Denis Hamlett was named the Sporting Director of the New York Red Bulls on Tuesday (photos credit: Getty Images)
Silence is torture in some instances, or silence is anti-climactic in others.
In this case, the latter rings true.
On Tuesday, the New York Red Bulls finally ended speculation as to the fate of the vacant Sporting Director position by announcing Assistant Head Coach Denis Hamlett would be taking over the position after over a month of dead silence from the RBNY camp. This does not come as news to the well versed Red Bull fan, as rumors swirled almost immediately after former Sporting Director Ali Curtis left the MLS Combine due to unspecified personal reasons back in January.
Hinting at earlier friction between Curtis and Head Coach Jesse Marsch, Hamlett’s promotion should foster a congruent vision and direction for the club moving forward. Red Bull Head of Global Soccer, Oliver Mintzlaff, echoed this sentiment in the official RBNY statement by saying Hamlett shares “an excellent understanding of our global philosophy”.
The movement, or lack thereof, during the winter transfer window was evidently handled by Hamlett which in itself isn’t a big departure from the “no big-names”, “team is the star” identity fostered by both Curtis and the greater Red Bull global soccer. Granted, one cannot make an accurate assessment about the effectiveness of a Sporting Director based on an abridged winter transfer window and it is not until the summer until we can fully understand what Hamlett has in store for RBNY.
Given Hamlett’s tenure as both a player and a coach within the MLS, he perhaps best understands the nuances necessary to navigate the sometimes confounding MLS roster rules and may have a few aces up his sleeve which we may not see for some time.
