Veljko Paunovic contract will run out at the end of this season. Despite cries and rumors of Paunovic leaving – or even getting sacked, he wants to stay with club. In an interview with Sam Stejskal last week, Paunovic said, “Of course [I want to return], Even if I fix this year, my job is not done here […] I want to win the title all together.”

Nelson Rodriguez also wants him to stay. But if Pauno ends up leaving for greener pastures, who is the right person to replace him?

Here are a couple of suggestions, both serious and maybe not so serious.

Caleb Porter

Porter has his heart set to become the new coach for the USMNT, but if he doesn’t become their new manager, the Fire FO should heavily look into courting him. Porter has the pedigree to help the Fire reign supreme again. During his tenure with the Portland Timbers he guided them to two Western Conference wins, and one Western Conference playoff champions. Let us also not forget that he won the MLS Cup in 2015 against That Yellow Team at their own turf.

CJ Brown

Chicago Fire legend C.J. Brown has a winning mentality that is sorely lacking with the Fire at the moment. Four years ago, he was in the managerial team with the Fire, but he left for NYCFC. He later moved to Orlando City SC as an assistant manager, but didn’t have the best of days there and once again moved to the New York Red Bulls joining other Chicago Fire legend, Chris Armas.

Greg Vanney

Vanney took Toronto from the bottom to the top….and to the bottom again this season. Despite all of that, he is still a great manager. However he can get very questionable with his tactics like Pauno. He’s won the Eastern Conference and the MLS Cup. If we want to count his stat padding trophies such as the Canadian Championship, he’s won that too.

Paulo Nagamura

After retiring as a player in 2016, Nagamura joined Swope Park Rangers as an assistant manager. A year later the 35-year-old became the manager. Barring their winless streak as of late, he managed pretty well in the beginning of the season. As a former player who proved himself in MLS with teams such as Sporting Kansas City and Los Angeles Galaxy, he has the inside knowledge of what to expect out in the pitch. The downside is that knowledge could only get you so far.

Me

Yes me. Before you call me out, I want to let you know I led the Chicago Fire to three CONCACAF Champions League trophies, exposed Pep Guardiola in the Club World Cup not only once, but twice! Oh, and I led the Fire to an undefeated season. Eat your heart out Arsene Wenger and Brandon Rogers!

This all happened in Football Manager, but that game is good at predicting stuff.