CHESTER, Pa. – It was only minutes after the biggest collapse in franchise history eliminated the Philadelphia Union from playoff contention when interim manager Jim Curtin began looking ahead to the future.
For Curtin, it doesn’t matter that there are still two games left in the 2014 season. He’s already thinking ahead to 2015 and beyond.
“I don’t think you block that stuff out,” Curtin said after the Union’s 3-2 loss to the Columbus Crew on Saturday ended their postseason hopes. “That’s the reality of our game. That’s pro sports. If you don’t win, if you don’t have success on the field, there’s always going to be changes to teams in the offseason. There will be personnel changes with every team but it’s always greater when your team doesn’t make the playoffs. That’s part of sports.”
There are, of course, many questions the Union need to address in the coming weeks, not the least of which is Curtin’s own job status. There were reports last month that the Union removed the interim tag form Curtin’s title but the club has not yet made that official.
At the very least, however, Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz has said that Curtin will remain on the technical staff in some capacity, which is probably one reason why the interim manager is already looking ahead to the offseason.
“We still have a good core of young players,” Curtin said. “We have to look to the future now. We have to obviously finish up the season with the last two games, but you start to look to the offseason and adding a couple of pieces just like every team does in the offseason. And those pieces have to be guys that come in and lead and can help us close these types of games out.”
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On top of brining in some new pieces, the Union staff will also need to figure out which current players they will try to bring back. Among the players out of contract are veterans Brian Carroll and Conor Casey, as well as Amobi Okugo – the only player who’s been part of the club since the beginning of the first season in 2010.
But after the Union blew a two-goal lead in the final 15 minutes Saturday, Okugo deflected questions about his future and said the team still has some things to play for in its final two games, starting with Saturday’s home finale vs. Sporting Kansas City (7 pm ET; MLS Live).
“We’ve just got to play with honor,” he said. “The fans have been loyal to us all season, so we feel like we need a good performance.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
