MLS: Coach's Corner

So today marks the day the first MLS coach has been sacked in the off season.
Throughout the off season, we shall see which coach goes where, and which club sacks who.

Colin Clarke

Club Sacked By: FC Dallas
New Position: (none yet)
What the press said: From Foxsoccer.com

FC Dallas first-year general manager Michael Hitchcock said the team wouldn't renew Clarke's contract.

"This team has one of the most talented rosters. We underachieved and we didn't reach our potential," Hitchcock said.

Dallas topped the Western Conference with a 16-4-12 record but was upset by Colorado in the opening playoffs round for the second straight year.

Clarke became interim Dallas head coach for the final six games of 2003. He got the job full-time that summer and went 41-20-39 in regular-season games.

Assistant coach Steve Morrow will be interim head coach and also is a candidate to replace Clarke. Dallas hopes to have a new coach by the end of the year.

Curt Onalfo

Club Sacked By: (None,US Assistant Coach)
New Position: Kansas City Wizards
What the press said: From Soccernet.com

Curt Onalfo was hired as coach of the Kansas City Wizards on Monday after spending the last four years as an assistant on the U.S. national soccer team.

Onalfo replaces Ken Fogarty and Brian Bliss, who served as interim coaches following Bob Gansler's departure in July. He inherits a team that went 10-14-8 this season, next to last in the Eastern Conference.

This will be Onalfo's first professional head coaching job. The former assistant coach with D.C. United is the Wizards' third coach. He assisted the national team at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, where the Americans were ousted in the first round.

"After evaluating every facet of the team and interviewing several top-notch candidates, Curt Onalfo stood out," Wizards technical director Peter Vermes said. "He is an excellent evaluator of talent, a tremendous communicator and has outstanding organizational skills."

Onalfo reached the MLS Cup final with the Los Angeles Galaxy in 1996 and was part of a D.C. United team that captured the MLS Cup in 1999. The former University of Virginia player was co-captain of the 1992 Olympic team in Barcelona.

"This team will play an aggressive, attack-oriented style and it will be fun to watch," Onalfo said. "The key is to not change who we are, whether we play at home or on the road. We will be hard to play at home and we need our fans to help ensure this."

To be continued ...