HOUSTON – As the Houston Dynamo and Owen Coyle try and hammer out the final details of a deal for him to become the club’s head coach, there’s been a lot of talk about what his appointment could bring.
That chatter hasn’t been lost on the club’s players, with last season’s captain Brad Davis already getting some insight on the former Bolton manager from a trusted source.
“Talking with Stuart [Holden, former Dynamo star who played for Coyle at Bolton Wanderers] … he was definitely a guy the players loved to play for, a guy that the players really respected,” Davis said. “For me, as a player, those are the things you love to hear; a coach that’s going to work for the players and have the players’ thoughts first and foremost in his mind. It’s a positive name I’ve heard talking to other guys in terms of players that have played for him.”
Davis is the only Dynamo player to have been in Houston for all nine years of former head coach Dominic Kinnear’s tenure. The World Cup veteran knows more than anyone the comfort and consistency a longstanding head coach can bring to a locker room, and he is looking forward to having a new boss in place.
“You try and let the days pass, but you can only let so many go by when you’re worried about your future and what’s going on,” Davis said. “For me, it seems like a plus so far. That’s great until we truly get into if he is named our head coach, until we get into a training atmosphere.”
One of the early questions surrounding Coyle revolves around the style of play he would implement if named manager. The perception is that he prefers a direct style, with the Scottish-born manager known to utilize “Route One” tactics at his stops in England.
While it’s unclear what a Coyle-coached Dynamo team would look like, Houston’s 2014 leading scorer Giles Barnes is excited by the prospect of playing for a coach with a strong track record of developing high-quality players.
“He’s been successful. I want success at the club,” said Barnes, who played against Coyle’s teams while in England. “He’s known for developing young players. [English national teamers] Jack Wilshere and Daniel Sturridge played for him and you see where they are now and he’s a well-proven manager in England.
“Whatever style the new manager, whether it is Owen or someone else, brings into the team, as long as it’s successful and I’m holding a trophy at the end of the season, it doesn’t matter.”
A final decision on Houston’s coaching vacancy is believed to be coming early this week, with the club thought to be targeting the end of the week to potentially unveil its new head man.
“I think it speaks to the ambition of the club," said center back David Horst, "and to this new way they’re bringing people in and starting something new here,”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
