Through the Chicago Fire's first decade, the MLS team was led on the field by one of two men, former Poland National Team Captain Piotr Nowak through the team's first five seasons and former� United States National Team Captain Chris Armas through its second five.� Piotr was on hand last Thursday night, along with fellow Ring of Fire members Frank Klopas, Bob Bradley and me, to welcome Chris into the team's hall of fame.

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Last night, the Chicago Fire made their latest induction into the club's Ring of Fire, which acknowledges heroes of the team's history.� Added last night was Chris Armas, joining Bob Bradley, Piotr Nowak, Lubos Kubik, Frank Klopas and Pitch Invasion's own Peter Wilt in the Ring.� Despite the pouring rain all night, Fire supporters, including myself, stayed in the stands to recognise Chris at an excellent half-time ceremony, midway through a critical game that eventually saw the Fire reach the MLS playoffs after a 1-0 win over Chivas USA.

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The 1998 Chicago Fire MLS Cup and US Open Cup championship team included many talented hard working players with good character including Piotr Nowak, Frank Klopas, Lubos Kubik, Chris Armas, Diego Gutierrez, CJ Brown and Jesse Marsch.

Last week we discussed the keys to assembling and retaining good personnel for a successful front office.

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Background: Peter (though some would spell it Piotr)� Nowak� was the� former assistant coach for the US Men's National Team, but his glory days were spent plying his trade on MLS pitches. Statistically, he may not appear to stack up to some other MLS greats, but his leadership and dedication make him a shoo-in for my Hall of Fame.

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The Philadelphia Union Front Office has announced that Philadelphia Union Team Manager Peter Nowak reached back for one of his former players to help build the club's soccer operations by selecting Mechanicsburg, PA native Josh Gros as Team Coordinator. Gros, 26, will be responsible for organizing all matters involving Union players, both on and off the field. Click to continue reading...

There was a bit of an off-hand comment from a user on the Soccer Insider this morning when Goff revealed the news that Josh Gros had been offered a position in the front office by Piotr Nowak and the Philadelphia Union. The commenter b18bolo suggested that Nowak might also go after some of his other former players like Ben Olsen and Bobby Convey.

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A source in MLS, being a high position staff member has revealed information about recent big player names to the MLS. No names could be involved because of the possible job security threat it could pose on this source.
Supposedly the MLS has been looking around at free agent type players that could add more appeal and experience to the MLS. Click to continue reading...

And around the interwebs we bounce. Off we go! USA! Bradley calls 24 for the qualifiers, including a couple of guests, one of whom is United's own Luis Robles...oh, yeah, right. Might have been nice for him to follow the Jacobson track back to... Click to continue reading...

With most of the Euro-seasons wrapping up, I've decided AFT will now come a bit more frequently, but with shorter reading lists. Let's face it, 12-14 items is not a "few" anymore...#1 - I'm sure you already know Piotr Nowak is set to coach Philly Union, but Jack Bell lets on that his first signing could be free agent Senegal keeper Bouna Couboul, formerly of the Rapids. Click to continue reading...

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Carl Cherkin
VP of Communications
Philadelphia Union
Office: (610) 497-1657 x 2913
Cell: (215) 300-3316
ccherkin@philadelphiaunion.com
PHILADELPHIA UNION ANNOUNCES FIRST EVER TEAM MANAGER
CHESTER, PA (May 28, 2009) – With less than 10 months before First Kick, Philadelphia Union has tabbed
Peter Nowak as its first ever Team Manager. Click to continue reading...

STARTERS
Those rumors of Piotr Nowak becoming the first coach in Philadelphia are happening again today and this time they are proof positive. There is an announcement being made on Thursday.
-And the Sons of Ben announce that they will be watching next weeks Costa Rica v USA game with their teams new coach. Click to continue reading...

Loyal readers will know that we at MLSR first got wind of this rumor from an anonymous email sent to us two weeks ago on May 14, which of course is when we posted: INCOMING: Piotr Nowak to Philadelphia Union?
Various sources and other blogs are now confirming our rumor and stating that today is the day the Union will name it's boss. Click to continue reading...

Lots of Philadelphia news and rumor this week...
Could former DC United coach and current US National team assistant Piotr Nowak be headed to the City of Brotherly Love? According to the following anonymous email, yes...

mlsr,
please keep me my name and e-mail out of the site.

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An exciting sliver of internetness has emerged despite an otherwise slow Friday: Jozy Altidore has posted a new blog on this NY Times blog! Let's take a peek at some of the most interesting parts.  First off, Altidore addresses the Olympics: And the Olympics. Man, it seems like that was ages ago, but it was only [. Click to continue reading...

Former DC United boss Peter/Piotr Nowak, presently leading the US footie delegation in China, had a number of important phrases he would use as touchstones/talking points when talking to media during his time in DC. One of his favorites ran something along the lines of, "always ve haff to do tree tings: run, fight ant play good zoccer," essentially emphasizing a sort of holy trinity of fitness, spirit and technical/tactical quality as central tenets of his team's style. Click to continue reading...

From Charlie Rose's most unlikely guest, the boss player of SI.com's soccer coverage, comes this timely piece on US Olympic coach Piotr Nowak's unexpected decision to start the match against the Japanese with Jozy Altidore on the bench.
Aside from the swift publication, deft wording and general awesomeness of this piece I just love the fact that a real writer (read: not some jackass with a blogspot account like me) described Nowak as "ballsy". Click to continue reading...

I've got a chicken or the egg question for you. Was it former DC United head coach Piotr Nowak who infected current DC United head coach Tommy Soehn, or Soehn who infected Nowak? Or are they both suffering from acute Kasper-Payne-itis? The reason I ask is this: the roster for the Olympic team is starting to resemble the one we're currently alternating between lambasting and ruing here in Click to continue reading...

i received a phone call today from Chicago Fire legend and Ring of Fire member Lubos Kubik. He was at the airport waiting to board for a flight to Hong Kong and the Beijing Olympics where he will serve as Piotr Nowak's Assistant Coach for the United States Men's Olympic Soccer Team.
We talked about getting together in October when he plans to be in Chicago and he offered to help the Chicago Red Stars source players in Eastern Europe. Click to continue reading...

CONCACRAP Champions' Cup Tickle - DC took a while, but they finally managed to completely eviscerate Harbour View's back line with an explosion of goals in the middle of the second half. The defense looks solid, Quaranta is giving early signs that his acquisition may have been a real steal, and the goals are finally starting to hit the back of the net. Click to continue reading...

I'm going to stop calling these 'recaps' because honestly, I don't recap what happened in the game. I'm just posting what I think about it. And here's what I think about this one:
A clean sheet is just what Seitz and the US defense deserve. The Panamanian offense isn't the strongest of the group (by the numbers it's the weakest, actually) but it's to the US' credit that there were a scant few chances on goal. Click to continue reading...

PANAMA No. - Name - Pos. - D.O.B. - Club 1 - Jose Calderón - GK - 14.08.1985 - Chepo FC 2 - Jean Carlos Cedeño - DF - 09.07.1985 - Municipal Chorrillo FC 3 - Reinaldo Anderson - DF - 12.04.1986 - Deportivo Árabe Unido 5 - Roman Torres - DF - 20.03.1986 - CD La Equidad/COL 6 - Erick [...] Click to continue reading...

DC United Tickle - My, oh my, but there seems to be Much Ado about Stratford. Measure for Measure he seems to be making quite an impression on the United braintrust--enough to earn a spot in the 18-man squad traveling to the islands in the face of a Tempest of competition for places. After the Comedy of Errors surrounding the Jacobson Affair, this Winter's Tale seems to have come to a Click to continue reading...

CUBA No. - Name - Pos. - D.O.B. - Club 1 - Jose Manuel Miranda - GK - 22.08.1986 - Matanzas 2 - Erlys Garcia Baró - DF - 28.07.1985 - Ciudad Habana 3 - Yenier Bermudez - DF - 08.10.1985 - Cienfuegos 4 - Raicel Mazquia Pozo - DF - 17.09.1985 - Pinar del Río 5 - Yendry Diaz - [...] Click to continue reading...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Cuba Thursday, March 13, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Panama Saturday, March 15th, 2008 U.S.A. vs. Honduras Roster was released - as I am sure you have seen - over the weekend and some notable omissions include Gold Cup hero turned Derby County wantaway Benny Feilhaber, last summer's U-20 standout Robbie Rogers, and FC Dallas' creative midfielder [. Click to continue reading...

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Cuba
Thursday, March 13, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Panama
Saturday, March 15th, 2008
U.S.A. vs. Honduras
Roster was released - as I am sure you have seen - over the weekend and some notable omissions include Gold Cup hero turned Derby County wantaway Benny Feilhaber, last summer's U-20 standout Robbie Rogers, and FC Dallas' creative midfielder Arturo Alvarez. Click to continue reading...

It was a decently warm game when D.C. United opened the home season in 2006 against the New York Red Bulls. Despite the previous years ignominious defeat to Chicago, the mood was somewhat optimistic. Several prognosticators picked United to finish first in the East for the upcoming year. With Christian Gomez serving a red card suspension, and Nick Rimando injured from preseason, the line-up was perhaps not the entire first string.

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