Robin Fraser Returning To Colorado?

Kristian Dyer of ESPN FC is reporting that former Rapids defender Robin Fraser is the lead candidate to be the next head coach, with Smith going in front of Stan later this week to get final sign off.  Fraser played for the Rapids from 2001-2003.  He also played for the Galaxy and the Crew.  After retiring as a player he was an assistant coach for the Red Bulls for four seasons before taking the head coaching job with Chivas USA.  In two seasons he was 15-21-32 (W-D-L) but you have to take into account that Chivas USA was a poorly run team,, even by Rapids standards.  Since then he went back to his assistant role with the Red Bulls before moving to Toronto FC as an assistant since 2015.

This hire would be a good move by the Rapids and one I suggested both post-Pareja and post-Pablo.  He has a ton of MLS experience, he's been a head coach before, and bonus, he's a former Rapid.  This isn't like our last four coaches who had no real club head coaching experience before and (outside of Pareja) had no real coaching experience of any type in MLS.  He'll come in knowing the league and the players and knowing what it means to be a head coach.  He's also going to be fairly cheap for a MLS coach so that fits the rumors of a limited budget.  Fraser has developed a reputation as a bit of a tactical whiz, which this team could use.  The real question left is how he'll handle the youth movement in Commerce City.

If things are as far along as the report suggests I can see Fraser being announced either late this week or early next week.  I expect that regardless of the time of the announcement Casey will lead the team through the two games remaining this week and maybe even the week after against Minnesota.  After that the Rapids have two weeks with only a USOC game due to the Gold Cup break which will be a great time for a new coach to step in.