Mike Petke Sacked By Red Bulls
When Thierry Henry retired from the New York Red Bulls everyone expected change, however change often comes in the way you least expect. Confirmed reports have come in stating that manager Mike Petke has been sacked. Despite making it to the MLS cup semi-finals on the back of Henry and new DP Bradley Wright-Phillips, management seems to have a different direction in mind for the club.
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With Henry gone and Australian international Tim Cahill currently 35 years old, I believe that the club sees this as a changing of the guard. While Petke didn’t fail in any aspect, he failed to make it to the finals and, most importantly, win the cup. With only one MLS cup appearance, a 1-3 loss to Columbus Crew in 2008, the club and fans are desperate for that first trophy.
Even though New England was in top form during the playoffs, there was no reason that New York couldn’t walk out of there with a win and a chance to battle LA Galaxy for the trophy. Those two games summarized Petke’s last season in which little errors and missed opportunity sunk a team loaded with talent. The fans noticed this which meant management did so as well.
It didn’t take long for a new replacement to be named. Sources have confirmed that former Montreal Impact manager Jesse Marsch to take the reigns of the talent loaded Red Bulls Roster. Of course, Marsch only has one year of coaching to his record. While it was a great season that ended with a mutual split between Marsch and the Impact, doubt will likely remain whether an inexperienced coach can fulfill the high expectations of the New York fan base.
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I think the move to land Marsch, combined with the new GM receiving a one year contract points to a club in desperation. Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated recently talked about a potential selling of the club. While this does seem outlandish at first glance, the moves make method of the madness.
With New York FC now sharing the same market as the Red Bulls there is now a competition to see who stays and who packs up and leaves. New York has David Villa and Frank Lampard which will draw more people than BWP and Tim Cahill will. This could easily be a draw to show the fan base that the club is not going to remain stagnant and be as entertaining as NYCFC will.
If NYRB is going to be on the selling block it won’t be for a couple of years. The Red Bulls have a dedicated fan base and staying power. If the Marsch experiment were to fail and the Red Bulls miss the playoffs for two straight years then a sale might enter the discussion. In the meantime, everyone in the MLS is about to see a new Red Bull team. For better or worse.