Timbers' Agnello Resigns, Sgt. Wilko Steps In

Hey, hey. Color me impressed. Upon reaching ESPN's site late last night, I caught word of Portland Timbers' head coach Chris Agnello's resignation. I would have posted on it then, but a pretty move scooped me, so I left it for today. On the other hand, they caught more than four games this season, so it seems fitting to cede the honors to them.

While the resignation itself didn't suprise me, this sure as hell did:

"Agnello coached the team to a last-place finish in his one season with the club. The Timbers scored 25 goals in 28 games, the fewest in the United Soccer League First Division."

Maybe that last place finish shouldn't have surprised me. The Timbers stunk up the joint in all four games I saw; why assume it's any different when I'm not there. I don't recall them scoring more than one goal in 2006, so I suppose the goals-for figure makes some sense as well. But, damn...that's an ugly thing to read about your team.

In any case, Timbers' defensive stalwart Gavin Wilkinson has already taken over and he's already getting advice from fans and pundits. (Ugh. Oregonlive's famously crappy website is making it hard to link to Bob Kellet's specific post on the subject. Here's a link to the overall Timbersblog; the post you're looking for is Wednesday, Sept. 27th's titled "Gavin's To-Do List." For the record, I'm guessing he won't get half these things done.)

What to make of it all. I'm not a fan of instant, gut-check analysis. Let's just say, given Agnello's track record, the move probably can't hurt and call it a day. We'll know more around June 2007.

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