On Wednesday, June 13, 2012, the CEO of the Philadelphia Union, Nick Sakiewicz, announced that manager Peter Nowak had been fired. Nowak had been with the team from the beginning and had been officially hired in 2009. After being with the team for just over three years, Nowak will now be replaced by assistant coach John Hackworth.
The news of his firing comes not long after it was reported that he had thrown his hat into the ring for a position with a Scottish team. Though Nowak denied the report, sources seemed adamant that he had put his name in for the job. This report may have been a factor, but, as most fans already know, there were likely many other factors that led to his termination.
The news also comes just one day after the Union lost to the Harrisburg City Islanders, which are a USL Pro team. Though this was a friendly match, on Tuesday, June 26, 2012, the two teams will be playing in the quarterfinals for the U.S. Open Cup. The City Islanders, based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, will travel to play at PPL Park Stadium. The Union could no doubt use a victory for morale and for momentum.
To me, as a fan, this is not surprising. I have doubted that there was a grand plan behind all the trades. Taking the odd trades with the recent news that Nowak may, or may not, have been planning to take another job, it seemed like the writing was on the wall. A team needs someone that will put its best interests first. I was not sure that Nowak had the team's best interest in mind and he didn't seem very dedicated in recent times. If only the team could go back in time and correct some of the personnel mistakes, the season might be very different. As time travel is not possible, all fans can do is look forward to the day that things are back on track and remember the better days. Hopefully, the team will start to turn around soon, but that may be like hoping for a miracle.
Kristin Watt lives in central Pennsylvania and has no local major league sporting teams in the area .She has chosen to adopt Philadelphia's teams, including the Philadelphia Union, as her own home teams. Philadelphia is close enough to make a daytrip out of a game and still not have to get a hotel room.
