And then there was one (MLS head coaching job left)

The following teams will have new coaches for the 2007 season:

• FC Dallas
• Kansas City
• DC United
• Chivas USA

Only one of those teams doesn't have a new coach hired yet, Chivas USA. With Tom Soehn staying put as DC United's new coach, who does Chivas turn to? If I were Antonio Cue or Whit Haskell for a day I would be placing calls to the following three candidates:

• Juan Carlos Osorio
• Denis Hamlett
• Octavio Zambrano

All three have MLS experience and all three are Latinos. Yes, I know, Bob Bradley showed that you don't have to be Latino to succeed with Chivas USA, but there aren't exactly a bunch of Bob Bradley's left for Chivas to turn to. If I were making the hire I would track down Osorio in Colombia and offer him the job. Having talked to Osorio through the years I can say with good certainty that he would come back to the US.

I also believe Zambrano would leave his gig in Moldova for a chance to come back to MLS and while his last year with the MetroStars in 2002 wasn't successful Zambrano has too good a track record in the league to not get another chance.

That leaves Hamlet, a long-time assistant coach who never seems to get serious consideration for coaching jobs. If you can't get Osorio or Zambrano, you go with Hamlett. At least that's what I would do.

The funny thing about this trio is the ties that bind them. Zambrano brought Osorio into MLS as an assistant coach and several players from the 2000 MetroStars team (the best team in that club's history) credit Osorio with the team's success that year. Osorio left the Metros midway through the 2001 season to join Manchester City and the club was never the same after that. To be fair, that was also around the time Clint Mathis tore his ACL and proceeded on a downward spiral.

Hamlett's connection to Zambrano is a bit funnier. Zambrano once accused Hamlett of punching him after a post-game confrontation between the MetroStars and Fire. I recall Hamlett telling me once, "If I would have hit him people would have seen it." Actually, his phrase was a little stronger than that but this is a family blog.

Who will it be? Who knows. Chivas USA may have a Mexican coach in mind. Here's hoping they learned a lesson from Bradley's hire, that it is more important to find someone who knows the league.