RSL's Shore tasked with stabilizing ship after dismissal of good friend Cassar


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SANDY — Daryl Shore didn’t expect his first head coaching job in Major League Soccer to come this way.

Real Salt Lake’s goalkeeper coach took Monday off and went skiing with his family. When he returned from the slopes, he returned a missed phone call from RSL General Manager Craig Waibel.

His good friend, RSL head coach Jeff Cassar, had been fired, dismissed by the organization that brought him in 11 years ago. Shore was going to be the interim manager, replacing his good friend as he tries to pull his current organization out of a 0-2-1 start to the 2017 MLS season.

“This is part of the job. I said yes, but it was a tough day,” said Shore, who came to RSL in 2013 after a head coaching stint with the Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the second-division NASL. “Somebody who brings you in on his staff, hires you and trusts you to be by his side at all times, to have that phone call happen is very tough. It’s a hard process, but we understand this business we are in.”

Cassar departed RSL with a 38-37-30 overall record, and Shore had been a part of it since Cassar took over for Jason Kreis in 2013. When Cassar was named the third manager in club history, Shore was immediately brought on to replace Cassar as goalkeeper coach.

Now he finds himself tasked with picking up the pieces of a winless three-match start (and 10 straight matches dating back to August 2016) to the season for an RSL squad that has been outscored 4-1 in three matches.

Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran (2) and Toronto FC defender Justin Morrow (2) chase down the ball as Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC play at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Utah on Saturday, March 4, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)
Real Salt Lake defender Tony Beltran (2) and Toronto FC defender Justin Morrow (2) chase down the ball as Real Salt Lake and Toronto FC play at Rio Tinto Stadium in Sandy Utah on Saturday, March 4, 2017. (Photo: Scott G Winterton, Deseret News)

“As unfortunate as it is, we have to get ready for a game,” Shore said. “But it was tough. We had a very good training day, and it was all positive. Hopefully … we can gear toward Red Bulls and go down there and try to get a result.”

Salt Lake plays at the New York Red Bulls (2-1) Saturday in an abbreviated slate of MLS matches during the FIFA international window for World Cup qualifying.

It’s tough to play a game after losing a major figure in your club’s history, but it’s part of the job, longtime defender Tony Beltran said.

“It came as a shock, to be honest,” Beltran said. “These decisions are outside of my control, and as a player, it’s just my job to show up every day and prove my worth. But I didn’t expect it to happen this early in the season. We didn’t have a dream start, but I thought we didn’t have much time.

“But I’m just a player, and I have to respect the managerial decision. It’s part of the game.”

And while Cassar’s departure was tough for all the players — especially the ones who knew him during his 11 seasons with the club — they also know they have a job to do.

“Jeff is just a great guy, and him and I are friends who have worked together for 11 years,” Beltran said. “I think it’s a different situation, but part of the job.

“As a player, as someone who lost that game, you have to think maybe if we get a result or a tie then Jeff still has his job. But it’s not the way things work in hindsight.

“We as players still have a job to do, and we have to move forward.”

Shore has the responsibility and the trust to watch over the squad in the coming weeks. He’ll likely be a candidate for the full-time head coaching job, too, making his interim tag a significant audition to Waibel, owner Dell Loy Hansen and the rest of the RSL front office.

“Daryl was my head coach one night, and it scared me,” said Waibel, a former assistant coach on Cassar’s staff. “He’s a really disciplined guy, he knows the game well, and he’s tactically aware.

“He’s been through every facet of this game. It’s important to know how to manage through this and manage the group. We felt Daryl gave us the best chance as an interim.”

While RSL grapples with an international coaching search, the appointment of Shore to interim coach also ensures some level of continuity for the current roster.

“I think Daryl’s know us, and he’ll keep things similar,” team captain Kyle Beckerman said. “We can just go about it, and with such a short turnaround, there isn’t much to dwell on. We have to keep moving forward and get ready for New York.”

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