Hansen: "I think the odds are Garth will stay" and why we hope he's right

Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen says he wants to keep Garth Lagerwey at the club.

Quite frankly, he's not the only one. We understand the difficulties of keeping a highly ambitious general manager. We understand the difficulties of keeping someone who is one of the best at his job.

This isn't limited to American-based general managers. Clubs the world over would benefit from someone of Lagerwey's caliber. He's versed in law — having been an attorney for a short time himself before joining Real Salt Lake — and he's incredibly bright. He's experienced as a player and has a good sense of what it takes to succeed, even if his career trajectory didn't hit the heights of those he's brought into MLS.

He's a rare talent. And while we know we recognize that, there are plenty of indications that our money-laden owner agrees, going so far on Sunday as to describe him as at "the pinnacle" of general managerdom.

The word on the street — from the owner himself, really — is that Lagerwey would like to at some point take over a club as president. Who can blame him? It would be a new sort of challenge, and maybe it would be one that gave him more rewards than the grueling salary cap negotiation that is MLS.

Perhaps thankfully, Dell Loy Hansen is feeling confident about Lagerwey's remaining at Real Salt Lake.

"I think the odds are Garth will stay," Hansen told KUTV's Talkin' Sports. "But at the same time, we both agreed at the beginning of the season, let's win this season and then let's see what the opportunities are."

We might point to the Jason Kreis situation of last year as a counterbalance to any optimism we have. And that should play into our thinking, certainly. We don't want to count our chickens before they hatch and all that. Indications, after all, were that Kreis would stay, signing on for the longer term. It didn't happen. Obviously.

But let's remember, it was the unexpected addition of New York City FC to MLS that set those wheels in motion. Maybe there are fewer things to have to anticipate this time around.

But hey, it's a tricky game, and anything could happen at this point. But at least we have some small reason to be optimistic about the future at Real Salt Lake. We don't know what the future holds, and maybe that's half the fun. But if your nerves are frayed by this whole shebang, you're not alone.