On the heels of an embarrassing 5-1 loss to David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy before a record crowd at Pizza Hut Park last Sunday, FC Dallas general manager Michael Hitchcock has just fired head coach Steve Morrow.
Morrow will be replaced by fourth-year assistant coach Marco Ferruzzi on an interim basis. Ferruzzi will make his debut Saturday in Frisco against Real Salt Lake.
After opening the season with two wins and two ties, FC Dallas is in the midst of a four-game winless streak. The Hoops are 2-3-3, in fourth place in the MLS Western Conference.
Says Hitchcock, “We have set high standards, expectations, and goals for this team and organization. I feel that the team was not heading in the direction we had planned, and believe it is in the best interest of the club to make a coaching change at this time.”
Morrow was introduced as the club’s fourth head coach on December 11, 2006. In his first season, FC Dallas posted a 13-12-5 record (44 points) and finished in third place in the Western Conference. The team advanced to the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship game for the third time, falling 3-2 to the New England Revolution at Pizza Hut Park. FC Dallas advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a league-record tying 10th time in history, but was eliminated in the Conference Semifinals by eventual MLS Cup Champions Houston Dynamo.
I bumped into FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper last Saturday night at the Frisco RoughRiders game, but he was too busy fighting off the females to talk serious soccer. Maybe it was the hard(?) hit on Beckham and ensuing almost-brawl that so irked Hitchcock.
Which begs the question, does anybody really care? -- Richie Whitt
