Fort Lauderdale, FL – “I am excited to come back to ‘my’ club.”
That feeling of excitement expressed by the new Fort Lauderdale Strikers coach was reciprocated by their faithful supporters after hearing that the team announced Günter Kronsteiner would be returning as their coach. In a rather surprising move, Ricardo Geromel and the Strikers’ executive team decided to bring back the coach that took their club to the NASL Soccer Bowl in 2014, which was then followed by a rather puzzling breakup once the newly announced Brazilian ownership contingency had officially taken over following the completion of the team’s Championship defeat.
Kronsteiner first arrived in South Florida during the summer of 2013, where he took over a team at the bottom of the table following that year’s Spring Championship. Though the Fall results were only marginally better after Kronsteiner’s first 14 games as head coach, there was a noticeable change in competitive approach and effort from the red and gold players. That glimmer of hope was all the supporters needed to feel confident about their new gaffer’s future with the Strikers.
Relatively unknown to domestic soccer fans, Günter Kronsteiner was hired by then team President Tom Mulroy as not only the team’s coach, but as their Soccer Director as well. That placed him solely in charge of personnel decisions and allowed him to use his first offseason to craft his team’s roster as he saw fit. The 2014 Strikers and their new-attitude came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, with a solidified backline and an up-tempo attack that was scoring goals in bunches. That early momentum seemingly came screeching to a halt in Blaine, MN, where the Spring Strikers then went onto lose their spot atop the table and subsequently arrive at a rather ungraceful 5th place finish to the season. Down but not out, the lads from Lauderdale rebounded quite nicely in the Fall under the leadership of Kronsteiner and rallied off a 7-game unbeaten streak to supplant themselves into playoff position. After a wacky Championship semi-final match against (fittingly) the same team that had squandered their hopes in the Spring season, Minnesota United, Kronsteiner and Strikers suddenly found themselves on the doorstep of the promised land, in what was turning out to be arguably the most prolific turnarounds in modern-day NASL history. The supporters in Fort Lauderdale didn’t even really have time to process what was happening with their club, having undergone such dismal days just a short year ago. Unfortunately, the San Antonio Scorpions were not onboard with this storybook ending and left the Strikers as The Championship runners-up for the 2nd time in a matter of two years. Nevertheless, there had been a bond established throughout that season, between Günter, the players, and the fans that had everyone taking down the red and gold kool-aid in big gulps. For a club that had just lost at a chance at glory, things felt good.
Spirits were certainly high, as the team had just been saved from the grasps of deadbeat owners Traffic Sports following the sale to the Brazilian ownership group featuring newly appointed Managing Partner Ricardo Geromel, who attended The Championship viewing party with Flight 19 and fellow Fort Lauderdale devotees. What better gift than a magician for a coach and core group of over-performing players to begin your new ownership tenure with? However, unbeknownst to Strikers fans, the new bosses in town had different plans for the direction of their franchise. It soon became apparent that there was a realistic possibility of Coach Kronsteiner not being retained, which then became publically accepted when Günter himself took to social media to voice his displeasure with how his contract negotiations were conducted. The whole situation left a bad taste in the mouths of anyone with an emotional attachment to the team, including even some of 2014 roster. As what was supposed to be an offseason of rejoicing began to progress, Strikers fans watched a majority of their favorite players find new homes. To make matters worse, many of those new homes were found across the state on the roster of the hated Tampa Bay Rowdies. Things truly felt as if they couldn’t get any worse for many in Fort Lauderdale.
As it usually does, life went on and Geromel effectively filled his front office and locker room to the best of his ability, given the shortened offseason he was left to deal with as a result of the previous season’s playoff run. He even provided some moments of sincere optimism, bringing on international soccer legend Ronaldo as a member of the Strikers’ ownership contingency and making some substantial upgrades to the aging Lockhart Stadium. However, the new coaching announcement somewhat deflated the sails, as the team decided to go with a local youth coach, Marcelo Neveleff, as Kronsteiner’s replacement. That strategy proved to be an ineffective one, as, despite some quality talent enhancements to the roster, the team never quite responded appropriately to the tactics put in place by Neveleff.
When the Strikers and Neveleff decided to part ways with one game remaining in the Spring Championship season, the team announced it would begin an extensive search for a new coach. Flight 19 and many of the loyal Striker Likers, however, felt as if that was completely unnecessary. With former-Captain Iván Guerrero now at the helm as a player/interim coach, the supporters in the Lockhart stands became very vocal that they wanted “their coach” back. The guys from NASL-fan favorite radio program, The Tailgate Show, even went as far as to hand out shirts donning Günter Kronsteiner’s face that read “We Want Him!” Well on Tuesday, June 30th, Geromel gave them their wish.
“We are thrilled that Günter is returning,” said Strikers Managing Partner Ricardo Geromel. “We remain convinced that the team possesses tremendous potential. Under Günter’s leadership, we expect to realize this potential.” Some writers that cover the NASL went as far as to say that the Fort Lauderdale Strikers were “the best team on paper” heading into the Spring, so potential is not something we are doubting. However the move does come as surprising for few other reasons, first obviously being the way the relationship ended between Coach Kronsteiner and the club. Is that now water-under-the-bridge, or did Geromel have to make up for his initial wrong-doings in their new agreement? Also, the oft well-informed Dave Brousseau of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel had reported on June 8th that the Strikers were to name their new head coach “within a week.” Was Günter’s hiring completed after an initial failed coaching search? At this point, I don’t believe anyone in Fort Lauderdale cares. As one of the team’s followers put it, the return of Kronsteiner and his winning mentality has the club feeling like they’ve gone “from 8th place to being only 3 points out of the playoffs.”
Can Günter Kronsteiner once again turn things around in Fort Lauderdale? Will he be given the green light on personnel decisions like he had in the past? Regardless of how many wins this decision by Geromel leads to, he can already claim one large victory before the first Fall season whistle even blows – with his fan base. They wanted him and now they’ve got him. Godspeed, Günter.
