Colorado Rapids Fire Manager Anthony Hudson
The Colorado Rapids pulled the plug after more than a season of futility under Anthony Hudson, firing the manager on Wednesday.
Hudson's Rapids are the only winless team in the league this season (0-7-2), following a season in which the club went 8-19-7 and had the third-fewest points in MLS. Their -12 goal differential is the worst in the league, as is their 24 goals conceded. Former Rapids striker and assistant coach Conor Casey has stepped into the void Hudson leaves behind in an interim capacity.
"This is a pivotal period in the development of our team and it’s in the club’s best interest to make a change now," club general manager Padraig Smith said in a statement. "We still have a lot of season left and we look forward to getting back on track.”
Hudson's firing comes days after he blasted Rapids players and the club's dearth of quality following a 1-0 loss to Atlanta United, with the contrast of spending between the two clubs as his main point.
"We come to a place where a team full of superstars and big-money players and a massive, massive gap in class," Hudson said. "We are fighting down at the bottom with a bottom group of players and we have to find a way to pick up a result.
"Today was just another example of the real gulf in class. If this was a promotion-and-relegation league, we’d have been relegated by now."
There is no relegation looming for the Rapids, but Hudson won't be the one trying to guide the 2010 champions back among the league's contenders.