Action & News from the week ending May 20
OK, first half, a bit of news that you may have already heard but here it is anyway. Tom Fitzgerald has been relieved of his duties as Columbus Crew head coach as of May 17th. Fitzgerald had been the Crew coach since 1996 and was the second coach the team has known. I am sure that Mr. Fitzgerald is a wonderful man and will quickly find another coaching position if he so desires because he actually has a winning record with the Crew and in previous positions. But as Clint Mathis' experience illustrates, sometimes the combination with an current working position just doesn't work. Its not always the fault of the person who is let go, its just the personalities and situation at hand.
Assistant Coach Greg Andrulis has been named as interim head coach while a search begins for a new coach. The Crew was able to pull out just their second win of the season with a 2-1 win over DC in Columbus with an overtime corner kick goal, and this was with playing two men down from red cards. Andrulis of course did not have much time to make any real changes in the time since Thursday, but did have some tough lineup and substitution choices. I wish the Crew the best, the fans in Columbus deserve it.
Just prior to Tom Fitzgerald being released the Crew travelled to Foxboro to face the New England Revolution and gave up to second half gaols, one of which was a penalty kick, and lost the match 2-1.
Also in mid-week play the Metros hosted the Rapids and took the match 1-0 on a first half penalty kick. The Rapids have been playing their opponents very close but have just been on the losing end of a lot of games.
In soccer Saturday action the Earthquakes hosted the Metrostars to Spartan stadium in San Jose. This just seems to be a totally different field for visiting teams. The field is extremely narrow by MLS standards and San Jose uses it to their advantage. The Quakes blanked the Metros 2-0 and also saw the first MLS goal scored by Landon Donovan. The first goal came after Manny Lagos, a workhorse for the Quakes, took the ball into the penalty area and dropped a nice pass to Wade Barrett who buried a curving shot under Tim Howard. San Jose will next travel to Dallas on the 23rd and then to Chicago on the 26th. New York will travel to Kansas City on the 24th and then host Bayer Munich on the 26th.
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