Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid mystified by NYCFC report
TUKWILA, Wash. – Coach a professional sports team and there will be rumors.
Lose, and there are reports you’re on your way out. Win, and there are reports you’re on your way out.
Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid has done a lot of winning over the course of his Hall of Fame career. And broadcaster Shep Messing this week cited unidentified sources saying Schmid might be headed to expansion New York City FC.
Yes, NYCFC has a coach, but the sources solved that nicely by also reporting that current New York coach Jason Kreis could be headed to Seattle, where he would be reunited with former Real Salt Lake boss Garth Lagerwey, now the Sounders’ general manger.
“I think they were started by Shep Messing, so I think that’s all you really need to say,” Schmid said Thursday when asked about the report. “I don’t know. There’s nothing I know about it, so what can I tell you?”
Messing is a former NASL goalkeeper and current color commentator who made his report Wednesday during coverage of New York’s 2-1 win over Montreal.
His reporting didn’t go over any better on the other side of the country.
“I thought it was an absolutely ludicrous statement and unfounded,” Kreis told New York-area media. “I have no knowledge of that information at all, and I kind of scratch my head because at the end of the day I’m very happy here.”
Less specific speculation also has come up – and inevitably will continue to come up – linking Schmid with the LAFC expansion franchise that has been awarded to Los Angeles – where Schmid’s coaching career started and blossomed, first at UCLA and then with the L.A. Galaxy.
Schmid was asked about that, too.
“L.A. is not until 2018, for one,” he said. “And secondly, I love it up here in Seattle, and I’m really enjoying myself here and my time here. There’s nothing I want to do more than deliver an MLS Cup to the fans here.”
Added time
The Sounders went through a third straight day of training Thursday at Starfire Sports Complex, and on Friday they begin a run of three days off. They’ll return Monday, preparing for their Oct. 18 match at Houston and their final run through the season and – they hope – the postseason. “Just wanted to keep playing, keep the guys in rhythm, and now take a little bit of a break – as much a mental break as anything else – and then get ready for the final push.” … Starting central defender Chad Marshall jogged beside the training pitch Thursday, continuing his way back from a neck sprain suffered last week. … Seattle Reign midfielder Mariah Bullock has announced her retirement from professional soccer after three seasons in the National Women’s Soccer League. Bullock made 28 appearances and 10 starts in the recently completed 2015 season. … Sounders 2 coach Ezra Hendrickson has been named an assistant for St. Vincent and the Grenadines national team, which he had captained for 12 seasons. The nation is in CONCACAF Group C for 2018 World Cup qualifiers, along with the United States, Guatemala, and Trinidad and Tobago. … The United States’ women’s national team will hold a free and open training session at 5 p.m. Oct. 20 at CenturyLink Field in advance of its friendly with Brazil, 7 p.m. Oct. 21.