ORLANDO, Fla.- With the SuperDraft imminent and Orlando City SC’s front office still settling down after the recent departures of general manager Paul McDonough and Chief Soccer Officer Armando Carneiro, fans could be forgiven for thinking there might be cause for concern in Lions country.
But talk to president Phil Rawlins -- who is picking up much of the front office slack -- and it’s immediately clear there is no internal confusion or unease as they prepare for their second year in Major League Soccer. On the contrary, their ambitions are bigger than ever and their eyes are firmly fixed on making their primary adjustments on the field and not off it.
This year’s SuperDraft “brain trust” will actually be similar to last year’s, with Anthony Pulis – head coach of the new Orlando City B team preparing for action in the USL – replacing McDonough, who is now with Atlanta’s expansion franchise, on the four-man selection committee heading to Baltimore.
“The SuperDraft is very much a collaborative exercise, as it was when Paul was here last year,” Rawlins explained. “Then, it was Adrian [Heath], Mark [Watson], Paul and myself and everyone chipped in. It will be the same again this year, with Anthony joining in. It’s important everyone has a chance to contribute, not least of all Anthony because one or two of the players we pick are likely to go straight into the B team.”
Developing the roster after the rollercoaster ride of 2015 is the prime focus for Rawlins and Co., as the club’s founding owner is quick to point out they have absorbed the lessons of the inaugural season.
“I think we learned a lot about what it takes to succeed in MLS,” he insisted. “We learned what you have to prepare for, the work you have to do and some of the surprises. We will be much better prepared for year two.
“Most people would recognize that younger players find it harder to succeed than they thought, and we obviously had a lot of younger players. The travel was also a bit of a surprise, not the travel itself so much as aspects like time differences, rest and recovery times, nutrition and what it does to your training schedules. You have to make a lot of adjustments. We’ll be much better for the experience we have acquired.”
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Does that mean the No. 1 priority is adding more experience to the roster?
“It does make it more important, especially if we can bring in some MLS-experienced players to mix in with the rest of the group.
“We have already shown that by bringing in Joe Bendik, who has lots of games under his belt, and Kevin Alston, who has seven seasons with New England. They are the kind of players we couldn’t acquire easily in year one because the Expansion Draft only really gives you the players the other teams don’t want.”
Yet he acknowledged that there will be more moves to come this month, on top of the SuperDraft. “We will be looking to make a couple more moves before training camp, but they are not on anyone’s radar right now.”
As for the longer-term restructuring to address the losses of Carneiro and McDonough, Rawlins insists that there is no rush to fill the gaps with the start of training camp less than two weeks away.
“I will take my time with that because what we need now is a period of stability,” he explained. “We just need to take care of business for the next few months. I think we are making really good decisions, especially with the B team, bringing some exciting talent in there and we will have very strong leadership.
He added, “We are not going to put someone in place just for the sake of it. We have a really good team in place now, and we have a good team taking care of the preseason, so there is no need to do something quickly.
“It will be about what is the right structure to put in place and then finding the right person or people for it, people who understand our culture and where we are today, and who can make a big contribution going forward.”
Rawlins also directly addressed the fan furor at the sudden departure of McDonough and Carneiro, followed by the release of popular long-time assistant coach Ian Fuller.
“There has been some confusion among fans more than the front office,” he added. “Our desire is to create and build one of the best clubs – if not the best – in the US, and we are well on track to do that, especially for a club that was born on a kitchen table eight years ago.
“I think we’ve made ourselves one of the most respected clubs in MLS and we will continue to build and strengthen.”
Finally, the team’s co-founder is pushing the re-set button in terms of achievement -- and doubling down on their intentions.
“The culture of the club, and the ambition of the club and the passion of the club remain stronger than ever,” Rawlins insisted. “We didn’t want to miss the playoffs in our first year but we got very close, and we did the best we could in the circumstances. But it makes us even more determined to be a success in 2016.
“Certainly our vision has not changed. We thought we were doing the right thing in bringing in Armando but it turned out not to be. It’s now doubly important to get it right this year.”
