April 17, 2006 READY WITH LIFE VESTS Mo almost sounds resigned that he will get fired
Mo Johnston seems resigned to losing what he calls "the greatest job in MLS," but said "If they fire me tomorrow...I walk through the door with a smile on my face." Linda Cuttone/Sports Vue Images
By Michael Lewis
BigAppleSoccer.com Editor
In some respects New York Red Bulls coach Mo Johnston sounded like a "dead coach walking," on Monday, waiting for the axe to fall in the wake of club president and general manager Alexi Lalas’ resignation and rejoining the Los Angeles Galaxy in the same capacity.
Even though he has an undefeated regular-season record over parts of two seasons, (2-0-4) Johnston's job is said to be on the line because the team's new owners, Red Bull, want to make sweeping changes. The Red Bulls are 0-0-3 this season.
Asked if he thought his job was in jeopardy, Johnston replied, "Every day when you step on the field you always feel that. And even as a player, people want to take your job. I have the greatest job in MLS, and this is the New York job. For me, personally, I don’t feel any pressure. If they fire me tomorrow, like I said, I walk through the door with a smile on my face. I believe I was making strides to move forward and to make a better organization."
If a move is made, Johnston hopes that it is done quickly for the sake of the fans and organization.
"I’m very confident in terms of handing this organization something in terms of a championship," he said. "Hopefully I can do that. If I’m not here, then so be it. But don’t make the confusion and don’t upset the fans anymore, because they’re the first people that need to know, because they’re the ones that pay the money. We’ll always move forward, but they don’t need things being unstable again. Hopefully we can get the change done."
After Lalas' departure and swirling rumors, the players, not surprisingly, are concerned.
"I’ll have them prepared for the upcoming game against D.C. if I’m still there," Johnston said during a conference call. "We have to sit and wait. And it’s something that’s not a good thing. But for me, it’s business as usual until such notice."
The fate of assistant GM Chris Canetti, who is running the show for the time being, and Johnston, is undetermined. Canetti said the club could learn of Red Bull's reorganization plan within seven days.
"We’re all in the same predicament," Canetti said. "We’re all being evaluated day-by-day by our new owners and we’ll all find out what our fate is here very shortly."
The move gave Lalas a rare and unique hat-trick as the No. 1 man of three MLS teams within 10 months. He left the San Jose Earthquakes (now the Houston Dynamo) last June to take on take similar responsibilities with the Metros.
