:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/22023773/gyi0065013206.0.jpg)
Just before 11 p.m. Chicago time, well-connected broadcaster (and former MLS All-Star) Kyle Martino (@kylemartino) tweeted:
Fire coach fired. #CoachingCarousel #MLS
— Kyle Martino (@kylemartino) October 30, 2013
The tweet is a little bit ambivalent, clearly, although it's hard to square the firing of, say, Leo Percovich with the hashtag #CoachingCarousel. At the least, the heat is on the technical staff. We will update as events dictate. EDIT: Orrin Schwarz reporting:
Hearing Fire will announce Wednesday that coach Frank Klopas will not be back #MLS #cf97
— Orrin Schwarz (@Orrin_Schwarz) October 30, 2013
Frank Klopas stepped into the role of interim head coach of the Chicago Fire in midseason 2011 after serving as Technical Director for the club previously. The Fire ended that season on a 7-2-1 tear, resulting in Klopas' confimation as head coach.
In 2012, the team flirted with the top of the table late in the season before fading badly and losing a home playoff game. 2013 started horribly, as the team won only two of its first 11 matches. But Klopas' squad, led by midseason acquisition Mike Magee, rallied to put themselves into playoff position, only to falter at the final hurdle.
If Klopas goes now, he leaves behind a legacy of truly mind-blowing streakiness: the 7-2-1 that first year; the seven weeks after Rolfe joined the lineup in 2012; and the 2013 squad, both the 2-7-2 schmoes and the 12-6-5 heroes.