Houston Dynamo managing partner Gabriel Brener shared his hopes and frustrations about the Orange's "challenging times" this season and explained the plans for "better days ahead" in a frank open letter to Dynamo fans on Monday.
Speaking to supporters in a missive published on the team's website, Brener admitted he and the club's ownership group are not happy with the team's performance this year. But he is confident the Dynamo are making progress and will be well-positioned to improve in the offseason, hinting at an active winter.
"We believe that we have the solid nucleus for a team, but are missing a few difference-makers,'' Brener wrote. "The next step in reshaping the roster is to identify and sign those big-time playmakers in the attack to complement our defensive improvement, and we expect that to happen in the January transfer window.''
Brener and his partners took over majority ownership of the club from AEG last December, and they've been active in the time they've been in charge.
After the Dynamo started slowly, the club changed coaches, firing Owen Coyle in May and turning the team over to former player and assistant Wade Barrett on an interim basis. On Monday Brener pointed to the team's 4-4-7 record in all competitions under Barrett as a sign that the team had improved, and said Friday's upset 2-1 road win over San Jose was "a great example of the toughness and determination that we are re-establishing.''
Brener didn't say, however, where Barrett stands in the Dynamo's search for a permanent coach heading into next season.
He also discussed the July 30 trade of forward Giles Barnes to Vancouver as a positive move for the club, despite the fact Barnes was "a talented and popular player.'' Moving Barnes opened salary room for new players the Dynamo will attempt to acquire in the offseason.
"By making this move in the summer, we have certainty ahead of the winter window that significant cap space will be available to us, and will seek impact players with these funds,'' Brener wrote.
He also said the Barnes trade will open up playing time for youngsters Erick "Cubo'' Torres and Mauro Manotas.
Brener, a minority owner of the club for eight years before this season, last wrote an open letter to the fans just after the 2016 season started. In that letter, he expressed optimism for the future and thanked the fans for their support. In Monday's communique, he closed by promising that the club has a strategy to improve its fortunes, and by once again thanking them for their loyalty.
"We don't accept where we are, but we have a plan moving forward,'' he wrote. "We believe that we can finish strong this year, and we are optimistic that we will re-establish ourselves as the team we once were and expect ourselves to be.
"We appreciate your support through these challenging times and look forward to sharing better days ahead.''
