Rampone Named Sky Blue FC's Third Coach

• Newark Star-Ledger, Friday, July 31, 2009 4:30 PM

After Ian Sawyers and Kelly Lindsay, U.S. national team captain Christie Rampone is Sky Blue FC's third coach of the season. She will finish the 2009 WPS season as the club's player-coach following Lindsay's shock resignation.

"She left without saying anything to me," Sky Blue president and CEO Thomas Hofstetter said about Lindsey. "She gave us a letter and didn't say anything and she walked out [before practice]. What was upsetting to us and the team was that she let the team down."

Lindsey guided Sky Blue to a 5-3-3 record and into playoff contention with two games to play after beginning the season in last place. "We are shocked," said Hofstetter. "We didn't see it coming. We didn't expect it. We did expect that Kelly would not be our coach after this season. Kelly was very close to Ian and she was put in a difficult position. She dealt with it very professionally. She tried not to let it influence her day-to-day work. In the end, she struggled with Ian gone. She was always seen as Ian's extension by the players and everybody else. That was ultimately the reason why she left. It was basically Ian's regime. I heard that she was still very close to Ian and still in contact with Ian the last few weeks and months."

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