The big news of FC Cincinnati and General Manager Jeff Berding firing head coach Alan Koch dropped on Tuesday and oh boy did it come as a surprise to some people. The firing of Koch seemed to have come after some comments about the talent on the field for FC Cincinnati, as well as a poor start to their MLS lives. This wouldn’t be the first firing of a head coach due to a similar situation, as former Rapids head coach Anthony Hudson was fired not too long ago.

But when you take a deeper dive into this as well as listen to the comments made from Berding and the club, there was much more than poor on the field performances leading to this firing. Once the firing of Koch was announced, there were plenty of former and current players trashing the head coach on and off the record. This season we even saw comments from striker Fanendo Adi stating that the team is lacking an identity. Koch was losing his locker room, he was being out coached, and he was losing the confidence of upper management at FC Cincinnati.

To me it seems strange to have fired a head coach after 11 games in charge, even after a 2-2-7 record to start the season, especially for an expansion team. Alan Koch was trusted by the FC Cincinnati management to jump from USL to MLS and lead this team into a positive future. Koch was allowed to create a team from scratch and even brought in players like Kenny Saief, Greg Garza, Caleb Stanko, and many more. But clearly FC Cincinnati have an image for a successful club, head coach, and organization… and Koch was not representing that. Even though I don’t 100% agree with the move, I do have to give Cincinnati some credit on holding strong to their concept for a successful team.

Where does FC Cincinnati go from here? Well, they have announced that their interim head coach will be 29 year old Yoann Damet. Damet will be the youngest MLS head coach ever. The next head coach of this club can really be a symbol to the fans and the rest of MLS for what FCC’s plans are moving forward. I personally think that the next head coach will be connected to U.S. soccer in some manner. Whether we see Tab Ramos, Jason Kreis, or Dave Sarachan… I would be surprised if we see a manager without some type of U.S. soccer tie.