Chris Canetti is walking a very tight rope. The Houston Dynamo president is on the hunt for a new head coach and general manager for the first time in club history.
With choices looming over the roster, building for the future and dealing with deadlines such as the Dec. 10 Expansion Draft, the timetable to get a new structure in place is truncated. However, Canetti says he will not sacrifice a quality search for timeliness.
“We want to get them done as soon as possible, but the main thing is getting them right,” Canetti said about filling the two positions at a Tuesday press conference. “We have a fairly thorough process that we’ll go through that’s going to take a lot of time in order for us to get through all of the candidates and get to a final decision.”
Canetti said multiple times that the club has the right to alter their timeline, while also expressing a desire to have hires in place by the Expansion Draft.
Tops on the to-do list is finding a general manager that can shepherd the club’s roster, player development and scouting focuses. That person, once hired, will have a role in the search for a new head coach.
Separating the general managing and head coaching duties is something the club had in mind regardless of former head coach Dominic Kinnear’s move to San Jose. Kinnear had overseen both sides of the operations, but was made aware that the club would hire a technical director if he stayed. That process has been accelerated after his departure.
The Dynamo president reiterated Tuesday that whoever takes the mantle will need MLS experience and have a scouting structure already in place to hit the ground running.
“It’s a difficult league for someone from outside the league, outside the country, to come in and understand something like the salary cap and player contracts or have relationships in and around the league to be successful right off the bat,” Canetti said. “It’s really important that someone understands the league, and we’re going to look for someone that has a pre-established global scouting network in place so we can get right to identifying talent and signing players.”
One person up for the general manager job is director of soccer operations Nick Kowba. Since coming to Houston in 2006, Kowba has worked on operations and scouting and, according to Canetti, was responsible for the successful acquisition of Luis Garrido in August.
Kowba said he hopes to be considered for the general manager’s position but will remain alongside Canetti to help with any roster moves until the club makes their new hires.
“I think it’s important to have that, with Dom’s departure, that we continue to do everything we’ve been doing so that when a technical director does come through, or a head coach, we’re not behind the game,” Kowba said.
Added Canetti: “We really have a desire to be set up and organized to be as cutting edge as possible and push the envelope and driving forward.”
Darrell Lovell covers the Houston Dynamo for MLSsoccer.com.
