FC Edmonton to name its new head coach next Tuesday

FC Edmonton has confirmed that it will name its new head coach next Tuesday.

It’s expected that former Vancouver Whitecaps assistant and Canadian national-teamer Colin Miller will be named the new boss, but the club itself has not confirmed any candidate. Team officials have told The 11 that no contract has been finalized with a new coach as of Monday.

Sources had told The 11 that Miller and former Canada teammate Nick Dasovic were in the running for the job. But the confirmation that Dasovic will be conducting the national U-20 camp from Nov. 20-30 — in the same time frame that FCE will be making its coaching announcement and holding its free-agent combine — has taken him out of the running.

The combine begins Nov. 28 and runs until the 30th at Commonwealth Stadium’s fitness centre. Eleven players have been confirmed, but nearly 50 invitations have gone out to free agents — the majority of them who are Canadian or have played in Canada. The club had stated that it wants the head coach in place to evaluate the players at the combine. With the coaching announcement on Tuesday, that gives the new man in the dugout one day to get ready for the combine.

Miller is no stranger to Edmonton, having played numerous World Cup qualifiers for Canada throughout the ‘90s at Commonwealth Stadium, when it was the national team’s first-choice venue.

Miller, born in Scotland, was a member of Canada’s 1986 World Cup team, but didn’t play in the tournament. But he was a fixture on the team through the next three World Cup qualifying cycles. He was Canada’s national-team assistant coach in 2003, and served as an interim coach in 2003-2004. He was Derby County’s assistant in 2007 and ’08. Miller worked with the Vancouver Whitecaps Residency and later served as an assistant with the club, but was let go after the team’s first MLS campaign.

With his experience with the Whitecaps, Miller would be familiar with many of FC Edmonton’s players who used to be in the Vancouver organization, including Kyle Porter, Antonio Rago and Paul Hamilton.