Vancouver's inconsistency costs Rennie his job

• by Soccer America , Oct 29, 2013

[MLS SPOTLIGHT] Scotsman Martin Rennie, who ascended from the ranks of the U.S. minor leagues in seven seasons to get the Vancouver Whitecaps head coaching job at the age of 36, is out after two years as coach of the MLS club. He led the 'Caps to the playoffs in their second MLS season, and they actually had a better record in 2013 but they dropped from fifth to seventh place in the final standings. Second-half collapses -- Vancouver was 7-15-8 over the last 15 games of the last two seasons -- were Rennie's undoing.

Vancouver (last 15 games):
2012: 3-8-4
2013: 4-7-4

Vancouver president Bob Lenarduzzi announced Tuesday that Rennie's job would not be renewed, though the move did not come as a surprise.

"If we look back over the two years," he told the Province, "we had two relatively good starts and in each of those seasons we seemed to tail off. The ups and downs are something that we believe we need to address.”

Lenarduzzi said the decision wasn't easy.

"We have made a number of improvements since joining Major League Soccer," he said in a club statement. "However, in order for this club to continue to grow and reach the next level, now is the right time to make this change and move in a different direction.”

That direction is expected to be Canadian Frank Yallop, who has coached San Jose (twice) and the LA Galaxy in MLS.