Another MLS manager out: Chivas USA’s Robin Fraser

When a manager takes over at Chivas USA, we all just turn the hour glass over and wait for the sand to run out.

Yes, you could say that about most managers in most sports, but the pox is especially pronounced at Chivas USA, where one man after another has attempted to arrest the dysfunction of a franchise that refuses to figure out what it wants to be.

Robin Fraser, well-liked and well-respected in the professional soccer community, is the latest head coach to lose his job at Chivas USA.

Not that we didn’t see this coming. Fraser’s record at Chivas (15-32-21) was hardly distinguished. Recently, the club went through an ownership re-shuffle, which coincided roughly with some changes in the mother ship’s top-level structure at Chivas de Guadalajara.

So, Fraser had “dead man walking” status through the last month or so of the regular season.

The question is, can anybody win there? Competitive resources are scarce, the team has always lacked an organizational identity, they play as the second tenant inside Home Depot Center and the fans … well, the club certainly has some devoted supporters, but let’s just say there certainly are not enough of them.

It really must be a maddeningly difficult place to win. Bob Bradley and Preki came closest, each of them taking the Goats to the playoffs, although the franchise remains on the hunt for its first post-season series win. That’s not saying much for a club that’s been around now since 2005.