Fire owner Andrew Hauptman hopes this week’s coaching change is the trigger that finally ignites a talented team.
“We’re looking for kind of a renewed energy and focus at the task at hand,” Hauptman said during a Friday visit to Toyota Park. “Sometimes these changes at midseason can have a positive impact in terms of a spark that we’re looking for.”
Monday’s dismissal of Carlos de los Cobos left technical director Frank Klopas in charge as interim coach.
“What I would expect (from) Frank — given his experience, given what he’s seen with coaches past and given his soccer IQ — (is) a significant amount of preparation,” Hauptman said. “And nobody can question the guy’s passion. He will be up. He’ll be working 24/7.
“The good thing is that we’ve got a young group who are super hungry and a lot of individual talent. I get comments all the time from people in the U.S. and abroad saying the record is unfortunate based on the quality of the talent we’ve got.”
Klopas is expected to serve as interim coach through season’s end but is not a likely candidate for the permanent job. For Hauptman, Klopas’ biggest value is running the team’s soccer operations as the equivalent of a general manager.
“Our inclination is no, that he wouldn’t be in the (permanent coach) mix,” Hauptman said. “But you never say never. The reason why we turned to Frank is because he’s closest to the players, he knows the qualities of all the guys and he has a very, very good sense of things that have been handled (well) and things that have been handled less well.”
The Fire (1-4-6, 9 points) are winless in their last nine games heading into Saturday’s 7:30 p.m. home match against the Sounders (5-4-5, 20 points).
