Atlanta United may soon hire manager, but Rob Valentino not a candidate

Atlanta United may have its next manager hired by next week and its next technical director by Christmas, club President Garth Lagerwey said Tuesday.

Lagerwey said that interim manager Rob Valentino wasn’t considered for the job because he lacked experience and enough trophies on his resume than have his competitors for the position. Valentino was promoted to interim following the firing of Gonzalo Pineda in June.

Valentino posted a goodbye message on X on Tuesday, saying “Valentino’s out.” His contract was expiring at the end of the year. Valentino had been with the club since 2018. He served as interim manager in 2021 between the firing of Gabriel Heinze and the hiring of Pineda.

Lagerwey was effusive in his praise for Valentino but said that this season will be the baseline from which Atlanta United will try improve in order to win trophies. Atlanta United hasn’t won a trophy or reached the finals of any tournament since 2019. Valentino was told Tuesday morning. Valentino went 6-6-6 during the regular season. Atlanta United qualified for the playoffs. It defeated Montreal in the wild-card round, posted one of the biggest upsets in MLS history by knocking out Miami in the best-of-three first round, and then was beaten by Orlando 1-0 on Sunday in the Eastern Conference semifinals. It was the deepest playoff run since 2019.

ExploreAtlanta United keeps Brad Guzan, Jay Fortune and others

“Rob had an opportunity to prove himself,” Lagerwey said. “Different folks can have different opinions of what constitutes proof. But the standard, ultimately, for Atlanta United is, are we going to win championships? And the ideal would be with our fan base, biggest in the league, with the best facilities in the league, with the best ownership in the league, we are in a position where we can recruit and we can afford proven winners, and I think that’s a big part of what we want to do.”

Lagerwey said he believes that Atlanta United, without two Designated Players, was capable of winning the MLS Cup. He cited the belief that Valentino and his staff had created. He referenced the team when he was at Real Salt Lake, which won the MLS Cup in 2009, and those at Seattle that won in 2016 and ‘19, weren’t the most talented, either.

“What is maybe not clear at the moment is just how desirable it is to work for Atlanta United, and the type of candidates that we’re able to attract to this franchise is really impressive, and I think we’re going to wind up with somebody good as the nice head coach,” he said.

ExploreMore AJC coverage of Atlanta United

Lagerwey said they are down to “a couple of” finalists for each position. He said they haven’t worked with each before, but they will do so before the hires are made. He said an ability to communicate will be a “tiebreaker.”

Lagerwey said the manager may not be from MLS. When Lagerwey fired Carlos Bocanegra as technical director in September, he said the person who will be hired for that job needs MLS experience because of its unique rules.

“Ideally, the perfect world is to pair the general manager or the sporting director with the new head coach and not surprise either one with the other,” he said.

For more content about Atlanta United

Follow me on Twitter/X @DougRobersonAJC

On Facebook at Atlanta United News Now

On Instagram at DouglasDavidRoberson

Atlanta United coverage on The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Southern Fried Soccer podcast can be found

Apple — https://apple.co/3ISD6Ve

Spotify — https://spoti.fi/3L8TN0C

Google podcasts — https://bit.ly/32KlZW3

If you are going to listen to the podcast for the first time, please follow it on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts … and if you like what you hear, please give us a good rating so we can grow the show. If you have questions about the MLS team, you can email Doug Roberson at droberson@ajc.com, DM him on Twitter @dougrobersonajc or call 404-526-2527.

Stay up to date every day on breaking news, in-depth investigations, politics, sports, entertainment, food and dining and so much more by becoming a subscriber to the AJC. Go to AJC.com/start for a very special offer and unlock hundreds of original articles published daily on the refreshed AJC.com and the new AJC mobile app. Plus, access to our news alerts, subscriber-only events, AJC original shows, films and videos, newsletters, and so much more.

Atlanta United’s 2024 schedule

Feb. 24 Columbus 1, Atlanta United 0

March 9 Atlanta United 4, New England 1

March 17 Atlanta United 2, Orlando 0

March 23 Toronto 2, Atlanta United 0

March 31 Atlanta United 3, Chicago 0

April 6 Atlanta United 1, NYCFC 1

April 14 Atlanta United 2, Philadelphia 2

April 20 Cincinnati 2, Atlanta United 1

April 27 Atlanta United 1, Chicago 1

May 4 Minnesota 2, Atlanta United 1

May 7 Atlanta United 3, Charlotte Independence 0 in U.S. Open Cup