Will Fire turn to Soehn?

It's decision time for the Fire.

Since the team decided not to renew Denis Hamlett's contract as coach, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's all have come and gone while technical director Frank Klopas searched high and low for a new team leader. That search should end this week.

The search has to end soon, with the draft combine next week and the draft Jan. 14. It could end as soon as Monday.

Here's my guess: Tom Soehn.

Although former El Salvador coach and Mexican star Carlos de los Cabos and an unnamed Mexican coach (not Hugo Sanchez) are rumored to be in the mix, foreign coaches do as well in MLS as Tiger Woods did in marriage. The list of foreign failures is long and includes about a good chunk of New York's many coaches. The list of foreign coaches who found success in MLS is shorter than a Chihuahua.

Bob Bradley, Bruce Arena, Peter Nowak, Sigi Schmid, Bob Gansler, Dominic Kinnear, Frank Yallop and Jason Kreis have all won at least one MLS Cup. They weren't all born in the United States, but they all played or coached here before becoming an MLS boss.

Soehn knows MLS inside and out. He played in the league and coached in the league. He knows how to deal with a salary cap. Ruud Gullit still hasn't figured it out.

A Mexican coach could help attract fans from the Hispanic community, something the Fire needs to find a way to do in the post-Blanco era. But can a Mexican coach understand that Logan Pause might not have the kind of ball skills commonly found at Cruz Azul or Club America? And how many fans really come to games to see the coach?

Soehn also knows the Fire. He played with Klopas on the 1998 MLS Cup championship team and then served as an assistant coach after he retired just before the 2000 season. He knows what the words "tradition, honor, passion" mean to Fire fans.

And he's a local guy, from the northwest suburbs by way of old Forest View High School. That won't necessarily help him win games, but it could help him win the hearts of a few fans for a little while.

The biggest knock on Soehn? He didn't win an MLS Cup in Washington.

But he did win in his three years as the boss in Washington. Soehn won a Supporters' Shield in 2007. And he won the U.S. Open Cup in 2008, before a slew of injuries and the wear and tear of extracurricular tournaments took its toll on his players.

His teams went 36-30-24 in league play and missed the playoffs the past two years.

"Tommy has done an outstanding job at D.C. United, first as an assistant and then as our head coach," said United President and CEO Kevin Payne in November when Soehn departed. "Over the past three seasons, Tommy has faced greater challenges than any other Major League Soccer coach. His record in all competitions this season was outstanding and he should not be judged on the basis of missing the MLS Cup playoffs. Tommy is a fine young coach and I know we will face him in the future in MLS play. I wish him all of the luck in the world."

But don't underestimate this last point. Soehn is known as one of the real good guys in the league, friendly and upbeat. That's the kind of guy owner Andrew Hauptman likes. That's a change of pace from the sometimes prickly Hamlett, who ruffled a few feathers in the front office.