Players Leave For Houston

The Rapids left this morning for their week long training stint in Houston.  Everyone in camp traveled except 4 players.  Mullan, Mwanga, and Powers stayed behind to recover from their injuries.  Matt Pickens is still excused from camp and hasn't joined the team yet.  That screams "working out a trade" to me.  The Rapids and Dynamo will scrimmage this weekend, no streaming coverage.

Oh, and Marc Burch, stay strong fellow Seahawks fan, don't go to the dark (orange) side.  Go Hawks!

Tim Hinchey AMA

Tim Hinchey had a reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) this afternoon with a number of interesting notes.  In no particular order and my reactions to the information:

Number of coaching candidates interviewed:

None thus far. Since the transition was so late, we didn't want to rush. We have a solid infastructure in our Soccer Ops group that can take us forward while we start the formal search.

Um, what?!?  Just over 6 weeks to the start of the season and we haven't even started interviewing coaches?  Ridiculous.  Somebody has to lead this team.

Asked why Pablo hasn't just been named coach:

Appreicate the Pablo comment, clearly I'm a fan, however we will be reaching out to several other candidates before we make any final decision.

When pushed as to why they're screwing around with this and not just naming Pablo since that's clearly what they're going to do:

 We will talk with other candidates, and that has begun this week. I think Pablo is great and clearly could be the most important person ever to work for this club.  

So there's really some other candidates that would be interested in taking over a team weeks before the season starts?  Really?  Consider me skeptical.

Plans for the new home kit reveal:

New kit will be home so new Burgundy and will be launched just before the opener

Good that we're staying burgundy, but I'd prefer to see it before we're a week into the season (we'll wear the Colorado flag blues for our season opener in NY).

Status of a jersey sponsor:

this continues to be my biggest challenge thus far, we've been very active and have engaged a third party firm to help us secure the shirt deal. It keeps my up at night and I'm personally disappointed I haven't delivered this yet.

Wait, haven't we heard that before in 2010...and 2011...and 2012...and 2013?  Should I just schedule this statement for January of 2015?

Status of the relationship with Arsenal:

We are actually making some decent progress here. They have a much bigger club to run with bigger challenges, etc, so we need to earn this partnership. Paul and I have had more access then ever in the last six months and I'm truly confident it will grow. Have Galindo here is a great step and he could become our first loan.

I only put this in as it confirms that Galindo would be a loan, not a signing.  The rest is what you would expect.

On what happened with Eloundou last year:

 Not more that has been reported really. To me, he was being held unfairly by clubs and some agents trying to cash in on the young man. working between federations is tough and way too political. We decided it was worth holding out for him as we think he's an amazing talent and deserves a safe enviornment to grow his craft and score a few goals for the Rapids! Thus far, he has truly impressed and is a great young man.

I'm really looking forward to seeing what Eloundou can bring.  Glad to see the faith in him from the FO.

Updates on Martin Rivero and Hendry Thomas

 we will not be bringing Martin back to the club at this time. He's a great pro and we wish him nothing but success. I'm 50/50 on Hendry. He too has been brilliant here for the Rapids, but we need to find middle ground financially.

So that makes it official with Rivero, no surprise.  I don't expect Thomas back either, especially if they're pursuing Galindo.

On the split of duties between Hinchey and Bravo, and KSE's support of the team:

Paul and I work very closely together. I am responsible for all aspects of our club, however I entrust Paul to run all over our soccer operations. I invest the majority of my time on the commercial business of the club and working to get our business to a break even or better. Stan's support has been amazing during my tenure and he's very supportive of the Rapids. 

Pretty much what they've made known for the last two years.  It also fits the "coach as the cook" idea, Bravo buys the ingredients (players) and the coach makes the meal (lineups and tactics).

On the rumor that Arsenal will be making a U.S. tour this summer:

 I think Arsenal is considering a one match visit as part of a larger tournament, not here at DSGP.

That would be incredibly lame if Kroenke couldn't get his EPL team to come to Denver while they were in the States.

On friendlies in general this summer:

No friendlies planned this summer thus far. We break for World Cup and then the World LAX Championships are here at DSGP for all of July. Make's it too tough.

I can appreciate the difficulties this summer, but it is a step down from Swansea City two years ago and the WCQ last year.  They need to raise the bar again in 2015 if nothing happens this summer.

On partnering with the new USL team in the Springs:

We will not be partnering that USL team.

And when asked what they had to do with the establishment of the team:

we had zero to do what that club. 

Well, that's pretty cut and dried.  Seems odd to pass up the opportunity but the blanket statements makes it seem tehre's something about the team they don't like.  I know the owners of the new team have some question marks around them, maybe that has something to do with it?

On the often floated idea of going to a Fall-to-Spring schedule:

Hate it. we've established 18 years of this time of year. Also, did you read recently that some clubs/league overseas want to consider changing to ours?

Good.  Its a stupid idea.

So some interesting bits of knowledge there.  Disappointed in the lack of a coaching search so far though.  They need to step it up on that front.

Practice Starts!

The Rapids had their first practice today and we got the first list of trialists in camp.  We also found out that, currently, Hendry Thomas, Martin Rivero, and Anthony Wallace are not with the team.  The three trialists are:

• Joe Nasco - Goalkeeper: Made 3 appearances in the last 2 years with the Atlanta Silverbacks (Chris Klute's old team)
• Juan Guzman - Midfielder: Made 11 appearances in the last 4 years with the Charlotte Eagles
• Samuel Galindo - Midfielder: The big news of the day.  Galindo is currently with Arsenal but hasn't played a game with them since he was signed in 2010, instead being loaned out to 2nd division sides in Spain and Club Jorge Wilstermann in the top flight of Bolivia.  This looks to me that he couldn't get a UK work permit so Arsenal has been moving him around trying to get him experience.  He's also been capped twice for the Bolivian National Team and captained their U20 and U-17 teams.  He'll turn 22 in April.  Its unclear if he would join on loan or as a full signing.

Out of the 25 signed players, 16 of them participated in training today.  Mullan (right knee), Mwanga (hernia), Griffiths (shoulder), Armstrong (ACL), and Powers (tendonitis, concussion) were held up to heal up, while Klute and O'Neill were held out to let them recover from their National Team training and travels.  Deshorn Brown was also held out as he just returned from Barcelona last night.  The only player not in Commerce City today was Matt Pickens, who was on an excused absence.

Chris Bianchi tweeted today that its a matter of when, not if, Pickens is traded, so that  might have something to do with his absence.  There's also a rumor going around that Wynne is being traded.

So as we start camp, here's the camp roster:

Goalkeepers:

John Berner - Unsigned draftee

Clint Irwin

Joe Nasco - Unsigned trialist

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player - Will start season on IR(knee)

Mark Burch

Albert Edward - Unsigned draftee

Brenton Griffiths - International

Tolani Ibikunle  - Unsigned draftee

Kory Kindle

Chris Klute

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Samuel Galindo - Unsigned trialist, International

Juan Guzman - Unsigned draftee

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Dillon Powers

Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player

Nathan Sturgis

Jared Watts - Unsigned draftee

Forwards:

Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International

Edson Buddle

Martin Chavez

Charles Eloundou - International

Kamani Hill

Danny Mwanga

Vicente Sanchez - International

Gabriel Torres - Designated Player, International

Pablo Not Quite Head Coach and Player Updates

The Rapids announced on Saturday that Pablo "will be at the head of our group of coaches" as preseason opens,  but they went out of their way to avoid calling him Head Coach, using terms like "leading" and "in charge".  I still believe its just a matter of time before he''s given the title.  Maybe after this weekend's scrimmage against Houston so he can have at least one game under his belt.

A few player updates since Thursday, with an updated list.

• I missed this in the draft announcement, but Aussie Albert Edward has a green card so if he makes the team he won't take an international spot.
• The Rapids confirmed that Grant Van De Casteele is already under contract.
• Today the Rapids re-signed Danny Mwanga.  He's just had hernia surgery so he he won't be at full strength until about when the season starts.  According to the Denver Post he took a pay cut.
• German Mera has been signed by Atletico Bucaramanga, a 2nd division side in Colombia, so he won't be returning.
• No update on Martin Rivero, but they Gabriel Torres the #10 Rivero wore the last two years, so that's probably not a good sign.
• Hendry Thomas is still in negotiations with the team.

Goalkeepers:

John Berner - Unsigned draftee

Clint Irwin

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player - Will start season on IR(knee)

Mark Burch

Albert Edward - Unsigned draftee

Brenton Griffiths - International

Tolani Ibikunle  - Unsigned draftee

Kory Kindle

Chris Klute

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Dillon Powers

Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player

Nathan Sturgis

Jared Watts - Unsigned draftee

Forwards:

Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International

Edson Buddle

Martin Chavez

Charles Eloundou - International

Kamani Hill

Danny Mwanga

Vicente Sanchez - International

Gabriel Torres - Designated Player, International

Unknown Status: Martin Rivero, Hendry Thomas, Anthony Wallace

Roster Status - Jan. 23rd

Training camp opens tomorrow in Commerce City!  Time to get serious.  Of course it would probably help if we had a coach....

Anyway, on to our current roster status.  First one special note to make:

• Grant Van De Casteele - The 2014 Transaction Report on MLSSoccer.com shows him as signed.  Presumably he's one of the handful of college seniors MLS signs to a contract prior to the Superdraft,.  He's listed in the "signed" area.

Here's the current roster, broken out by status:

Signed:

Davy Armstrong

Deshorn Brown

Edson Buddle

Marc Burch

Marvin Chavez

Charles Eloundou

Brenton Griffiths

Marion Hariston

Kamani Hill

Clint Irwin

Kory Kindle

Chris Klute

Nick LaBrocca

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill

Matt Pickens

Dillon Powers

Vicente Sanchez

Dillon Serna

Nathan Sturgis

Gabriel Torres

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Draftees:

John Berner

Albert Edward

Tolani Ibikunle

Jared Watts

Unsigned 2013 Team Members (those not signed elsewhere or retired):

German Mera

Danny Mwanga

Martin Rivero

Hendry Thomas

Anthony Wallace

Of the last group I don't think Mera, Rivero, Thomas, or Wallace are expected to be at camp tomorrow.  Mwanga is unknown,.

Breaking it down by position, with other roster designations noted.  The 5 unsigned 2013 team members won't be on this list until we find out they're in camp or in negotiations.  This will be the format I use going forward:

Goalkeepers:

John Berner - Unsigned draftee

Clint Irwin

Matt Pickens

Defenders:

Davy Armstrong - Homegrown Player - Will start season on IR(knee)

Mark Burch

Albert Edward - Unsigned draftee, International

Brenton Griffiths - International

Tolani Ibikunle  - Unsigned draftee

Kory Kindle

Chris Klute

Drew Moor

Brian Mullan

Shane O'Neill - Homegrown Player

Grant Van De Casteele

Marvell Wynne

Midfielders:

Marion Hariston - Generation Adidas

Nick LaBrocca

Dillon Powers

Dillon Serna - Homegrown Player

Nathan Sturgis

Jared Watts - Unsigned draftee

Forwards:

Deshorn Brown - Generation Adidas, International

Edson Buddle

Martin Chavez

Charles Eloundou - International

Kamani Hill

Vicente Sanchez - International

Gabriel Torres - Designated Player, International

So that's 24 players under contract out of 30, but Armstrong won't count against the total while on IR.  We have 5 internationals signed for 9 international spots.  That means there are 7 spots left for the 4 unsigned draftees, the 5 unsigned 2013 players, and any other players we are scouting or bring in as trialists.  Out of those 7, 4 of them can be internationals.

We look a bit thin at midfield, but players like Mullan, O'Neill, Chavez, and Hill could move into midfield from where their currently listed.  Still, no Thomas leaves a hole.  We're solidly stocked at forward and we have a lot of depth if not a whole lot of obvious quality in defense.  Berner is likely to be the 3rd GK unless we bring in some trialists.

Eloundou, Cascio, Rumors, and Draftees

Lots of roster news today not even counting the Superdraft.

• First, the news I'm most excited about, Charles Eloundou has signed a contract with the Rapids and will be with the team when they start the season.  He still needs his work visa (shouldn't be an issue) and ITC (gulp!) but he is currently under contract with Colorado and nobody else.  I've been following Cameroon for a few years now and I am really looking forward to having one of their young stars in Colorado.
• As rumored Tony Cascio was loaned to Houston for 2014 in exchange for an international spot.  Part of the loan stipulates he can't play against Colorado in any competitions.
• Chris Bianchi tweeted tonight that neither Thomas or Rivero are likely to return.  Thomas apparently wants DP money, and the million-dollar buyout is the stumbling block for Rivero.  Disappointing, but neither of these players are worth that investment so best for the team to move on.  It does leave quite a hole at defensive mid though that will need to be filled ASAP.
• In the 3rd round of the SuperDraft the Rapids took defender Tolani Ibikunle out of Wake Forest.  He can play anywhere in the back line, being comfortable both in the center or on a wing.  The 4th round (and final) pick was Australian defender Albert Edward out of NAIA Lindsey Wilson College.  Edward is mainly a right back, a spot where we could use some competition.

With camp opening on Friday I expect we'll see some more roster moves the next couple of days.  On Thursday night I'll do the first of my regular roster tracking posts to see where we are as we head into the preseason.

Rumored Move and SuperDraft Part 2

One rumor before  a quick SuperDraft preview.  Reports out of Houston and Chris Bianchi on the Colorado side are that Tony Cascio will become the first player in league history to be loaned inside the league.  He'll be sent to Houston for the 2014 season and in return the Rapids will get an international slot for some length of time (for 1 season as well would be my guess).  This is an interesting move as with Houston in the East we're really only directly hurting ourselves if Cascio plays in our one game against them, and we're getting a player (presumably) playing time that he probably won't get here.  Solid move as reported IMO.

Now onto tomorrow's SuperDraft part 2.  2 rounds just like Thursday but this will be a more efficient conference call and not the media event the first 2 rounds were.  Odds are we won't get much of a live tracker, just a set of results at the end.  The Rapids hold their natural picks in each round at #11.

As a Husky I hope we take a look at Michael Harris out of Washington.  He's a RB, which we need, and has an insane long throw (start at 2:15 in the video below).  Worth taking a shot IMO.

Go Hawks!!!

Pablo To Be Next Coach?

The Rapids posted this image of Pablo at the draft today

All signs seem to be pointing to Pablo Mastroeni as the lead candidate to be the next Rapids coach.  He will meet Monday with the club about the position after expressing his interest in it today.  The club has been putting on a PR press for him recently, with a series of videos about his path back to the Rapids on the website.  Multiple national reporters have said he's the leading candidate.  Today at the SuperDraft Pablo was apparently handling most of the public roles the head coach usually fills.  All of these seem to be strong indicators that he's at least the leader for the job at the moment, if not already on trial.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Mastroeni announced as the "interim" coach next week, only to have the interim tag removed early in the season once he proves he doesn't fall flat on his face in the role.  Given that we've heard no other rumors of any other candidates being interviewed but a very public article about Pablo's interview it appears to be his job to lose.  Recent leaks have also suggested that it was a conflict with Pareja that led Pablo to leave the team in mid-year to try to find playing time in LA, so its probably not a surprise he came right back as soon as Pareja was off to Dallas.

Given the parameters that have floated about for what the Rapids are looking for in their next coach, Pablo fits.  They have Bravo to handle the roster, and Metgod to handle tactics and training.  They want a emotional leader to be the face of the team and inspire the troops.  They also want somebody with Colorado ties that's ready to be here for a decade.  The last piece, always unspoken with KSE, is that they want somebody cheap.  Mastroeni checks all of these boxes.

That said, this would be a big roll of the dice by Hinchey and Bravo.  Pareja left a team with some solid talent that should be expected to make the playoffs this year.  The coaching chaos this month has thrown a wrench into that plan, chaos that could have largely been avoided trough better planning by the Rapids FO, and can largely be overcome by hiring an experienced coach that could re-focus the team.  Pablo's inexperience could make things worse, not better, if he's hired.  He's always been known for his fiery temper, but the team probably needs the exact opposite now, some stability through all of this.

If Pablo gets the job and is successful, his legendary status at the club will grow even larger and Bravo and Hinchey will deserve a tip of the cap for getting through the rough offseason.  If he fails to succeed immediately though, the blow back should be more on who put him in the position than on Mastroeni.

Live SuperDraft results

Rapids trade down from the 11 pick to the 12 pick with the Revs and get the #19 pick, last in the 1st round, as well (and rumored some allocation money).

With the 12th pick they take midfielder Marlon Hairston out of Lousiville.  He's a Generation Adidas player so he does not count against the cap and will automatically be protected in next off-season's expansion draft.

With the 19th (and final 1st round) pick the Rapids take defender Grant Van De Casteele out of Notre Dame.

With the 14th pick in the 2nd round (33rd overall) the Rapids take defensive midfielder Jared Watts out of Wake Forest.  Watts is a former U.S. U-17 and U-20 player, and captained the U-17 team at the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria

With the 16th pick in the 2nd round (35th overall) and their last pick of the day, the Rapids take goalkeeper John Berner out of Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville.

.

SuperDraft tomorrow (and two more re-signings)

First the roster news.  In a follow-up from yesterday I found out from the Rapids that Mullan is signed as a player, not a player/coach, so his whole salary will count against the cap.  Also both Brenton Griffiths and Kory Kindle were re-signed today, giving our defense some depth, even if its a bit untested.

Defensive depth will likely be a focus of tomorrow' Superdraft.  Starting at 10am MST with the first round on ESPNews the teams will go through the first two rounds, with the 3rd and 4th round held on Tuesday.  The Rapids hold 3 picks tomorrow. In the first rounf they have their natural pick at 11 for their 2013 finish.  In the second round they traded their natural pick at 11 (30th overall) to Vancouver for allocation money and an international spot two years ago but acquired LA's natural pick (14, 33rd overall) in the Pablo trade and Houston's natural pick 1(16, 35th overall) int he Mac Kandji trade.

This draft is considered to be weak on attacking power but strong on defense.  Don't be shocked if the Rapids look to add a center back at pick 11 (the same pick that got them Dillon Powers last year).  A couple of names you may hear are Denver-native defender Kyle Venter out of New Mexico, defender A.J. Cochran out of Wisconsin, Colorado Springs-native defender Patrick Slogic out of Cornell (though if the Rapids were really interested in him they could have signed him to a homegrown player contract as he was part of the Academy) , Brazilian midfielder Pedro Riberio out of Costal Carolina, and forward Denver-native Tesho Akindele out of Colorado School of Mines (who might have had the most beneficial combine out of anyone there).

If possible I'll update during the draft with our picks, otherwise I'll have a full recap tomorrow night.

Mullan Re-Signed and Preseason Schedule Announced

Two announcements from the Rapids today.  First, as expected, Brian Mullan was re-signed.  No word on length of contract or if this is the rumored player/coach contract but regardless its good to have a veteran of his experience back in the locker room.  A good move form the Rapids before the Superdraft.

Secondly the Rapids announced their pre-season schedule today.  Camp opens later than expected on January 24th (maybe due to the rescheduling of the season opener, causing the Rapids to have an extra week before their first game?) with the players starting on fitness testing and training.  They'll head to Houston for a scrimmage with the Dynamo on Groundhog Day, return to Denver for a few days, head to Vegas for friendlies against Chivas USA and UNLV, then end up in Tucson for the Desert Diamond Cup matches in the second half of February.  Then its back to Denver before the season opener on March 15th in NY.  Here's the full schedule:

Sunday Feb 2nd, 10am MST - Houston Dynamo - Houston, TX
Friday Feb 14th, TBD - UNLV - Las Vegas, NV
Sunday Feb 16th, 8pm MST - Chivas USA - Las Vegas, NV - Las Vegas ProSoccerChallenge
Wednesday Feb 19th, 3:30pm MST - Chicago Fire - Tucson, AZ - Desert Diamond Cup
Saturday Feb 22nd, 1pm MST - FC Tucson - Tucson, AZ - Desert Diamond Cup

Wednesday Feb 26th, 3:30pm MST - New England Revs - Tucson, AZ - Desert Diamond Cup

Saturday Mar 1st, TBD - Final DDC Game - Tucson, AZ - Desert Diamond Cup

Assuming no other big news from the team tomorrow I'll have a quick preview of Thursday's Superdraft tomorrow night.

Coaching Search Hints

Lots of tweets and inside information today on how this coaching search is going to go.  First from ESPN's Jeff Carlisle on Twitter:

#Rapids Prez Tim Hinchey w/re: to hiring new mgr: "We’re going to take our time. We’re going to be very considerate and deliberate." #mls

 More Hinchey: "We want to find the next coach that’s going to be here for a decade...That maybe this is their dream job." #Rapids #mls

Hinchey stated that he would sit down with TD Paul Bravo in Philly to begin discussing candidates. #Rapids#mls

Hinchey also added that #Rapids may appoint an interim mgr prior to naming someone full time. #Rapids#mls

Hinchey: Pareja's move to Dallas was "all on Oscar". Added he was disappointed professionally, but understood family factors. #Rapids #mls

Then from MLSSoccer.com's Chris Bianchi on Twitter:

#Rapids will not pursue tampering charges against #FCD over Pareja pursuit. Hinchey says FCD acted “very professionally” through process...

#Rapids won’t sit down to discuss coaching candidates until next week. Bravo NOT candidate to be an interim HC...

Tim Hinchey on whether ex-#Rapids player more likely to get HC job: “Yeah, I think so”. Team wants a long-term solution...

Appears Mastroeni could be candidate for position. Ultimately Bravo’s decision, but was not ruled out by Hinchey just now. #Rapids

Long-term. RT @DoubleOhNegatve: @Rapids_News Do you mean Pablo as interim or long time HC?

Appears #Rapids will go with ex-player (Fraser, Spencer, Mastroeni in mix) in coaching search. Team wants ex-player for longevity purposes.

Team feels that an ex-player has best chance at sticking around long term - perhaps feeling a bit burned by Pareja’s surprise departure.

No RT @JasenAsay: @Rapids_News Balboa?

Finally, a BigSoccer post from Buffbollocks, who has seemed to have some inside info int he past, and none of this contradicts what we've seen so far:

1. Pareja gave the FO his word he was committed and wanted to be here long term. Things changed when Pareja asked for one vanity hire that made no sense at all, and when Dallas continued to pursue through indirect channels. He's not going to make much more in Dallas, if any. 

2. Pareja had little to no say in last years draft, and the Rapids believe in the model of a strong technical staff to make player evaluations/decisions, and a manager to cook with the groceries they buy for him (to use the Bill Parcells analogy)

3. The Dutch technical guy they just brought in (name escapes me right now) is going to have an active role with whatever manager is selected in terms of game day tactics. For this reason, the Rapids are looking for a strong man manager/motivator and someone not simply looking at the post as a short-term stepping stone. 

4. There has been a very expansive and active search, I've seen at least 6 names, foreign and domestic, and they're looking to make the "right" hire based on their criteria and plan. Disagree with the plan all you want, I have a few questions myself, but to imply there hasn't been a plan or they're somehow scrambling is not accurate.

5. Rapids technical staff already working hard on draft evaluations and there is the possibility of one very exciting young player from a premier league side joining on loan with an option to buy. Obviously the manager will have some say on personnel, but they really are building an organization and structure when personnel decisions are made by Bravo and team. 

And later:

 Tampering is a bit strong, but Dan Hunt didn't exactly handle things the right way. Given KSE's respect for the Hunt family generally though, once Dallas coughs up the buyout and some extra compensation...Rapids will probably let sleeping dogs lie.

So where does that leave us?  With a very narrow set of requirements for the next coach.  Somebody who wants to be in Colorado for a decade, who's happy just being a coach and not having full control over the roster, and who will have to come in to the team late this season.  Obvious choices are Pablo, Fraser, and Spencer, with the Dely Valdes' still being an option I suppose.  Beyond that....?  *crickets*

Personally this feels like the Rapids didn't have a plan for what to do if OP left, even though they had to know the possibility existed as long as the Dallas job remained open.  The idea that they won't even sit down to discuss coaching candidates until "next week", after preseason training camp has opened, is mind-boggling.  At best the coach is going to be a good two weeks into preseason before he even arrives in Colorado, and the Rapids are seriously considering an interim coach.

The early part of the 2014 season has disaster written all over it.  Either there will be a coach still trying to integrate with the team or an interim coach that could leave at any moment.  Either situation does not lend itself to a stable team ready to put up points.  Bravo and Hinchey are really going out on a limb here, they could be throwing away a season that could be very successful with this roster with this plan.  Maybe they're on the right track, but I don't believe they are.  They really need to pull off an amazing hire to make this plan worth it.

Jamie Smith Retires, Both He and Pablo Join Staff

Some good news on the staffing front today.  Jamie Smith announced his retirement from playing and immediately joined the Rapids Academy as a coach.  He'll be working with the next group of Dillon Sernas and Shane O'Neills.  Also today Pablo Mastroeni was hired as Special Assistant to the Technical Director (that being Paul Bravo).  He'll jump in immediately helping Bravo and Metgod scout the combine and handle the SuperDraft next week.  He is not considered a candidate for the head coaching position (good IMO).

Great to see two former players helping the club after retirement.  Prior to these only two former players (other than Bravo) had ever joined the Rapids staff in a technical capacity, Steve Trittschuh as an assistant from '02-'06, and David Kramer as an assistant in '08.  It would be a good development if former players wanted to stay involved with the Rapids.  I'm very pleased to see both of these guys, particularly the greatest Rapid of all time, working with the team.

Pareja Officially Out

The Rapids and Dallas just made it official 20 minutes ago.  Dallas buys out Pareja's contract and send allocation money and their second 2015 first-round Superdraft pick to Colorado and hired Oscar Pareja as their coach.  The Rapids are now looking for a coach, and reports are they're going to take a while.

A decent return for a position the Rapids never should have been in.  This was poorly handled by everyone, the Rapids (who hired somebody with a reported buyout, then had no plan when that buyout was exercised)., Pareja (who told Colorado he wanted to stay, up until 2 weeks before preseason started, leaving the team without a coach), and Dallas (who couldn't help but leak information and stir the pot, though they probably handled it the best).

More on the staff additions today shortly, but while the Draft seems to be in capable hands it appears that we'll open preseason a week from Monday without a coach, which can't be spun as anything but bad.  I don't understand how the Rapids (assuming the report about Pareja's contract having a buyout is correct) didn't have a plan in the works the moment Hyndman announced he was leaving.  It appears they were caught completely flat-footed a week ago and they've been scrambling since then.  Even if they had a plan and saw this coming, the handling of this week with the complete silence except for spinning through well placed leaks makes it appear that they were bumbling through the saga.  An embarrassing week from the FO finally comes to an end.

Busy News And Rumors Day

Lots of news, lots of rumors.  We'll start with what has been reported.

• Wilmer Cabrera is hired as the new Chivas USA coach

No real surprise after the rumors of the last two days.  It does knock one name off the likely coaching list for the Rapids.

• Red Bull NY has not been asked about Fraser

A bit of a surprise since Fraser seemed to be the early leader for the Rapids job in rumors.  Take another one off the list.

• Colorado hires John Metgod as consultant

This one is more than a bit odd and came out of left field.  Rumors have him working with a future USL team that will be the Rapids affiliate, and possibly partly-owned by them.  Looking at his resume though, he'd make a good head coaching candidate.  Regardless, a good mind to have helping the Rapids.

Now on to the rumors, some of them stronger than the others:

• Jamie Smith hired as Academy coach 

This one seems the strongest of the rumors, with multiple people who know Smith confirming it.  A good move for a guy who was probably going to retire.

• Mullan to be re-signed as player/coach

Reportedly MLS has made a new player designation in recent years for veteran players transitioning to coaching where not all their salary counts against the cap.  Smith was supposed to be in that role last season but something happened, and Mullan will take it this season.  Great way to bring back and experienced vet.

• Pareja's buyout (which was in his contract) could be announced as soon as tomorrow.  The Rapids will get cash, allocation money, and a first round pick probably in next year's draft.

Solid, if not spectacular, package for all of this.  Reportedly the Rapids will turn some of that allocation money around to bring in some players on loan.  They may be using some of the cash for Metgod as well.

And a story I missed covering in the holiday last week, but Chris Klute and Shane O'Neill got callups to the January US National Team camp, and Dillon Powers was also called up but sadly had to pass due to ongoing concussion issues.  Scary to think that he's still dealing with the issue at this point, especially after Pablo's issues in 2012.  Hopefully he gets better soon.  Great to see 3 young Rapids getting the callup though, things are looking up on that front.

Pareja Leaving, Harris Traded, Cabrera Out?

First the coaching drama.  Newest updates from Chris Bianchi on Twitter:

Pareja is still officially #Rapids coach. But he’s not coming back. Zero chance. Zilch. Nada.

Not for sure, but I’d expect something by Friday. RT @jpatrickrosch: @Rapids_News any word on when this might officially be resolved?

Also today from Ives (who struck out on the last Rapids coach leaving rumor, so take with a grain of salt:

Sources tell me Chivas USA closing in on making Colorado #Rapids assistant Wilmer Cabrera new head coach. Final decision expected soon #MLS

So that pretty much tells us that Pareja is on his way to Dallas and Cabrera won't be his replacement.  At this point I figure that's going on is either Dallas and Colorado are still agreeing on the compensation for buying out Pareja or the Rapids are trying to get the deal done with the new head coach before letting Pareja go.

The only new "rumor" on a possible replacement beyond Robin Fraser (meh) or John Spencer (no!) is the idea that they might be looking at Julio and/or Jorge Dely Valdes.  There's been no leak of this information or anything but a number of different people are talking about how it would be a good move, so I think there's a little smoke here.  Most recently the Dely Valdes twins have been leading Panama (Julio as head coach, Jorge as assistant and youth coach) but Julio was fired and Jorge demoted just to youth coach after Panama failed to qualify for the World Cup.  Jorge played in Colorado for 2 years in 1999 and 2000 and was a fan favorite, scoring 17 goals in 52 games.  The twins were also reportedly influential in finally getting Gabriel Torres to Colorado.

This feel like a real long shot to me, but if the Rapids were to pull it off it would be the MLS equivalent of Washington losing Steve Sarkisian and signing Chris Petersen last month.  Either or both would be the first names I've seen to replace Pareja that I feel like might be an upgrade.

Also on the coaching front, Jamie Smith was spotted at the Rapids local combine the last two days on the sidelines with a clipboard helping to evaluate players.  Don't be surprised if he's added as an assistant coach or player/coach this year.

On to the actual news and not rumors of the day.  The Rapids traded Atiba Harris to San Jose for Martin Chavez.  The Rapids will reportedly also pick up some of Harris' 2014 salary.  Even with that this is a win for Colorado.  Its no secret that I thought picking up Harris last year was a bat move and that I think Harris is a hack, so getting a player like Chavez, who, when healthy, can be an all-star player is a steal.  Chavez had injury problems last year and apparently made it known that he wasn't happy with the coaches at the end of the season.

Both players make about the same amount of money and both have green cards, so the only real difference in cap and roster hits is the amount of Harris' salary we're eating.  Chavez is more of a true winger than Harris was so he'll slot right into Harris old spot on the wing and start whipping in crosses, taking on players on the dribble, and taking free kicks.

Bianchi also reports the following on the trade:

Bravo/FO. Not Oscar. RT @Kenton_Lee: @Rapids_News in charge? So did he make the Atiba-Chavez trade or was that Bravo or both?

So apparently the FO is already moving on.

Pareja Resigning(?): Day 3

Monday hit and brought nothing.  The only bit of news on the Pareja front was Chris Bianchi tweeting he was attending a Denver-area player combine presumably for the Rapids.  So apparently Ives report on Monday was a bit off as Oscar appears to still be the coach of the Rapids as of this morning.

My guess is that on Friday the decision was finalized that Pareja would go to Dallas but he did not resign.  Either the Rapids and Dallas are still working on the compensation to buy him out (and/or deal with any possible tampering charge) or Colorado is waiting to release him until they have his replacement lined up.

If I were Colorado I'd set up the new coach but not let Pareja go to Dallas until the end of next week, to prevent him from taking any scouting knowledge to Dallas prior to the Superdraft next week.  Let Bravo run the draft, possibly with the new coach present as a "special advisor" then the next day make the coaching move.

One other bit of news today was a rumor that a trade was going to announced by the Rapids this afternoon.  Nothing happened but maybe we'll see something on that front in the next day or two.  If so my money would be on Wynne or Pickens leaving.  It will be hard for the Rapids to keep both Pickens and Irwin, and probably a waste of salary.  Wynne is just a gut feel based on some talk floating around near the end of the season.

Radio Silence

Apparently the Rapids are using submarine tactics to deal with the on-going Pareja rumors this weekend.  Not a peep out of the Front Office on the report of Pareja stepping down despite repeated requests from every quarter stretching from MLSSoccer.com down to yours truly.  Tim Hinchey and Richard Fleming have been tweeting this weekend, but nothing about the Rapids.

Colorado will have to come out blazing tomorrow though, no more holiday weeks to hide behind for anyone and you have to assume Pareja or Dallas will be talking.  They need to get a handle on this story as its been a bad weekend for the club.  The fans (including myself) have spent the last two days reading the tea leaves and piecing together various leaks from both Commerce City and Frisco.  Generally the picture being revealed hasn't been positive for most fans.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Pareja Steps Down

Per goal.com, Pareja stepped down as Rapids coach yesterday.  No official word from the Rapids yet.  This is, obviously, now a worst case scenario with the Caribbean combine going on, the college combine starting late next week, and the Superdraft less than 2 weeks away.  I'm sure as the days go buy we'll get the "real" story as to what happens, but we still have a bunch of conflicting reports.  Regardless the Rapids should never have allowed themselves to get into this position.  The only way they are (relatively) blameless is if there was no official or unofficial buyout clause, Pareja truly wanted to stay in November, and they did give him the contract extension and raise.  That's what I would expect a competent Front Office to do.  If they failed to do any of that though, they drove themselves into this hole.

Looking forward, 3 names have been floated for coaches:

• Wilmer Cabrera, current(?) Rapids assistant coach: Reports are that his contract ended at midnight on New Year's Eve and he turned down an extension while Pareja's future was being sorted out.  My guess is then he doesn't want to stay, even as head coach, but he would be the best choice for continuity.
• Robin Fraser, current NY Red Bulls assistant coach: He was one of two finalists for the FSL job that went to Jeff Cassar and has been mentioned in other coaching searches in the last couple of years.  He has head coaching experience when he led Chivas USA, before being fired, and he will be a head coach again very soon.  He has Rapids ties, having played here from 2001-2003, and from 1990-1995 he played with the Colorado Foxes.  If Cabrera is out of the running he would be my next choice.
• John Spencer, currently unemployed: Before hiring Pareja the Rapids tried to sign Spencer away from Portland but were rebuffed by the Timbers.  Spencer was fired later the following season.  Obvious Rapids ties given his time playing here and was a fan-favorite.  That said he would be a horrible choice with our current roster construction.  In Portland he favored the English-style kick-and-run/route 1 football similar to how Gary Smith constructed the roster.  With Pareja's possession-oriented roster it would be a disaster.

More information as it becomes available, but the Rapids 2014 season just went into a tailspin.  time for Bravo and Hinchey to earn their money and get the ship righted ASAP.