Sampson Is Fired by Galaxy
Last season, despite a horrendous start, Steve Sampson coached the Galaxy to championships in the U.S. Open Cup and Major League Soccer.
Tuesday, after another horrendous start -- the Galaxy is winless at home, has lost its last six games and, with a 2-8-1 record, is last in MLS’s Western Conference -- Sampson was out of a job.
Sampson, 49, was relieved of his duties by Alexi Lalas, club president and general manager.
“I’m obviously disappointed but I understand these are the realities of the coaching profession,” Sampson said. “They have high standards, which I respect, and I appreciate the opportunity I got to work with the club for the last two years.”
The team has scheduled a news conference today at noon. Lalas declined to comment on Sampson’s replacement, although another team official said that assistant coach Billy McNicol had been appointed interim coach.
Last season, the Galaxy went through a streak of nine games without a road win before Sampson righted the ship. This season, exhibiting a feeble offense, the team seriously threatened the MLS record of minutes without a goal before scoring in a loss to the Houston Dynamo on Saturday. The goal broke a 525-minute scoreless streak, 32 minutes shy of the league record.
The Galaxy has been without three key players -- Landon Donovan, Chris Albright and Cornell Glen -- since mid-May, when they joined their national teams for the 2006 World Cup. Donovan and Albright play for the United States, Glen for Trinidad and Tobago.
“I believe if we had our entire team here, and players weren’t at World Cup duty and out with injuries, then it would have been a completely different story,” Sampson said.
Sampson, who took over the Galaxy in August 2004, finished his tenure with a 17-24-10 record, 4-2-1 in the playoffs.
Before joining the Galaxy, Sampson was 26-22-14 as coach of the U.S. national team from 1995 to 1998 and 11-7-4 as coach of the Costa Rica national team from 2002 to 2004 until he was fired after consecutive ties with Cuba.
In 18 World Cup qualifying matches, his teams lost only twice.
“I have a tremendous amount of respect for what he brought to this organization,” Lalas said. “But we all are accountable and we all assume a small amount of responsibility for the situation we are in right now. This team can get better and must get better.”
Lalas, a former player in his first year in the Galaxy’s front office, had a public spat with Sampson when they both were with the national team eight years ago.
Sampson benched Lalas, a fan favorite known for his long red hair and beard, at the 1998 World Cup in France. Lalas publicly griped about the move and Sampson later said he’d almost kicked Lalas off the team.
But when Lalas joined the Galaxy in April, after the death of former general manager Doug Hamilton, the two said the hatchet had been buried.
“I believe both he and I made a strong effort to put all of that behind us,” Sampson said. “I don’t think, however, the result allowed for us to develop a chemistry as coach and general manager that you really need to be successful.”
Sampson became the fourth coach of the Galaxy when he succeeded Sigi Schmid, who was fired with eight games left in the 2004 season.
*
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)
Looking back
Steve Sampson’s record as coach of the Galaxy:
*--* REGULAR SEASON PLAYOFFS Season W L T Pct. W L T Pct. 2004 2 3 3 438 1 2 0 333 2005 13 13 6 500 3 0 1 1.000 2006 2 8 1 227 -- -- -- -- Totals 17 24 10 434 4 2 1 643
*--*
