Atlanta United remain firm on manager hiring timetable

We're starting to get to know Atlanta United President, Darren Eales, more and more as time goes on. One thing we're learning is that he's very consistent in his philosophy and plans.

He told us back in July of last year that the club would likely be looking towards this Summer as the timetable for hiring the club's first ever manager. Mentioning that the odds were good because that's when the majority of managers become available for hire due to the European offseason.

"If you had to force me to tell you when we are going to name a head coach I would say Summer ‘16, and the reason I would say that is because the season in the rest of the world tends to run from July 1 to the end of June, and that tends to be when coaches are at the end of their contracts."

-Darren Eales, July 2015

In a recent Q&A with the AJC's Doug Roberson, Eales backed up that same sentiment when asked to narrow down a specific timeline for hiring a manager.

Q: What is the timeline of hiring a coach? Is the process underway?

A: (Hopefully by the ) Summer of 2016, but it will be a case of the merits of who will be available when and who we might think will be available.

The big caveat seems to be if someone comes available before that time frame that they wouldn't hesitate to get a deal done. One big MLS name has come available. Jason Kreis is out there for the taking, but the club doesn't seem to be interested in his services or he'd already be signed. That leads us to believe a European candidate could be the direction their looking in unless a better domestic one comes available.

It's all speculation at this point with only one vague rumor about a possible candidate emerging so far. One that has since died down without any fanfare.