Hackett: Real Salt Lake Should Hire Manager Before Ownership Takes Control Of Club

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Real Salt Lake is searching for a new manager while they also search for a new ownership group. So the question must be asked, should Real Salt Lake hire a manager before new ownership takes control? Or will they be better off waiting for a new owner before any coaching hire takes place?

Hire Now, Not Later

Real Salt Lake should hire a manager before the club finds a new owner, here is why.

With all due respect, very rich individuals almost always have really big egos regardless of how they got their money. If they made all of their money by themselves or were inherited the money, it does not matter. The vast majority of rich people think they know it all.

Kind of a strange question, I am about to write an opinion piece on this and I want your opinion.

In your opinion, should #RSL wait to hire a manager for new ownership to take control of the club? Or are they better off making the hire before any owner steps in?

Think about it

— Tom Hackett (@TomCantHackett) October 5, 2021

Trust Elliot Fall, Not Big Pockets

Currently, Real Salt Lake general manager Elliot Fall and his front office have done a tremendous job in guiding the club to success. Fall and his staff have brought in a number of players who have had a positive impact on the club. Furthermore, he hired Pablo Mastroeni as an assistant coach in January, who has had a profound impact on the club since his arrival.

Fall has been with Real Salt Lake since 2007 when he joined the club straight out of college as an intern. Since then, he has endured a number of different positions and has experienced both the highest of highs and the lowest of lows with Real Salt Lake.

Fall knows what it takes to create a good club culture, he knows how to build a winning club and has been mentored by some of the most successful men to ever be involved in Major League Soccer in Garth Lagerway and Jason Kreis, among others.

His expertise is invaluable. He is a wizard when it comes to the rules and regulations of the league, and since he took over from Craig Waibel as Real Salt Lake’s general manager, he has done nothing but add value to the club he so dearly loves.

It makes more sense to trust Fall when it comes to hiring a new manager than it does to trust a new ownership group.

FULL VIDEO: #RSL GM Elliot Fall discussion w/ ⁦@BrianDunseth⁩ re: #DaleReal coaching search https://t.co/8R0NW7R7cj

— Trey Fitz-Gerald (@3FitzSLC) October 5, 2021

Money & Egos

The best owners around the world know their place amongst professional clubs. They hire talented people to make high-profile decisions and do not let their egos get in the way of how business should be done.

It was one of the very many reasons why former Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen did not work out. Hansen was always trying to assert his authority and opinion on team decisions. He could not help himself, despite having very little understanding of the sport of soccer.

Who knows, maybe the new ownership group will have a better understanding of the sport. Maybe they will have a better understanding of the soccer community in Utah and maybe they will have a good understanding of management, tactics, and identifying good talent within the sport.

But they definitely will not be more educated than Fall who has been training for this decision since 2007.

Real Salt Lake should hire a new manager before an ownership group enters the frame.

Of course, by hiring a manager before ownership takes control Fall runs the risk of losing that manager shortly thereafter. But that will ultimately tell the fanbase everything they need to know about the new ownership party.

They cannot let their egos get in the way of good soccer decisions being made.

Trust Fall, not the person(s) with the big pockets.