(Harrison) Former Montreal Impact coach Frank Klopas will lead the Chicago Fire for the remainder of the season, the Illinois team announced after firing head coach Ezra Hendrickson on Monday morning .
Klopas, who led the Impact in MLS between 2013 and 2015, was named Fire assistant coach on January 14, 2020.
The Fire also announced that they have fired assistant coach Junior Gonzalez. The other assistant, C. J. Brown, and the goaltending coach, Zach Thornton, will however retain their respective jobs.
“It was a tough decision to make, but after much consideration, we felt it was best to make some changes in order to achieve our goal of making the playoffs and winning titles,” said the manager. Fire athlete, Georg Heitz.
Hendrickson became the Fire’s head coach on November 24, 2021, after serving at various national and international levels for 13 years. During his two season stint at the helm of the team, the Fire compiled a 12-18-14 record.
Earlier Monday, Gerhard Struber was fired from his position by the New York Red Bulls and replaced by Troy Lesesne.
The Red Bulls clarified that it was a joint decision and added that assistant coach Bernd Eibler had also made the decision to leave the New York team.
It was the first dismissal of a head coach in MLS since the start of the season at the end of February.
The Red Bulls, who have never won the MLS Cup, sit 15th and last in the Eastern Conference with one win, four losses and six draws for nine points.
Struber was signed in October 2020, after managing Barnsley, an English second division club, for 11 months. He posted a 33-31-23 record in all competitions in just over two seasons at the helm of the Red Bulls.
Lesesne, a 39-year-old American, became an assistant coach with the Red Bulls in January 2022.
Five MLS teams made coaching changes during the 2022 season: San Jose Earthquakes, D.C. United, Charlotte FC, New York City FC and Houston Dynamo.
The Columbus Crew and CF Montreal also replaced their head coaches during the offseason.
