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We’re starting to get clarity on the timeline for Real Salt Lake’s coaching hire, with ESPN reporter Jeff Carlisle giving a timeframe: the “next 10 days to 2 weeks,” he said on Twitter.
Should that timeline hold — and if Fall is speaking to reporters about it, we have every reason to suspect it will — that could put the hire at earliest as just before RSL’s next match: a home match against Colorado Rapids on Oct. 16.
He also gave a list of candidates, with two notable additions to the already-known list. The first is former FC Dallas coach Luchi Gonzalez, who was fired by his club on Sept. 19. The second is longtime MLS coach Dominic Kinnear, who has coached San Jose Earthquakes and Houston Dynamo, as well as two interim stints as LA Galaxy head coach. Kinnear is MLS’s fourth-winningest coach.
That list of known names is enumerated by Carlisle: Landon Donovan, Jason Kreis, Pat Noonan, as well as Kinnear and Gonzalez. Interestingly, Kinnear coached Donovan and Gonzalez.
We’ll keep listening for more on this, of course. RSL Communications had no additional comment beyond what Fall told Carlisle.
Spoke w/#RSL GM Elliott Fall. Said RSL will try to make a decision on manager in "next 10 days to 2 weeks." Added there are 5-6 finalists. He wouldn't ID them specifically, but said they had spoken to: Mastroeni, Donovan, Kreis, Kinnear, Noonan as well as Luchi Gonzalez. (1/x)
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) October 5, 2021
I asked Fall if Gonzalez was a candidate for any other position given his experience at the academy level. Fall said, "We're interviewing for a head coaching position right now. We're not looking for any other positions." #RSL
— Jeff Carlisle (@JeffreyCarlisle) October 5, 2021