Adrian Heath's firing shows ruthlessness at heart of the Orlando City project

Conspiracy theories, bewilderment and downright anger have become the currency of Orlando City fans in the past few days in the wake of the MLS team abruptly cutting its ties with head coach Adrian Heath.

Heath was the only head coach the franchise had ever known, dating back to its original roots in Austin, Texas, in 2007. The former Stoke and Everton striker had hitched his star to the wagon created by founding owner – and good friend – Phil Rawlins from the word go and believed passionately in the long-term future of the club.

Heath’s commitment to the team, its fanbase and Central Florida as a whole was rare in an age of transient sports stars, front offices with itchy trigger fingers and supporters demanding instant success. To many, “Inchy” was the team, a whole-hearted buccaneer who pinned his heart firmly to his sleeve and seemed just as at home in the bleachers as on the sideline.

It was a comfortable match, and the team’s MLS advent in 2015 gave the league one of its best feel-good stories in recent years. The hardcore fans of The Ruckus and Iron Lion Firm came together on match days to form The Wall, a non-stop section of drums, chants and unconditional support, while a community happily wore purple as its trademark. 

And then came Worrying Wednesday, an event that appeared – from the outside – to have no obvious catalyst. Heath was out, a team struggling for playoff traction was discombobulated, and the theories and second-hand speculation began. This was all the work of majority owner Flavio Augusto da Silva, insisted some of the rumor-mongers, a power-play to ensure the franchise was fashioned in his image. Rawlins would be next, claimed others; the team’s heritage was about to be sold out from underneath it.

At Friday’s home game against Houston, The Wall replaced their usual banners for those proudly proclaiming ‘Inchy’s Army,’ and ‘Mastermind & Crafter’, defiantly showing their allegiance to the departed head coach. For the first time in Orlando’s MLS journey, a smattering of boos were directed at the team at the end of the dour 0-0 draw with Houston Dynamo, and several fans directed invective at the players as they walked off, sparking Italian Antonio Nocerino – who hadn’t played a minute of the game – to remonstrate with the supporters, and come in for even more personal abuse as a result.

If not Defcon 1, then the Lions’ fanbase was simmering at levels of open hostility, a situation stoked by some of the local media who took the lack of a front-office press conference as a tacit admission of discontent within the club. Team ‘sources’ were quoted at length, hinting at an irrevocable rift between Rawlins and Da Silva. 

The Brazilian billionaire had come on board in early 2013, the key man in escalating the team’s bid for MLS status, and he and Rawlins’ ambitions dovetailed almost exactly, a pair of similar-minded self-made businessmen with a vision for a soccer club that had a winning tradition but firm community foundations. The team’s motto of ‘Defy Expectations’ served to sum up the pair’s personal philosophies as well as the mindset of an expansion team in a notoriously difficult league for newcomers.

Anyone taking the club’s earnest community focus as softness would be misguided, however. There is an extremely firm hand inside the purple-clad glove, guided by a a clear-eyed vision for the future.

To date, the club’s enormous success at USL level and an underdog mentality last season that saw them finish as ‘gallant losers’ in playoff terms have combined to obscure the fact this is a fiercely determined leadership group. The four-man board led by Rawlins and Da Silva expects to be winners, not necessarily immediately, but on a clear path to attainment, be it three, four or five years down the line. 

Orlando fans had not seen this element of cold-blooded determination in any overt way before last Wednesday, but the signs were there. When the team made the transition from USL to MLS, the club left behind several stalwarts from their minor league days, including goalkeeper Miguel Gallardo, defender Rob Valentino and player coach James O’Connor, all of whom were firm fan favorites but deemed not good enough for the step up. 

After the 2015 season, goalkeeper Tally Hall, who had been one of the undoubted stars of the inaugural campaign, was released because of long-term doubts over a recurring knee injury. Popular assistant coach Ian Fuller was also dismissed at the end of the year, with new man Bobby Murphy arriving as a direct replacement to bolster Heath’s hand. The club made a bold move to bring in highly regarded Portuguese administrator Armando Carneiro from Benfica as chief soccer officer, with a free hand to shape the academy and links to the first team.

General manager Paul McDonough, another personable member of the front office, was allowed to leave as he felt his opportunities were now stunted. When it soon became clear Carneiro’s methods and vision didn’t mesh with that of the board, a quick and decisive step was taken to end the relationship, with Carneiro returning to Portugal after less than two months.

Here was an organization that was prepared to take a chance, to chart an unconventional course if necessary, but one that would act swiftly and decisively when a problem or impediment was detected. In the final analysis, business sense trumped sentiment, even if that meant ending a near 10-year relationship with a beloved head coach.

That was the full and genuine background to the end of Heath’s tenure as Orlando City head coach. The board looked at his 50 games at the helm and decided they fell short of realizing the club’s ambitions. The squad had been improved for 2016 but was now chalking up just 1.25 points-per-game as opposed to the 1.29 they achieved last season, when they fell five points below the all-important red line.

Their road form was deteriorating and defensive frailties that had dogged them during their first summer had resurfaced, notably in the past month, conceding at least two goals in each of the last six games and with only one clean sheet this year prior to Friday’s 0-0 stalemate. From the board’s viewpoint, the vehicle had strayed off the road to success. A new driver was needed.

Rawlins admits that parting company with the only head coach the club had known was the hardest decision he has had to make to date, but he would not have been “honest” in assessing the situation if he had allowed it to meander to a messier conclusion. He remains a huge fan of Heath’s character and honesty, and is unwavering in his assessment of what he brought to the club.

“There is no doubting Adrian’s achievements here,” Rawlins told the Guardian. “What he meant to the club and what he did for us will never be forgotten. We achieved unprecedented success in USL and chalked up many memorable milestones.”

Tellingly, Rawlins also suggested that while, yes, it was a full board decision to release the head coach, he would most certainly have fought long and hard for Heath if he wasn’t in agreement. “If I thought Adrian was the best person for the next three years, he would still be here.”

As for “sources” insisting there is some kind of rift with the club’s majority owner, Rawlins was dismissive. “No, that is certainly not the case. We are two very ambitious owners but we both have the same sense of direction and purpose. We have a similar outlook, and that is for Orlando City to be playing in the Concacaf Champions League and, ultimately, the World Club Cup.”

There remains room for sentiment, both in the past and for the future. “I genuinely wish nothing but the best for Adrian,” Rawlins added. “I hope he finds another MLS club and I hope he achieves success with them.”

But a marker has now been unequivocally set down in Central Florida. Orlando City are determined to forge ahead. They will happily accept all contributions towards their target, but they expect to get there and they will act, quickly and firmly, to ensure that they do. The future starts now.