CHESTER, Pa. – At this point, all that’s missing is the formal announcement.
But if anyone has any doubts about Philadelphia Union interim manager Jim Curtin’s status with the club, team CEO Nick Sakiewicz can quell those for you.
“Jim Curtin’s under contract with us and I envision Jim being with us for a long time,” Sakiewicz told MLSsoccer.com. “Nothing official’s been made. Nothing official will be made until we finalize our discussions. But I expect Jim Curtin will be with us for a long time to come.”
Reports began circulating about a month ago that Curtin would have the interim tag removed from his title and stay on as the club’s permanent manager. But the Union have fallen on hard times since then, suffering through a five-game winless drought that knocked them out of the playoffs – a drought that ended when the Union blew a late two-goal lead in a 3-2 loss to the Columbus Crew on Oct. 11 in what Sakiewicz called a “meltdown” that was “unprecedented.”
Nevertheless, the Union CEO was pleased with the entire body of work for Curtin, who is 10-5-7 in all competitions since taking over for John Hackworth in early June, guiding the Union back into playoff contention (until the late-season collapse) and to the final of the US Open Cup.
“It’s a little bit of a roller coaster I guess for us, but you can choose to look at the glass half empty and wallow in misery, or you can choose to take the positives of the 22 games Jim Curtin was in charge of … and look at that as things to build on” Sakiewicz said. “And that’s what I choose to do.”
In an earlier interview with MLSsoccer.com, Sakiewicz said he was looking into perhaps creating a “different structure” for his technical staff, meaning he could bring someone on above Curtin and technical director Chris Albright to oversee some soccer operations. And while he reiterated that he might still make some “strategic adds,” the Union CEO seems prepared to hand the keys of the club to Curtin and Albright this offseason to make the necessary moves to turn the franchise around.
And he vowed they’ll get the resources that they need.
“I can’t sit here and say there might not be organizational changes,” Sakiewicz said. “There always will be. I will tell you this though: our full attention is on what’s going on inside the white lines. We’re going to build on the success Jim Curtin has created in the last 22 games at 10-5-7 and getting us to a Cup final and we’re going to add some pieces to make this team a playoff team every year for the foreseeable future.”
Dave Zeitlin covers the Union for MLSsoccer.com. Email him at djzeitlin@gmail.com.
