FC Dallas might lose Toja to Europe

Is Juan Toja about to play his final match as a MLS player?

Rumor has it that the longhair midfielder will fly to Romania tonight, after the All-Star match, to finish a deal with Romanian powerhouse Steaua Bucharest.

Then again, it is just a rumor. Accord to FCD coach Schellas Hyndman, "I expect him here to play against LA (on Sunday)."

Although this season has not been as strong as the first half of last year, Toja is still a vital part of Dallas's attack. If he does decide to move on to Europe, FCD will have a difficult time replacing him.

Then there is the ongoing speculation that teammate Kenny Cooper might also be soon to fly across the Atlantic. Those rumors have died down of late, but if both of these ended up being true, it is hard to see a way for Dallas to finish the season in a commanding fashion.

Is the face of FC Dallas about to change in a major way? We'll know within a week.

FC Dallas hires Hyndman as coach

After years of talk, SMU's Schellas Hyndman is the new coach of FC Dallas. Hyndman is the fifth coach for the Dallas franchise and was the college coach of FCD owner Clark Hunt. Hyndman had 24 solid years at SMU, however he never reached the NCAA soccer finals.

This move comes at a time when FCD is playing below their talent level. With the exception of Kenny Cooper, few players have been consistent threw the first half of the season and their defense is still prone to weakness (but then again, so are most in the West).

Hyndman will need to figure out many things quickly including how to make FCD's midfield competitive, but his biggest short-term test might be surviving August. With three of the team's four games on the road and with Dallas's history of faltering during the month, Hyndman will need to work fast. The good news for him, the club has a very light July (only three games) and all are in Frisco.

I'm still concerned that Hyndman doesn't bring the influence needed to change the system in Dallas, but I do hope I am wrong. Perhaps the Dallas soccer icon can make it finally happen for FCD.

FC Dallas has three finalists for coaching job

Now that Luiz Felipe Scolari has taken his name out of the running, FC Dallas has narrowed their search for a new head coach to three. They are current SMU college coach Schellas Hyndman, former Dallas player Oscar Pareja and former Chicago Fire coach Dave Sarachan. If rumors are true, Hyndman is the favorite.

General manager Michael Hitchcock says the team is in the final stages of negotiations and expects to name a new boss early next week.

In what could just be bigger news, Hitchcock also said that the new hire would only serve as coach as they will also hire a technical director. Hitchcock's reason, "You need a different perspective, different set of eyes, different skill set or otherwise it would be no different that what we've done in the past."

It is a smart move to divide the duties, however I still wonder about their final coaching candidates as none of them really strike me as people who can turn the team into champions. Sarachan has the most experience and had some quality time with Chicago, but the Fire never looked like a force during his tenure. Pareja was a wonderful player for Dallas, but his coaching experience is very limited. As far as Hyndman, like I said last week, I don't know if he brings the respect needed to succeed at the top level.

Anyway, it looks like this Sunday's match against Chicago will be interim coach Marco Ferruzzi's last one.

FC Dallas interviews SMU's Hyndman for coaching job

What would a FC Dallas search for a new coach be without Schellas Hyndman? Hyndman has coached SMU's men's soccer team since 1984 and is highly respected in the Dallas area as well as college soccer, thus the reason FCD always look his way when the top job is vacant.

He was previously linked to club after the Jeffries dismissal (2003) and the Clarke toss (2006), so is the third time the charm?

In his 24 years at SMU, the team has never had a losing season and are constantly one of the better college sides, however they have never won or even played for a national championship. Hyndman would bring with him a good knowledge of the up and coming college players as well as a divine love of the 4-4-2 formation, but is that enough for MLS?

With the league's hirer profile and bigger names, I'm not sure giving the controls to someone without professional level management experience is the best idea (for a explanation of this, look no further then Steve Morrow).

The next manager of FCD needs to be someone that can come in and command respect from the players, but I'm not sure Hyndman, for all his positives, is the person who can do that.

By the way, former FCD manager and current Puerto Rican national team coach Colin Clarke saw his side fall 4-0 to Honduras last night in World Cup Qualifying. The second leg will take place on the 14th in Puerto Rico.

After 5-1 defeat to LA, FC Dallas fire Morrow

Less then 48-hours after one of the worst results in club history, FC Dallas have sacked head coach Steve Morrow. Morrow took over Dallas after the team fired Colin Clarke in 2006. His MLS record stands at 15-17-8.

Assistant coach Marco Feruzzi will take over till a perminant replacement is found.

Although Dallas got off to a decent start during the first couple weeks of their 2008 campaign, they have only managed 1 point from their last four matches. Combine that with the bad taste from 2007 (including the Denilson debacle, even though that was more of managements design) and you have all the reasons Morrow is looking for a new job.

During his year and a half in change, Morrow never really figured out the FC Dallas back line problem. Also, even though he showed some strength in benching Ruiz for parts of last season, he never seemed to be in control of the club.

As far as replacements, SMU coach Schellas Hyndman will be in the mix, like he always is whenever Dallas looks for a new manager, but he probably will not bit yet again. That should open things up. My guess is it will be someone with limited to little head coaching history.

As far as Morrow, maybe he can still get the job at Walsall.