Frank Yallop Holds Press Conference; Unable To Hold Practice.

The last week for Frank Yallop has probably been pretty crazy. Getting hired at a new job and trying to relocate within a week is not something that I would categorize as easy. Unfortunately for Yallop and the Fire, a practice was not able to be organized before the final day that post season training for non-playoffs teams is permitted. That means that Yallop will have to evaluate his talent going into the off season the same way Chicago Fire fans are - by going off of last season's performances.

Yallop has been meeting with players this week to get to know them and to give them an idea of the type of team he is trying to build. Yesterday, Yallop held a press conference with Mike Magee, Logan Pause, Bakary Soumare and Jeff Larentowicz joining him in answering questions. Both Anthony Zilis and Jeff Crandall have articles up on the press conference, and both articles have a lot of information on what changes are coming and what Yallop is looking to do.

Below are a few qoutes and tidbits that are worth mentioning.

Yallop on player evaluation:

"Guys that played, no problem," Yallop said. "I've coached against them, seen them, they're quality people. It is going to be difficult. But as much as I can see and talk and find out what I can about [the young players], the better. I'd hate to let someone go, and all of a sudden they become very good because they didn't get the chance to play. I don't want to do that. It's not easy though."

Magee on Yallop seeking his opinion:

But when forward Mike Magee was asked how he'd fill in his new boss on the team's needs going forward, he seemed confident that, come time, Yallop would know what to do as well as anyone.

"I think he's proven that he knows better than us," Magee said. "That's his job, and he's proven he's great at it."

Yallop on heading in to the offseason:

"There are a lot of budget issues to get to -- picking up people’s options and all those things that come into the role that I have, so I’ll be busy with that stuff. [I’ve] got to get a staff -- It’s only me at the moment. I’ll need a bit of help around here.

"But I think it’s exciting building from a blank slate, and there aren’t many times you get to do that, so I want to make sure I put the right staff together for these guys and make sure that it’s not an irrational decision, that it’s thought through."

Both Crandall's and Zilis' articles touched on the vacant coaching positions and what Yallop's thoughts are setting up his system. First, here is one of Yallop's quotes from Crandall's article:

"There are quite a few positions to get filled," he said. "There are going to be two assistants for sure, maybe three with a bit of a different role – perhaps a scouting role. There will be a technical director or someone to help me out with all the paperwork and all the things that the league demands because I want to be on the field, which is my job."

From Zilis' article:

His first order of business will likely be to hire assistant coaches and a technical director. The only member of Frank Klopas' staff he decided to retain was strength and conditioning coach Tony Jouaux. The Fire also cleared out almost all of the front office staff on the soccer side.

To be honest, I just want to cut and paste both articles in their entirety because these excerpts are just scraping the surface. Instead of full on plagiarizing Crandall and Zilis, it would probably be best for me to encourage you all to click on the links.