There is nothing interim about this game. But when the Kansas City Wizards travel to face the New York Red Bulls on Saturday, the benches of both teams will have a different man in charge than when the teams played to a draw on June 3.
Brian Bliss will direct the Wizards in a game for the first time since he was appointed interim coach on Wednesday following Bob Gansler's resignation. Richie Williams will remain interim coach for the Red Bulls until Bruce Arena, hired Tuesday, takes his place on the bench on Aug. 12.
The season, though, waits for no team and both the Wizards and Red Bulls are in a five-team pack behind D.C. United, who are running away with the Eastern Conference at the moment.
Both the Wizards and Red Bulls are going in opposite directions. Kansas City has lost its last six games while New York has won its last two. But the two teams have met in the standings with both taking 20 points from 18 games.
Bliss said training sessions since Gansler's resignation have continued to go well.
"Although our wins and losses don't reflect it, I think we have a lot of character in the locker room," Bliss said. "(The players) have made it easy in training. The same things have going on as far as work ethic professional attitude and positive mindset."
Bliss will have a full squad from which to choose his first lineup as the man in charge. Midfielder Sasha Victorine and forward Ryan Pore, both listed as probable on the injury report with hamstring strains, will make the trip.
Bliss anticipates the players will respond as well Saturday for the game as they have in training.
"Most of the time when there is a shakeup in the organization, players usually tend to bring a little bit more to the table on the first game after the shakeup," Bliss said. "We're hoping we can capture a little bit of that with a positive experience."
Although the Red Bulls have won their last two games, shutting out both Colorado and Columbus, the victory against the Crew came on Wednesday. Games on Saturday preceded by midweek games can make a good result difficult.
Like the Wizards, Bliss expects a good performance from the Red Bulls.
"They played the same lineup Wednesday as they did (last) Saturday," Bliss said. "When you are on a two-game winning streak, it's tough to make some changes. I haven't seen all of their games, but I have not seen a New York game where they were awful. They are fighting to maintain and impress just like our guys are."
The Wizards have 14 games remaining to reverse their downward course.
"We do this for a reason and that's to win," Bliss said. "We measure ourselves by wins and our place in the standings. That makes this game that much more important."
The Wizards-Red Bulls game will be followed by a reserve division game between the two teams. Bliss has led the Wizards to first place in the reserve standings with a 5-2-0 record. The performance of the entire roster is one of the reasons why Bliss believes the Wizards can reverse their current losing streak.
Because no assistant coach was appointed when Bliss was named interim coach, Bliss will lead the reserve team after the first team game. It will make for a longer evening for the Bliss.
"When it rains it pours," Bliss said. "We have a good staff with (goalkeeper coach) John Cone playing his role and (trainer) Chet (North) and (equipment manager) Jon (Kot) pulling the strings behind the scenes that make it successful."
Robert Whitman is a contributor to MLSnet.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Soccer or its clubs.
