CHICAGO—Following the departure of Frank Yallop in September, Harry Shipp insisted the Chicago Fire needed a more ādetail-orientedā man to succeed him as head coach.
And in the recently unveiled Veljko Paunovic, it is hoped the Fire have that in abundance: a man thorough in his preparation, his vision and his execution.
Introduced to the local media for the first time at the Chicago PrivateBank Fire Pitch Thursday by general manager Nelson Rodriguez, Paunovic exuded confidence, passion and conviction as he spoke about assembling an āadaptiveā roster capable of making the Fire a playoff team once again.
āEverything is a process, and the first process now is building, finding the right players,ā Paunovic said. āI have a clear vision of how the professional roster should be, and that means a clear vision of how many young players, how many young and expert players and how many veterans we need for the team.
āWe need young players, players that we still have to develop in the coming years to be the future of Chicago Fire, and of course experts that will support all season and in all competitions and veterans that will be aligned with the vision, with the values and with the experience to transmit to those players in order to be sustainable.ā
Paunovic led his native Serbia to a sensational U-20 World Cup final victory over Brazil in New Zealand in June, and his expertise and detailed preparation provided the platform for talented players to propel the team to unexpected success.
In a phone conversation with Shipp, the 24-year-old Homegrown Player came away feeling that Paunovic held a strong sense of the Fire's season, as well as Shipp's. That knowledge should help shorten the adjustment timeline for both player and coach, and has everyone enthusiastic about the direction.
āIām excited for 1) a change in general, and 2) I think heās going to be relatable to players as a teacher, which is something we need,ā Shipp told MLSsoccer.com. āI think these past two years there hasnāt necessarily been a focus on teaching and when youāve got young guys, when you bring new guys to the league you need to teach them and I think thatās something heās going to be good at.ā
Paunovic, who conducted interviews in three of his six languages (English, Spanish, Serbian, Macedonian, Russian and German), also talked about āchanging the dynamic of the last few yearsā and added ārespect, responsibility, enthusiasm and trustā to the Fireās stated core values of ātradition, honor and passionā.
āI believe in people,ā said Paunovic, who played for Atletico Madrid, RCD Mallorca, Getafe and Philadelphia Union, among 11 total teams. āI believe in a vision. I believe in Andrew [Hauptman, owner of the Fire] and Nelsonās vision of building a winning team and great club. I believe when the right people meet and have the same values, the same passion and preparation, everything is possible.ā
Rodriguez, once again, spoke glowingly of his new appointment, but also outlined that structures being put in place to reap success on a consistent basis.
āWe're really looking at this with a 3- to 5-year horizon to get there, and I believe that we will,ā Rodriguez said. āWe're going to build a championship program.ā
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Shipp shared the ambition of earlier statements by Rodriguez and Paunovic, asserting that the Men in Red should be challenging at the top of the Eastern Conference table.
āTwo years [as a professional] without making the playoffs, itās been tough for me,ā Shipp said. āI think at an absolute minimum thatās something every team in the league is going to strive for so I donāt think thatās saying a whole lot, but if we can get to the point where weāre challenging for the top two or top four in the East thatās something we want.
āIt totally depends though –weāve obviously got a lot of guys that are going to be on our team in a couple of months from now that arenāt currently on our roster,ā Shipp added. āI have faith in Nelson – talking to him more than Iāve talked to coach – but talking to Pauno Iām confident in the type of player theyāre going to bring in. Big names, not big names; I donāt know that, I canāt answer that. But I do know they have a vision for what they want in a player and are going to be able to execute bringing that player in.ā