilley is a step forward for the organization. The next step is to see what the roster looks like as we move through the off season.
TOA vs USL Links:
- Cary News.com talked to RailHawks owner Selby Wellman about the status of the TOA and their new league.
- Cary News.com also had a column about the risks of creating a new league.
- Inside Minnesota Soccer.com has an article up with sources saying that the USL is working on having a USL-1 team playing at the National Soccer Center in Blaine (the Thunder's home in 2009). With the Thunder reportedly owning the NSC and USL each in the six figures, you can see why both groups would want to work together against the Thunder and a team in the TOA's league.
News & Notes:
- The Philadelphia Union have unveiled their home shirts and their stadium is making progress.
- SBI.net says that Toronto FC will hire Preki as their next head coach. That's a good hire by Toronto.
- Andrea Canales gives a lot of credit to the Galaxy's remade backline for their advancing to MLS Cup 2009 where they will face Real Salt Lake . It's hard to argue with it.
- Add Chris Rolfe to the list of players that aren't happy with how MLS deals with players and transfers abroad.
- There are some players coming and going from the US roster between the loss over the weekend in Slovakia and the match this week in Denmark.
- FIFA slapped Diego Maradona with a two month ban. Classic.
The views and opinions expressed in this column are those of the author, and not necessarily those of the Rochester Rhinos or SoccerSam.com. Feel free to send any comments or complaints to news@soccersam.com. James promises to read (but not to respond) to all of them.
