05/20/2008 - Frisco, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - FC Dallas fired coach Steve Morrow on Tuesday, two days after the Major League Soccer club was humiliated in a 5-1 to the Los Angeles Galaxy.
The loss extended Dallas' winless streak to four games and dropped the team's record to 2-3-3 this season. Dallas is fourth in Major League Soccer's Western Conference.
Marco Ferruzzi, in his fourth season as an assistant coach, will lead the team on an interim basis.
"I feel that the team was not heading in the direction we had planned and believe it is in the best interest of the club to make a coaching change at this time," Dallas General Manager Michael Hitchcock said.
Morrow was named the club's fourth coach in December 2006. In his first season as head coach, Dallas posted a 13-12-5 record and finished in third place in the Western Conference.
The team advanced to the 2007 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship game for the third time in team history, falling 3-2 to the New England Revolution at Pizza Hut Park.
FC Dallas advanced to the MLS Cup Playoffs for a league-record tying 10th time in history, though it was eliminated in the conference semifinals by eventual MLS Cup Champions Houston Dynamo.
Dallas was unbeaten in its first four games this year, including a pair of 2-0 wins over Red Bull New York and Chivas USA and a 3-3 tie with Houston. But the club has lost three of its last four and had just two goals during its current four-game skid.
Dallas is still just three points out of first in the Western Conference.
"I fully accept responsibility and, if the team needs to go in a different direction, then I wish the players nothing but great success for the remainder of the season and beyond," Morrow said.
A Northern Ireland native, Morrow played the final two years of his pro career with Dallas. In 2002 and 2003, he had three goals in 41 regular season matches and also scored once in three playoff games, playing primarily as a defender.
He was hired as one of the team's assistant coaches in 2004, and was the first assistant coach during the 2005 and 2006 seasons. Ferruzzi will make his debut against Real Salt Lake on Saturday at Pizza Hut Park.
<< This Week in Auto Racing May 22 - May 25
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“You play to win the game!”
Those are the words of notoriously intense head coach Herman Edwards. Unfortunately, from a bettors’ perspective, most coaches don’t feel that way about the NFL preseason. August is a time to evaluate young players, finalize the depth chart and pray your star players stay healthy.
The trick to making money during the exhibition schedule is identifying coaches – like Edwards – who can’t stand losing even when there's nothing on the line.
The New York Jets betting won 15 of 21 preseason games and went 14-7 against the spread (ATS) during Edwards’s five-year tenure with the club. In his first season as the Kansas City Chiefs field boss, the team improved from 0-4 to 2-2.
Identifying win-a-holics like Edwards is a good start if you plan betting the preseason – even though most say you shouldn’t ... but what the hell do they know anyway?
Here’s a brief rundown of two teams that have a habit of winning during the second-stringers’ season, and another club that has a good chance of exceeding this year.
Playing in the media hub of North America can be stressful but the press can’t write anything negative about the way Tom Coughlin’s boys play in the preseason. The Giants won and covered all four games last summer, improving their record to 7-1 both straight up (SU) and against the spread over the last two years.
Coughlin has shown he’s not afraid to give his starters more time in the second preseason game than most of his colleagues, no doubt one of the reasons his team has been so dominant.
Bettors can count on America’s team early on. The Cowboys are 14-6 both SU and ATS since 2002 in warm-up contests. Former coach Bill Parcells, the coach of the team the last four years, has an intimidating, in-your-face presence – surely a reason Dallas has had so much early success.
The Big Tuna won’t be strolling the sidelines with looks of disgust, but new coach Wade Phillips will be anxious to make a good first impression for owner Jerry Jones.
Dallas plays the Indianapolis Colts and the Denver Broncos before things get serious. They then face the Houston Texans in their third contest (the game starters see most game time) and finish off with the Minnesota Vikings.
Expect a Dallas team able to walk away with another 3-1 preseason record.
This team scored a league-worst 12 offensive touchdowns last season, so the rookies and veterans each have something to prove. There’s a bounty of first-unit jobs up for grabs and plenty of bodies competing for those slots.
First-time head coach Lane Kiffin will be eager to impress an owner who employs the philosophy, “Just win, baby!”
The 32-year-old Kiffin has to command respect from a locker room full of players older than him. All of these factors should lead to purpose in preseason.
Don’t forget: before playing like a team that belonged in NFL Europe, Oakland went 4-1 (both SU and ATS) in exhibition games.
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