With two-thirds of the New York Red Bulls pre-season schedule completed and a future trip to Arizona on the horizon, a report through Twitter from Steven Goff of The Washington Post surprised people earlier this week. The news that assistant coach Richie Williams and goalkeeper coach Des McAleenan had been relieved of their duties.
It was later confirmed from Goff as well as through other media outlets. The original report was that both assistant coaches were fired due to violating code of conduct rules or punctuality. Sporting Director Erik Soler confirmed the move: “As an organization, we decided to go a different direction with our coaching staff.”
Whatever the reason for letting them go, I believe it was not the right time to do it with the regular season starting within a week or two. But right now, the only people remaining on Hans Backe’s staff is new assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsen and recently retired Mike Petke from a defensive assistant to a higher position in the organization. But hopefully whoever fills the space left by Williams and McAleenan will be just as good.
