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New York Soccer Landscape Flipped On Its Head

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By @DFresh39

Mike Petke MLS NYCFC

Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Only moments after the clock struck midnight, the two MLS teams in New York tried to one-up each other. A sourced report on the firing of Mike Petke by the New York Red Bulls was published by Kristian Dyer of Metro just seconds before Goal USA’s Ives Galarcep reported that USMNT international Mix Diskerud was on his way to NYCFC.

This comes in the wake of news that Frank Lampard would stay in England rather than report to NYCFC despite reports of his deal being a loan in the summer. It only took a blink of an eye for soccer in New York to be flipped on its head.

There were rumors that Petke was at odds with upper management. His reported firing may bring validity to that idea. The Red Bulls’ owners are cutting costs and seem unwilling to spend on a new designated player to replace Thierry Henry. There is plenty of roster uncertainty and a new sporting director, Ali Curtis, who was hired two weeks ago. The Curtis hiring is the only way to make any sense of Petke’s dismissal.

Petke is the only man to deliver a trophy to the team after winning the Supporters’ Shield in 2013. He also got the team to the conference finals this past season. He played over 150 matches for the franchise as a player and is a Long Island native. His local ties made him a fan favorite as a player and coach. He looked to be on hand for the SuperDraft in a little over a week. Petke survived a spat with Henry at a practice in August 2013, but did not survive the latest change in the front office.

Firing Petke could top the debacle that was the Lampard situation as the most polarizing event in the New York soccer landscape. Ever since it was announced that the deal with Manchester City was not a loan and Lampard would stay until the season ends, MLS and club representatives have been backtracking.

Now, NYCFC is trying to win back some of the disgruntled fans by bringing in Diskerud. This would be the third attempt to get Diskerud in MLS. He is out of contract and had interest in Europe, but looks to be putting the finishing touches on a contract with the expansion team. NYCFC does have the top allocation spot, so there does not seem to be a mysterious rule in play here.

It is unclear if Diskerud will come in as a designated player, but NYCFC does have one spot left with Lampard and David Villa on the books.

The Diskerud signing is sure to be spun by NYCFC in a way to get away from the Lampard embarrassment. The Red Bulls still have not had a coach last longer than three years in their history. The next hire will be the 15th since 1996 if you include the two interim stints by Richie Williams. Let’s just hope the New York Cosmos do not have something up their sleeves.

Douglas Smith is a soccer writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @DFresh39, “Like” him on Facebook, or add him to your network on Google.

Related:

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