Midway through his contract year, Real Salt Lake coach Jeff Cassar has his team in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race. He's not taking anything for granted, though.
"At the end of the day, we need to win to get that extension," Cassar told The Salt Lake Tribune for a story in Friday's editions. “I think I have full confidence in myself, the staff and the team that we will get that done.”
The 42-year-old Cassar, named head coach in December 2013, said he has told general manager Craig Waibel and owner Dell Loy Hansen that he wants to continue managing the club – and, he said, RSL are moving "in the right direction" with their formation shift last year and the player moves made to shore up that change.
The Claret-and-Cobalt currently sit in fourth place in a tough Western Conference with an 8-6-6 record and 30 points–- but that's just one point up on Vancouver and Portland and two on seventh-place Sporting Kansas City, though Cassar has one match in hand on the Cascadia clubs and two on Sporting.
That leaves little margin for error, especially after the club's disastrous 2015 season that saw a six-year run of playoff appearances snapped.
Contract talks have not yet begun, Waibel said, but they could soon.
“I think it’s safe to say summer is a good time to start conversations, but I don’t think summer is the time we end the conversation,” he said. “I think there’s a long way to go.”
RSL got off to a hot start this year, racing to a 7-4-2 mark despite playing nine of their first 13 matches on the road, but have gone 1-2-4 since then -- with five of those matches at home.
Still, Cassar believes his side can finish above the red line.
“Right now, it’s a busy time of the year,” he said. “It’s a time where we need to get results and get points and put ourselves in a position for the playoffs. I fully believe that if we take care of that, the other things will fall into line."
