Welcome Kim Björkegren
I’ll open with a PSA. Type 0246 while holding the Alt key to get the “ö” character (make sure you have a number pad and that the number lock is on). Next, I will say “Look at that Trophy!” It’s simple and elegant and not a repugnant eyesore that deserves to be buried under 10 feet of toxic waste. If the Cypriot First Division can have a nice trophy, why can’t the NWSL? I briefly forgot: the NWSL is not allowed to have nice things like a decent trophy, third kits, or peace of mind that a dirt-bag predator isn’t still lurking around the corner somewhere. Covering this league and team oscillates between pure joy and abject depression so often that sometimes I forget that a few stories are just neutral reporting exercises.
This is one of those exercises. Racing Louisville hired a coach sometime in the fairly recent past, and that coach was announced today. The interview and vetting process seemed fine when held up to the very little scrutiny that media outlets can afford or are allowed to give. The players seem to like him, and I guess that will have to do for now. Of note, James O’Connor stated that around 80% of the interviewed candidates were women. The other finalist was a woman. Racing decided that Kim’s impressive CV was enough of a tie-breaker, along with player input, to be named as the new coach. I have no idea of the qualifications of the other candidates interviewed, but I pose the rhetorical question: “How can you build a CV when you’re never given a chance?” Everybody is always in such a rush to judge a hiring decision right out of the gate. Isn’t it more prudent to give Mr. Björkegren at least half a season before we pass too much judgement? I say “yes”, so case closed on the hiring process for now.
As for the candidate, he seems to check the boxes that Soccer Holdings likes which are:
He seems to agree with the overall footballing philosophy.
He appears to be of strong character
He has won in the past
He said all of the right things in the press conference, but honestly who says “I want to sit back and absorb pressure while the other team dictates play.” He obviously said the opposite in that he favors a press and an attacking style which dictates tempo and controls the game. Don’t we all? As an introduction it was fine. Of course Racing being Racing, he will have to get visa issues sorted out and will not be present with the rest of the team during the drafts. I’m sure he will attend via Zoom. He targeted mid-January for a move. I don’t know what month best represents what Louisville has to offer, but January sure isn’t it. He did mention that he has been evaluating players like Howell and Girma, and they will probably be the first two picks in the draft. He also mentioned that his time in China presented a similar challenge to the one he expects here in Louisville.
I think the one thing that caught my ear was his focus on improvement. When Bekki and I did player profiles for the Beautiful Game Network, each player we spoke with talked about development and how it continues to be important throughout your career. Hearing that development would be a focus was I’m sure encouraging to the players he spoke with. Based on reports, it sounds like he knows Nadia best out of the current Racing players, but didn’t want to share too much on that existing relationship. I don’t read anything into this other than it seems like he will play his cards close to the vest.
To me, the more pressing issue is the upcoming expansion draft. I have heard some odd things about Racing’s strategy, so I decided another prediction would probably not do anybody much good in terms of guessing who they are going to protect. I am led to believe that some players have expansion draft protection (wisely) written into their contracts. This makes evaluating on football terms virtually impossible, so no more predictions. I would love to know some of the details in the contracts like the length of the terms and items like draft protection. To date I haven’t been able to find anything. I don’t want to blame Racing for this. I think I asked, but I can’t remember when or in what context. Next year I hope to do better and know more.
