On June 13, the Philadelphia Union parted ways with their inaugural MLS coach Peter Nowak. The Portland Timbers have now done the same after John Spencer’s dismissal on Monday afternoon.
Seattle’s Sigi Schmid, San Jose’s Frank Yallop and Montreal’s Jesse Marsch – who is heading the club's first season in MLS – are the only original coaches remaining since the MLS expansion boom in 2005.
In Spencer’s two seasons at the helm in Portland, he only lost one Cascadia matchup. His Timbers went 1-1-1 against Seattle and 2-0-1 vs Vancouver, but wins have been hard to come by in 2012, especially on the road, as Portland sit in eighth place in the Western Conference.
After his year-and-a-half in charge, how does Spencer compare with other expansion coaches’ overall records?
EXPANSION TEAMS' INAUGURAL HEAD COACHES (POST-2005)
- Sigi Schmid, SEA (2009-present), 52-29-32, 46% win pct.
- Frank Yallop, SJ (2008-present), 47-53-43, 33% win pct.
- John Spencer, POR (2011-2012), 16-22-13, 31% win pct.
- Jesse Marsch, MTL (2012-present), 6-11-3, 30%
- Peter Nowak, PHI (2010-2012), 21-30-24, 28% win pct.
- John Ellinger, RSL (2005-2007), 15-37-16, 22% win pct.
- Mo Johnston, TOR (2007), 6-17-7, 20% win pct.
- Thomas Rongen, CHV (2005), 1-8-1, 10% win pct.
- Teitur Thordarson, VAN (2011), 1-5-6, 8% win pct.
