BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- Following the announcements of Brian Bliss as Technical Director and C.J. Brown returning as assistant coach, there has been anticipation around Frank Yallop filling out his technical staff.
The first-year manager checked another place off his list Thursday, as the club announced that Aron Hyde would be returning as goalkeeping coach for a fifth straight season after originally being dismissed back in early November.
“A big thing was to clear my mind, making sure I came in with an open mind on everything,” Yallop explained to Chicago-Fire.com. “Through the process, I spoke to several candidates with Aron being one of them. As we went through it, I came to the conclusion that Aron still fit in very well with what we’re doing and so the decision was clear.”
Hyde first joined the Fire as goalkeeping coach in 2010 and has been largely credited for the growth of Sean Johnson who is currently vying for the third goalkeeping spot on the U.S. roster for this summer’s FIFA World Cup in Brazil.
The Englishman’s coming and going to the Fire strikes a similarity to that of Brad Guzan’s situation at Aston Villa following the 2011/12 Premier League season. Guzan departed the Villans only to return in preseason and eventually win the starting goalkeeping job under new manager Paul Lambert.
Hyde just happens to be a Villa supporter.
“It was something that we discussed straight away within a couple of weeks,” said Hyde. “I had a conversation with Frank and obviously I was exploring other opportunities but at the same time I was still in contact with him. He’d kept me in the loop with his plans and it just went from there basically.”
Asked about the opportunity to work under a new coach with the Fire, Hyde said he was excited.
“I’m looking forward to it -- it’s like a new job really. It’s a complete change of staff and I’m excited about that. For me personally the connection to England is strong and I’m hopeful this is the man that can push this club back towards the top of the league.”
