US coaches abroad

In a temporary, short-term appointment, Notre Dame women's coach Randy Waldrum was named head coach of the T&T U-17s girls as they attempt to qualify for the FIFA championships.

I looked up Octavio Zambrano on the internet. Last we heard he was coaching in Moldova but he's now moved on and is coaching Tatabanya in Hungary!

http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/article.php?article_id=12656

But it doesn't look good for Zambrano's Hungarian club who look like they'll be relegated.

I found this article while looking around Soccer America's increasingly difficult website to navigate. It isn't about a coach but a club president, French-American Jerome de Bontin taking over, per request from his college friend Prince Albert, as the new president of AS Monaco!

http://www.socceramerica.com/index.cfm?fus...e&art_aid=26589

De Bontin is a business executive and was living in a Chicago suburb Kenilworth, Illinois. That is one guy who by moving to Monaco likely won't find his neighbors as wealthy there as his old ones in Kenilworth!

According to the linked article, de Bontin has been involved in US Soccer for a long time acting in advisory positions and has worked with the US Soccer Foundation. In fact he's now brought his friend Alan Rothenburg on to the board of AS Monaco.

But look at this interesting development from the linked article,

This will be worth following de Bontin's progress at Monaco.

I'll be watching to see if de Bontin actually fulfills is promsie to recruit US players to Monaco. If so then that would be a good development for the US game as I've always thought the French league would be a good place for players to develop. Doesn't seem as if other clubs with a US presence in ownership have tried to do that but then again those are "just" owners who don't care who is on their team as long as they make the club a winner and therefore profitable. De Bontin is one of the few US influenced people in club management that I know of in Europe (maybe Klinsmann and his asst Vazquez might try something similar at Bayern Munich too?)

And Martin I've passed through Kenilworth, a north shore suburb of Chicago and you're right it practically is a Monaco on Lake Michigan!

Should be fascinating to see if de Bontin backs his words with actions.

To follow up on another US coach abroad, here's an update on Afshin Ghotbi (or is it Qotbi?),

http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=afp-...v=afp&type=lgns

He's leaving Iran after his club Persepolis won the league title. His South Korean wife apparently wasn't adjusting to life in Tehran, surprise, surprise!

Sounds though that Ghotbi/Qotbi is a coach on the rise and it wouldn't surprise me to see him catch on somewhere else soon.

Well, Dallas needs a coach ...

I read today that Joe Enochs, who has been playing for VfL Osnabruck since 1996, has retired as a player and been named reserve team coach. The club itself (The Violets!) will be playing their second consecutive season in the 2.Bundesliga, their best run since the early 90s.

Joe Enochs actually had a single cap with the US Nats in a friendly with Ecuador in Columbus as each team was prepping for the stretch run of WCQ. I always had wanted to see him as he was the torch-bearer of US players in Germany for a few years when our ranks were sparse there.

Hope he works out on the sidelines.

Not sure if Joe Enochs is still coaching Osnabruck's reserve team but he is the owner of this business in Osnabruck:

Joe Enochs' Sports Bar

EDIT: OK I did a Babelfish translation of a portion of his bar's website and Enochs is the coach of Osnabruck's U-23 team. He also is by the way Osnabruck's all time career leader in appearances.

The Mysterious Joe Enochs! I saw him in his only brief National team appearance. It was a throw away friendly tucked in the qualifying for WC 2002 against Ecuador in Columbus. At the time, Ecuador was under seige as the government was literally pistol-whipping the team administrators and coaches in a move to get one of the politicos son's on the pitch. This all came about as Ecuador was making their first WC run in years. The entire team went into exile in the US and the Nats threw them a bone to stay fresh with a mid-week friendly.

It was there that Joe Enochs appeared and disappeared. He was an interesting player with at least a decade in the German pro leagues. Glad to hear he is doing well and running a true American institution....a sport's bar!

I wonder if there are any other US coaches working in Europe now? According to their Wikipedia entries Octavio Zambrano, Brent Goulet and Martin Vasquez are no longer asscoiated with the clubs they once coached.