The axe fell for two MLS head coaches on Friday.
The New York Red Bulls announced on Friday that the contracts of head coach Hans Backe and assistant Jan Halvor Halvorsenwould not be renewed for the 2013 season while also announcing the appointment of Andy Roxburgh as the club's new Sporting Director. The Swedish manager will be replaced by Mike Petke on an interim basis.
Meanwhile, Soccer By Ives reports that Chivas USA head coach Robin Fraser and his assistant Greg Vanney have been let go by the Rojiblancos. Speculation has swirled around the former Galaxy defender after Chivas de Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara took sole ownership of the club earlier in the year. Vergara is scheduled to speak to the media at the SLS Hotel in Beverly Hills next Tuesday.
If Fraser joins Backe, it will bring the total of MLS coaches relieved of their duties this offseason to three after the Montreal Impact parted ways with Jesse Marsch last week.
In other news, the MLS Disciplinary Committee suspended Andy Najar for the entire Eastern Conference Championship series and fined him an undisclosed amount for hurling a ball at Jair Marrufo -- who will officiate this Sunday's Western Conference Championship Final -- after being awarded a yellow card for a hard challenge on Red Bulls midfielder Joel Lindpere in the 71st minute of the Eastern Conference Semifinal First Leg last week.
Also, Seattle Sounders defender Marc Burch offered an apology for directing a homophobic slur at Real Salt Lake midfielder Will Johnson in the 75th minute of their Western Conference Semifinal Second Leg at Rio Tinto Stadium on Thursday night. No word yet if Burch will be suspended, but Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark was suspended three games for using a similar slur toward a ball boy during a game in Seattle earlier in the season.
