Warzycha likely to replace Schmid

COLUMBUS -- If he moves into the job vacated this week by head coach Sigi Schmid, one of the first tasks for current Columbus Crew assistant coach Robert Warzycha would be to determine if his former position would be filled.

Warzycha is the favorite to replace Schmid, who decided to seek employment elsewhere -- possibly with the expansion Seattle Sounders FC -- after leading the Crew to their first MLS championship last month.

Schmid is out of contract and the issue of a charge of tampering reportedly brought against Seattle would have to be resolved before he can complete a deal with the Sounders.

"The team is still working on the Sigi situation then will go forward with the hiring of a coach," Warzycha said. "I am one of the candidates but absolutely nothing has been resolved yet.

"I think that (being the head coach) would be best for me. I made it clear a long time ago I needed to spend some time in Columbus coaching. At some point I've said I want to be a head coach. That is a normal progression if you are an assistant. That is the perfect situation for me."

Technical director Brian Bliss feels the Crew can survive without filling the No. 2 position that Warzycha currently holds because of changes in the way MLS will operate in 2009.

Instead of 18 first-team players and 10 on the developmental roster, the new rules will allow clubs to have between 18-20 full-time players -- depending on their salary cap situations -- and up to four developmental players. The net result is a reduction in the roster to 24 from 28 and the elimination of the reserve division.

"I personally wouldn't add an assistant coach under those circumstances but that will be something for the new coach to decide," Bliss said.

Bliss, an assistant at Kansas City for six years before becoming the Wizards' interim head coach midway through the 2006 season, said he would like to be a head coach again but now is not the time, noting he has been in his current position less than a year.

However, he said if his responsibilities as technical director were greatly reduced -- which at this point no one in the organization has considered -- he would be open to being an assistant if, for example, Warzycha wanted to make him his replacement.

"Robert's ready to lead this team. He's put in his time and done all the right things," he said.

Warzycha, the Crew's interim coach for the last three months of the 2005 season after Greg Andrulis was released, has been second-in-command since Schmid was named head coach in October of that year.

The remainder of the staff this past season included goalkeeper coach Vadim Kirillov and Mike Lapper, who like Warzycha is a former Crew player.

Schmid said he does not anticipate taking any of the staff with him if he gets the job in Seattle because most are under contract with the Crew.

"If I decided to do that I'd have to let the Crew know we're considering it," he said. "It's been a great support staff. I wish soccer in this country were at the point where if the head coach moves you take the support staff with you. That's the way it's done in Europe. Unfortunately, with the way finances are with lot of people, they would find it difficult going cross country. It's not feasible."

Crew president/general manager Mark McCullers said Warzycha was a viable candidate in 2005 before Schmid was hired but that the timing then was not right.

Every Crew head coach prior to Schmid had been a promoted assistant since the firing of the original coach Timo Liekoski with 10 games left in the 1996 season. Tom Fitzgerald took over and lasted until early in 2001 season when Andrulis replaced him.

"This is how we envisioned things playing out to a certain extent three years ago when we brought Sigi on," McCullers said. "We needed somebody then with a different perspective, an outside perspective with experience and who could do some fairly drastic things to get us headed in the right direction.

"You look back on it, those were the objectives and as an organization we achieved those things in large part due to Sigi. Moving forward, we're looking to build on the foundation that has been laid. Continuity is an important thing. You look at Robert and what he brings to the table. He knows this team. He's helped make this team successful. He was extremely influential in making this team successful.

"We're in a different situation now. We've accomplished a lot of those things so it would make more sense to make a move that supported continuity than more that it supported change."

Warzycha said he is not taking for granted that the job is his. He has not consulted with Houston coach Dominic Kinnear on how he handled moving from being a Dynamo (at the time the San Jose Earthquakes) assistant to replacing a popular and successful coach. Kinnear took over for Frank Yallop in 2004 after San Jose won two titles in three years and guided Houston to the 2006 and '07 championships.

"No, the first thing before I make a call I have to get the job. I don't want to get ahead of myself and look stupid. First things first," Warzycha said. "If I do get the job I'm going to call Dominic and a few other people and ask for advice but not right now."

If Warzycha becomes head coach he will also use what he learned from watching Schmid firsthand for three seasons.

"He runs the team very well," Warzycha said. "The players have to buy into what you're doing. They have to trust you and believe in you. It's not only better for the team but for the players. They backed him and trusted him.

"If you approach it the right way then you're going to have success. That's what he did. He identified early that the way were we were going was the right way to win a championship and he was right."

The new Crew coach should have an experienced core to work with. The re-signing of league and MLS Cup MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto was massive. Defender Danny O'Rourke got a new deal but central midfielder Brad Evans was lost to Seattle in the expansion draft.

MLS Defender of the Year Chad Marshall is on a trial with Mainz of the German second division but Bliss is hopeful the out-of-contract player will re-sign.

If he does, Bliss thinks the Crew will have "14 or 15" of its top returnees then try to fill the roster from there to reach the maximum 20 on the senior squad. The team could go with 18 or 19 and pay a few players more but Bliss feels with team's entry in the 2009 CONCACAF Champions League a deeper roster, albeit thinner in the wallet for those in the final roster spots, is the way to go.

Warzycha's knowledge of the roster will be an asset when he likely assumes control. So, too, will be his understanding of how things work within the organization.

Schmid expressed frustration upon his departure that the team was unable to complete plans for a new training center. Ideas have been thrown around for two years but the goal of having a bigger complex by the 2010 season grow dimmer each week and with the sour economy municipalities are unlikely to share in the cost anytime soon.

Also, Crew Stadium celebrates its 10-year anniversary in May but it remains without naming rights attached and most of the parking around the venue, including the team's lot, is unpaved despite the organization's efforts to get the state of Ohio to do something.

McCullers said he is trying to be patient, just as he hopes the fans are with the coaching switch after Schmid led the team to its most successful season.

"I think our fans understand what we've been doing the past three or four years to try and put the best product on the field that we can and trying to be a professional soccer club in every sense of the word," McCullers said. "I think they see it and I think they support it and I think everyone has a positive eye toward the future."