The Daily Dirt, July 27: One Call Away

Atlanta United fans have consistently been asking, “Who will our first manager be?” More dominoes fell yesterday that could lead to a decision soon.

Seattle made the move that has been expected for quite a while, they parted ways with Sigi Schmid. This has two effects on Atlanta’s search. Does that now make Schmid a candidate for the Atlanta United job? Does Seattle’s entry into the manager market hurt Atlanta’s ability to hire who they want?

As fans were starting to process those questions, another bomb dropped, this time courtesy of Taylor Twellman. Is Roberto Martinez under serious consideration as Atlanta United’s managerial hire?

If and when news breaks, Dirty South Soccer will be here with the latest information.

Some other nuggets related to Atlanta United dropped yesterday as well:

• The June 1, 2017 opening date for the Mercedes-Benz Stadium appears solid enough at this point to begin planning for the demolition of the Georgia Dome.
• Don Garber heavily alluded to Minnesota joining Atlanta in MLS next season, with an announcement coming soon.
• Univision Sports reporter Lorena Troncoso tweeted that Hector Villalba will be presented in Tijuana as a new member of Xolos on loan for six months.

Domestic

The issues in Seattle might run deeper than the manager (SoccerWire)

Matt Doyle looks at the Sigi Era in Seattle and some of the potential replacements (MLS)

Six options to replace Schmid (FourFourTwo)

Brian Schmetzer, a fixture in Seattle soccer, gets his shot on the big stage as an interim head coach (Sounder at Heart)

Gregg Berhalter “lit into players” after Columbus blew 2-0 lead against Orlando last Saturday (Columbus Dispatch)

Once thought to be a Seattle target, now Toronto is linked to one of Tito Villalba’s former San Lorenzo teammates (Waking the Red)

Behind the scenes on Columbus’ signing of Zach Steffen (Massive Report)

Philadelphia Union sign their first Homegrown Player since 2012 (Philadelphia Inquirer)

LAFC looking to Orange County for their training facility (OC Register)

ESPN/ESPN2 ratings up 32% for MLS in 2016 (ESPN MediaZone)

International

Of course David Moyes wants Marouane Fellaini at Sunderland... (Manchester Evening News)

BREAKING NEWS: Neymar likes to party (Marca)

Arsenal can’t “outgun” their rivals in the transfer market (BBC)

Twitter links with Sky Sports to show Premier League highlights (The Guardian)

Fabian Castillo is welcomed by Trabzonspor fans at the airport in Turkey:

Local

The Falcons released Devin Hester (The Falcoholic)

Braves shutout the Twins, Adonis Garcia homer powers the offense (Talking Chop)