Bradley Carnell Hired As New Head Coach Of Philadelphia Union
The Philadelphia Union ended an era earlier this off-season when they fired Jim Curtin after 11 years as the team’s head coach. The question became who would lead this new era of Union soccer? We now know the answer. The Union hired Bradley Carnell, making him the 4th head coach in franchise history.
Carnell has 10 years of professional coaching experience on his resume, including 8 in the MLS. Most recently, he served as the first-ever head coach for expansion team St Louis City SC. He was fired in his 2nd season there though.
Before that he was an assistant with the Red Bulls, and later the Intermin Head Coach. He started his career coaching at the University of Johannesburg in his home Country South Africa.
Bradley Carnell also played for 18 years, splitting the time between teams in South Africa, and then later in Germany. In addition, he also represented South Africa 42 times in International Play, including 3 times in the 2002 World Cup. He retired in 2011, started coaching in 2012, and then was hired by the Red Bulls as an assistant in 2017.
Bradley Carnell Begins A New Era For Philadelphia Union
The Union are at a bit of a turning point. They had gotten used to being at the top of the League Table with him Curtin. They flirted with winning it all a few times, but a team decimated by Covid 1 year, and a collapse in the MLS Cup another, meant they never won it all.
2 years ago they took a big step back going out early in the playoffs. Last season they missed the playoffs altogether. That was all she wrote for Curtin. The blame should fall on more than just Curtin, but 2 disappointing seasons in a row ended his time with the Union. However, Union fans have focused much of their ire on the team’s owner, Jay Sugarman.
As more and more MLS teams land big-name players coming over from Europe to finish out their career hear, the Union have not quite jumped on board that train. They made their name-building up young talent, but that pool has seemingly started to dry up.
Fans have grown restless feeling like ownership is not willing to spend what it takes to win now. The Sons Of Ben, the Union fan club, even staged a protest at a game earlier this season, though stadium security quickly shut it down.
In St Louis, Carnell played a frenetic passing style of soccer, which tracks with his playing roots in Germany. It also tracks from his time with the Red Bulls who run a similar tactic. So expect that style to return to Subaru Park. Whether or not it will turn things around for the club remains to be seen.
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The Top 10 Biggest Storylines From Philly Sports in 2024
Honorable Mentions
Obviously, not everyone had the same 10 stories on their list. So here are a few that got a few votes, but did not get enough to crack the top 10. So here are a few honorable mentions before we get to the top 10.
- 76ers Arena Debate
- Zack Wheeler Signs A New Deal, Pitches Like a Cy Young
- Carter Hart Arrested
- Haason Reddick Traded
- Union Fire Head Coach Jim Curtin
- Cutter Gauthier Forces A Trade
- Bryce Harper Break Slump With 3 HR Game
- Joel Embiid Scores 70 Points In A Game
- Tyrese Maxey Makes It to His First All-Star Game
10) Sixers Lose To The Knicks In The Playoffs- (19 Votes)
The Sixers 2023-2024 season started out as well as you could hope. Joel Embiid, coming off winning MVP, looked even better. He dropped 70 in a game and was averaging over a point per minute.
But then disaster struck. A meniscus injury kept him out for most of the rest of the season. They were 31-8 when he played, but 16-27 without him. Embiid came back by the end of the year, but it was not enough to get out of the Play-in Tournament. But they managed to get through that, and hopes were high that they could get past the Knicks in the playoffs.
Those hopes were dashed in 6 games. While Embiid and Maxey played great, the rest of the team was not so great. The Sixers didn’t even last long enough to get their usual 2nd round exit. Not to mention we had to deal with Knicks fans taking over our own building.
It was an ugly end to an ugly season, that at one point had so much hope.
9) Jason Kelce and Fletcher Cox Retire (33 Votes)
Eagles fans have been lucky to have two Hall of Fame-level players for the past 13 years. Jason Kelce, drafted in 2011, and Fletcher Cox drafted in 2012. Those two, along with Brandon Graham, were the last remaining players from the Andy Reid era. They lasted through Reid, Chip Kelly, Doug Pederson, and Nick Sirianni. They were part of the only team to win a Super Bowl in Eagles history. But in the same off-season, they both called it a career.
First Jason Kelce, in a tear-filled press conference, and then later Fletcher Cox, in a slightly more subdued one. Two huge leaders on the two sides of the ball, leaving at the same time. There were questions about how the Eagles would survive losing two leaders. But there is not question that they are two of the greatest Eagles of all time.
9) Phillies Great Start, Winning NL East For First Time Since 2011 (43 Points)
We will get to the way the season ended, but the start of the season was magical. A rotation putting up historical numbers, a lineup near the top of the league, and a shutdown bullpen.
Going into the All-Star Break, the Phillies were on top of the world, having just recently swept the Dodgers. From April 5th to mid-July, the Phillies won or tied 23 of their 28 series. They were 28 games over .500. But then August got ugly. September was a bit better, still not as good as they were earlier though. But they had built up such a big lead, that the NL East crown was never truly in doubt.
They took home the NL East Pennant for the first time since 2011. But going into the playoffs the feeling around the team was nowhere near as good as it was back in July.
7) Eagles Get Blown Out By The Bucs In The Playoffs (46 Points)
Most of the 2023 collapse was not eligible for this list. The 10-1 start, to the 11-6 finish, mostly all happened in 2023. But the end of it all, the playoff game vs the Bucs, fell in 2024.
They drew a 9-7 Bucs team that only made the playoffs because of how bad the NFC South was. But the Eagles had been even worse, and it showed on that night. The Eagles got embarrassed down in Tampa Bay. They lost 32-9. That 32 for Tampa included a Safety that might be the worst play of Jalen Hurts career. They were lifeless and showed no fight at all. It was way many didn’t believe Nick Sirianni would be back. But we will get to that part of the story later in this list.
(Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
