The Vancouver Whitecaps are expected to announce Martin Rennie as their new head coach during a Tuesday press conference. The 36-year-old Scotsman is currently coaching the NASL's Carolina Railhawks, who are currently running away with the league's regular-season title. IndyWeek.com is also reporting that Rennie will complete the season with the Railhawks before joining the Whitecaps. Rennie had reportedly been pursued by the Montreal Impact to lead them into MLS, but the talks may have broken down over his ability to finish out the season with the Railhawks.
Whitecaps Appear Set To Hire Railhawks’ Martin Rennie As New Coach
36-year-old Carolina Railhawks coach will reportedly take over next season.
Marc Weber of the Vancouver Pronvince is now reporting that Rennie will sign a three-year deal. Current coach and Director of Soccer Tom Soehn will finish out the season.
Rennie is widely considered to be among the top young coaches in North America, having earned his UEFA “A” license at 26 years old. In the last two years, he has led the Railhawks to USSF-Division 2’s second best regular-season record, led them to runner-up status in the end-of-year tournament and has them off to a dominating start this year, despite having to mostly rebuild the team. The Railhawks currently sit at 44 points through 19 games and boast a goal-difference of 24.
Here’s what 86 Forever had to say about Rennie, who was their pick as the 2010 USSF-D2 coach of the year:
My vote instead goes to Martin Rennie, second-year coach of the Carolina Railhawks. Last year’s Railhawks team was very competent, of course, finishing second in the old USL First Division regular season before going out to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the playoffs. Rennie’s Railhawks boast a goalkeeper pulled off the scrapheap in Cleveland City who has improbably blossomed into a borderline star, a 33-year-old captain who has played for seemingly every failed second-division entry in the central United States since 1998, a vast array of international players from Africa, southeast Asia, the Middle East, the British Isles, eastern Europe, and of course that soccer hotbed Malta, and hardly a single player who had been anything more glorious than fringe garbage before Rennie and the Railhawks got them. Many of Carolina’s core players followed Rennie over from the Cleveland City Stars, a club that didn’t exactly re-define success on or off the field. None of Carolina’s players are bad, certainly, but watching that team’s results through the regular season and playoffs have left me constantly wondering how they’re doing it. That’s the sign of a good coach in my books.
Check out 86 Forever for the latest updates, as well as analysis of the hire.
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