February 21, 2007
In a move that I had heard about months ago, the Rhinos announced yesterday that Willie Fitzpatrick will take over as the head coach of the women's team. Rene Rivas reportedly has taken a coaching job back in his home country of Brazil and will not be back with the Rhinos in 2007.
The next question is what becomes of the Laurie Calloway's coaching staff? Will Fitzpatrick do double duty like Rivas did in 2006? And who will be the new assistant coach that the team is currently searching for?
I'm sure that names of former Rhinos players such as Doug Miller, Lenin Steenkamp, Darren Tilley, Craig Demmin, and Tommy Tanner will get thrown around. But the most intriguing name out there to me is a certain Webster native with loads of coaching experience that happens to be looking for a job right now.
I doubt that Brian Bliss would be interested in working as an assistant at the USL level. But, I'd love to see that happen.
Reading FC up for sale?
For those that have way too much money to buy the Rhinos and do whatever it takes to get them to MLS, I would suggest looking into purchasing Reading FC in the English Premier League. The Royals have been one of the surprises of the EPL this season as they've placed themselves solidly in the top half of the table only one year after earning promotion for the Coca Cola Championship.
Add in Americans Marcus Hahnemann and Bobby Convey on the roster and it would seem like an ideal investment vehicle for a American soccer fan with millions of dollars buring a hole in their pocket.
New England looking to lock up Shalrie Joseph
After turning down Scottish giants Celtic twice in their bid to acquire midfielder Shalrie Joseph, the Revolution had best do whatever they can to keep the Jamaican international happy. With Pat Noonan and Taylor Twellman getting locked up this offseason, Joseph would appear to be the one last bit of unfinished business for the 2006 MLS Cup runners up.
Carolina signs their goalkeeper and two draft picks
Carolina has signed Irish goalkeeper John O'Hara, along with both of their selections from the 2007 USL Draft.
O'Hara joins the Railhawks from Irish club Sligo Rovers. O'Hara played college soccer and was the 2003 PDL goalkeeper of the year with the Richmond Kickers Future. O'Hara was also named to the 2005 Irish First Division Best XI and was a finalist for the First Division's Player of the Year award.
Carolina also inked University of Buffalo defender Sola Abolaji and 2005 Carolinas-Virginia Athletic Conference Player of the Year with Queens College, Demetrius Donald.
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.
