Michael Lewis over at BigAppleSoccer.com has some great stories regarding today’s front office shake-up.
RUNNING THE BULLS
Franz might have ex-Cosmos teammates (Chinaglia, Messing, Carlos Alberto, Rijsbergen, Bogie, Neeskens) as Red Bulls execs, coaches
Beckenbauer, who is a good friends and a special advisor to Red Bull Austrian billionaire owner Dietrich Mateschitz, would oversee everything (he would take over after his duties as World Cup organizing committee president end in July). Giorgio Chinaglia would be chairman and Shep Messing, currently a player agent and the Red Bulls TV color announcer, would be president and general manager and call the shots on a daily basis.
According to sources close to the team, there are two possible head coaches to replace Mo Johnston: defender and Brazilian 1970 World Cup championship captain Carlos Alberto, who most recently directed the Azerbaijan National Team, is the front-runner. Former Dutch international Wim Rijsbergen, the assistant coach of Trinidad & Tobago's World Cup team, also is in the running. Vladislav Bogicevic and Johan Neeskens most likely would be assistant coaches, the same sources said.
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Scratch the possibility of former Metros defender Lothar Matthaeus coming aboard because he and Beckenbauer do not get along, sources said.
Former Metros all-star midfielder Roberto Donadoni, who attended the team’s reunion on April 8, also is not in the picture, as he is expected to get several offers to coach in Italy's Serie A, sources said.
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'BUSINESS AS USUAL'
Despite no GM, Red Bulls plug away
Coach Mo Johnston said that he has three or four trade possibilities. Any that are made, however, must be approved by Red Bull officials.
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Canetti said that Red Bull officials haven't given him a time frame on when they will be finished with their plans of restructuring the organization.
"Those plans will be available to us within the near future, possibly within the next seven days," he said.
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Canetti said he was impressed with Red Bull's knowledge of American professional soccer, especially with the complicated rules of MLS, which have confounded many a top foreign coach in the league's first decade.
"These guys are smart businessmen," he said. "They did their research. They did their homework before they made this purchase. They understand the rules of the league.
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READY WITH LIFE VESTS
Mo almost sounds resigned that he will get fired
Asked if he thought his job was in jeopardy, Johnston replied, "Everyday 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."