Clavijo Resigns

Well, it happened. Fernando Clavijo and the Colorado Rapids have parted ways with 11 games left in the 2008 MLS season.

I didn't think it would with the Rapids front office seemingly content to wait for Clavijo's contract to run out at the end of the year. Likewise Fernando Clavijo didn't seem interested in leaving before his contract was up. But it finally happened with Clavijo officially resigning.

Earlier last week there was some legitimate speculation about Clavijo's departure. The last of it seemed to be over with Fernando Clavijo taking leave from the team due to a family emergency back in Uruguay.

Here at Black Panther, the hope is that Clavijo's resignation is not due to that situation worsening. Unlike the folks at MLS Rumors, I don't see the need to gloat about difficult family matters in Fernando's life. It's one thing to call him out for not being a successful coach in the MLS. It's quite another to take digs at him when a loved one of his is in poor health.

For the time being it appears that Gary Smith, the assistant coach Jeff Plush brought in during last off-season, will be coaching the team. The question is, will they stick with him next year or use the off-season to bring in a new head coach such as Paul Mariner or ex-Rapid John Spencer.

As The Clavijo Turns

This one has a few twists and turns. As mentioned in a post before, the Washington Post's Steven Goff was reporting that sources in the Rapids organization had told him that Clavijo very well could be losing his job. Then in another post he said that Clavijo himself had reported that there was a meeting Tuesday where a vote of confidence was given for him to have the job for the remainder of the season.

Now that post has been updated with comments from an unnamed official. Goff writes

[update] A Rapids official says that, other than their standard Tuesday meeting, there was no separate discussion with Clavijo about his status. "It 100 percent did not happen," he said.

In the meantime, Clavijo has left Uruguay to attend to a family emergency. He does not expect to be back in time for Saturday's game against Kansas City at Dicks Sporting Goods Park. Hopefully things will get better for whomever in Fernando Clavijo's family is experiencing problems. It's never a good time for these things but the timing is extra worse with it coming in the middle of much speculation over his job as head coach of the Colorado Rapids.

Corey Gibbs To Rapids - It's Official

As mentioned previously, the Colorado Rapids were linked with using their allocation pick to take Corey Gibbs. It's now official. A bit more on the deal by Brian Forbes at the Denver Post, too.

Looking Back : Coaching Hotseat

Back before the season began, WV Hooligan put out Fernando Clavijo, Sigi Schmid and Juan Carlos Osario as his top 3 for being in the coaching hot seat in the MLS. Sigi Schmid doesn't appear to be close with the Crew, along with head coaching rookie Dennis Hamlett's Chicago Fire, still in contention with New England for the Supporters Shield.

New York is sitting last in the East with just 22 points from 18 games. Osario's position while not great doesn't seem tenuous, at least not from out here on the edge of the Rockies. But WV Hooligan was right to mention then FC Dallas coach Steve Morrow.

Another guy that could be near the top is Dallas’s Steve Morrow. I don’t think he will be under fire during the season, unless the club just implodes somehow. But watch out later on in the season if Dallas goes into their typical summer collapse. People could get restless about that in the Big D if that happens. And if it does his name could appear on the list.

As we know now, FC Dallas did not wait for summer slump to pull the trigger. He pulled it back in May. FC Dallas's assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi, who had a brief stint in the MLS with Tampa Bay back in 1998 and is an ex-Minnesota Thunder player, was the interim coach until SMU coach Schellas Hyndman was named as the teams head coach.

Will we see any more coaches fired this year? The Rapids have only won once in their last 10 games. And despite all the talk of making Dicks Sporting Goods Park a fortress, the Rapids lead the league with home losses with 4 so far. Could Clavijo be next? Or are the Rapids Front Offices hands tied by KSE and unable to jettison him until his contract is over?

Or will Juan Carlos Osario be next? One would think that New York is looking to give him time to build a team. But they're last in the East, 3rd worst in the MLS, and haven't won in their last 5.

UPDATE : I wrote this Monday and scheduled it for Wednesday. But already things are shaking out. The LA Galaxy fired Alexi Lalas and Ruud Gullit.

Now Goff is reporting that some folks in the Rapids camp are saying they may finally pull the trigger on Clavijo. It wouldn't surprise me but only because we're in the 2nd half of the season and Clavijo's contract is up come December. They could easily name Gary Smith as an interim coach for the remainder of the season. No need to spend more money than they already have. And beside, Jeff Plush brought in Gary Smith to be an assistant coach. Why would he do that without consulting Clavijo when they already had an assistant coach at the time, John Murphy (BTW, Murphy has since moved into another position with the team).

Rapids Acquire Gibbs

We're still waiting to hear the official word on this one. Soccer By Ives is reporting that LA Galaxy has passed on Corey Gibbs with the Colorado Rapids, next in line on the MLS' allocation list, exercising their pick and taking Gibbs. If one turns out to be true, the question remains if the Rapids will keep Gibbs or turn around and trade him. With one of the worst defenses in the league, the Rapids could use him.