November 4, 2009
OFFSIDE REMARKS
Red Bulls should sign Williams before United pursues him

By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor

The gut feeling here is that Richie Williams will be a head coach in MLS next season.

Whether it will be with the Red Bulls is another matter.

After being a loyal apprentice and valuable assistant coach for four seasons with the Red Bulls, Williams certainly has earned his spurs. Add the fact he took over two woefully underachieving sides as an interim coach twice and guided them to 3-3-2 records each time also adds to his lure.

In Wednesday's editions of the Washington Post, it was reported that Williams appeared to be be a prime candidate for the open D.C. United coaching slot in the wake of head coach tom Soehn resigning on Tuesday. Prime, indeed.

He would be a perfect fit for United. Williams is a former star with the club, which won three MLS Cup championships during his tenure at

Guess what? Williams would be a perfect fit for the Red Bulls. He is a Jersey boy. He went to Giants Stadium and cheered for the Cosmos while growing up. But nothing new there. We already knew that.

As an interim coach, twice he had acquitted himself well under ridiculous conditions, taking over for the fired Mo Johnston in 2006, on a team that was more interested in accruing ties than wins or loses, and keeping the club afloat for Bruce Arena and an eventual run to the playoffs.

This year Williams was anointed as the successor to Juan Carlos Osorio, who had resigned Aug. 21 with only two wins under his belt. The Red Bulls finished with a league-worst 5-19-6 record, thanks to Williams at the helm?

What did Williams do? He looked at the personnel he had and kept things simple. The team responded -- on and off the field.

Not surprisingly, Williams has received endorsements from the players, who feel he should return. He also has impressed managing director Erik Stover, who last week praised Williams.

"I think he's done an outstanding job," Stover said. "It's a pretty tough position to take over, obviously. Morale was very low. A lot of injuries. He showed his mettle. For my money, he should be a finalist. We're going to work through that. We've got to get the sporting director decision done first. Then we will start analyzing coaching options for that."

But there is a catch to all of this. Before they hire a coach, the Red Bulls must bring in a new sporting director, who will make a decision on a new coach. That could take us into December.

If United wants to move quickly and wants Williams badly enough (D.C. would have to ask for permission to talk to Williams first), the Red Bulls will lose out on a great candidate.

Because the Red Bulls are moving into a new stadium next year -- Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. -- they might want to go with a big coaching name. It might be better to go with big names on the field.

Besides, taking a look at the coaching history of the Red Bulls/MetroStars. Some big, big names have directed the team without much if any success: Eddie Firmani, who directed the Cosmos to North American Soccer League glory; Carlos Alberto Parreira, who guided Brazil to its fourth World Cup crown in 1994; Bora Milutinovic, who has directed five countries in the World Cup; former U.S. national coach Bruce Arena, who coached the Americans to a quarterfinal finish at the 2002 World Cup; and Bob Bradley, who directs the current U.S. national side that has reached the 2010 WC in South Africa.

Coaches names and reputations don't put fannies in the seats. What their teams accomplish on the field do.

Williams has earned a chance to coach to show his wares on a permanent basis -- with the Red Bulls.

Michael Lewis would like to hear from you. If you have a comment, drop him a line at email.