Real Sly Leader?

Real Salt Lake's coach John Ellinger is either a dolt when it comes to player moves or so incredibly that most of us just can't see how he's putting together a team that will finally make the playoffs (let alone win the MLS Cup). Not even a week and a half ago Ellinger sent Nick Rimando to New York Red Bulls for a the MLS equivalent of a bag of peanuts (i.e. "future considerations"). And within a week there were first rumors and now confirmation that Scott Garlick is retiring. Garlick rarely looked good last year and often struggled just to look average for a goalkeeper in Major League Soccer. So in many ways this move is neither surprising nor would it normally hurt the team. Only that for some odd reason he waited until the new pre-season to make the decision. And the team for some odd reason had already clearly decided that despite having the worst defense in the league last year, they weren't looking to replace him. How did Ellinger not see this coming? Surely this isn't coming completely out of the blue for the coach. And even if he's brave (or would that be daft?) enough to count on a wet behind the ears Seitz to come out of the draft and perform well as a starter, it doesn't look as though Ellinger has a contingency plan for who would be Seitz's back-up that can step in when Seitz is gone this summer playing for the US. Surely Rimando is normally worth more than "future considerations". And given the bind Real Salt Lake is in right now, surely Rimando is worth a lot more than that to them. What is Ellinger thinking?