John Hackworth

Wednesday, the Union announced a changing of the guard.

Union boss Peter Nowak was out, after two-plus seasons. John Hackworth, his top assistant, was in.

Here's what Hackworth and Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz said at PPL Park, concerning Nowak and saving the Union's season:

NICK SAKIEWICZ

OPENING STATEMENT

“Today, we’re announcing that Peter Nowak is stepping down as our head coach and team manager. I made the decision to do that. Peter is a terrific coach and has incredible sideline instincts. Probably one of the best I’ve ever seen. But over a period of time we determined that we were no longer on the same page between ownership and Peter’s philosophy of managing the team. At this moment, I made the decision in consultation with our investors that it was time to make a change. Unfortunately, these are never easy things to do. Peter is a friend and it’s a very difficult decision, but in the best interest of our club, I made that decision and we parted ways this morning. John Hackworth, who I’ve known for many, many years and has been an integral part of building the Union brand from Day 1, will take over responsibilities as interim team manager. He will oversee all soccer operations. From our perspective, from my perspective, this is not about wins and losses and this is not about how the team has been playing on the field because, quite frankly, our team has performed well on the field and has moments where we could’ve played better and scored goals. All and all, this team has performed very well on the pitch. And as soccer is, it’s a very cruel sport and we were on the losing end more times than we were on the winning side. I want to make no mistake — this is not about wins and losses or performance of the team. We have a very good team. We have very good players. This is more about philosophical differences about how Jay (Sugarman) and I envision this club and what our vision for this club is. Sometimes, that happens that a coach and ownership aren’t on the same page. That’s why I felt it was very important to make that change and give John the opportunity.

“Peter’s experience and contributions have been greatly appreciated by me and our investor group. This has been an immeasurable learning experience and I want to thank Peter for having afforded us this learning experience. Coach Hackworth has always been part of this and I have an immense amount of comfort with him leading our guys. This is a man of extreme character and I can say that because I’ve known John for 100 years. Well, maybe not 100. Maybe 50. But John is more than capable of leading this team. This is a coach that has coached in two World Cups, a confederations tournament and has managed young players and has coached at the very highest club level and international level. He’s a former player, himself, so he knows the ropes. I have no doubt we’re going to continue the momentum with our team on the field and get better as the season goes. There’s a tremendous amount of soccer left to be played. We’re close and we’ll make those changes accordingly.

“Now is really the time for us to take this season by the neck and show the rest of this league what we’re made of. I’ve always said the test of people is not when you’re on a 10-game winning streak, but when times are tough. We’re in a tough spot right now. We have terrific momentum going right now in U.S. Open Cup. … I still think the league is up for grabs. There are a lot of teams in this league that people are saying, ‘Wow, I didn’t expect that kind of start to the season,’ and we’re only a third of the way in with two-thirds of the way left. I’ve been around this league from Day 1, and I know this league is won after the all-star game. It’s after the all-star game where teams are positioning themselves and have made significant runs. We’re putting ourselves in that position right now.

“It’s been a tough day because Peter is a friend. I respect him highly for his coaching abilities and his instincts, but in the best interest of this club, this badge will always come first. Our fans, our sponsors, our broadcast partners, our dear Sons of Ben, I have to make tough decisions. It’s all on the behalf of the club, the brand and all of those people. At this point, I felt it was necessary to make this move so that we can continue on the growth and development of the brand."

ON UNION’S PHILOSOPHY

“In terms of the player personnel moves, we’re all involved in those discussions and those strategic moves. It’s just a matter of certain styles and certain ways, and the purpose of who we are and what our brand is that you, sometimes, go in different directions. I’m not going to get into specific details about that. That’s a personal issue between Peter, me and Jay and our ownership. I wanted you guys to know this wasn’t about wins and losses or about how the team was playing."

ON NOWAK’S REACTION

“His reaction was my reaction. None of this is easy. None of this makes us happy. None of this is enjoyable. It’s hard stuff. The difficult part of it is we’ve known each other for a long time and competed against each other for a long time, but what’s important is you’ve got to set those feelings aside and make the decision that’s best for the club, the fans and the brand. That’s why I’m the operating partner because, for our nine investors, I have to make those decisions."

ON WHEN PHILOSOPHIES CAME APART

“I don’t know. It develops over time. At some point, you wake up in the morning and you realize, ‘Oh, this isn’t quite the way we want the Union brand represented.’ I don’t know. I don’t know how to answer that question because I don’t know if it’s a particular start time or a particular end time. I’m not a wine connoisseur, but I know what good wine tastes like. I sipped the wine recently and it didn’t taste so good. I don’t want to make light of it using that analogy, but I don’t know when it started. But I do know we’re not on the same page and that’s why I decided to make that change."

ON HAVING TO SIGN OFF ON PERSONNEL CHANGES 

“No. Those were Peter’s decisions. I’m not the type of manager or owner that whispers in players’ ears or makes decisions. Those are 100-percent the team manager’s decisions. We support him. We provide input. We provide consultation. When I say ‘we,’ I mean a number of us including our board of directors. I hadn’t vetoed anything. I fully supported his decisions, but those were Peter’s decisions as they are now John’s."

ON EROSION OF FAN SUPPORT FACTORING IN

“No. I’m not sure what you’re talking about (with) ‘fan confidence eroded.’ We’ve had amazing crowds. Saturday night was a standing-room only crowd. I have not detected any erosion of fan confidence, to be honest. Again, the technical staff makes player decisions based solely on one thing, and that is to make our team better. Hopefully all of our players are fan favorites in some form or way. It’s something that, you know, we look at one thing and that is, ‘Will a player make our team better and can they help us play the style of soccer we want to play and ultimately win games and put the product on the field here that fans like?’ I have not detected fan erosion."

ON WINNING WITH WHO’S HERE

“Absolutely. We have a balance of young players and some veteran players. I mean, even some of our veteran players are relatively young players. We’re the youngest team in the league — from Ray Gaddis to the Farfans to Freddy Adu to Zac MacMath, Sheanon Williams. Sheanon seems like a seasoned veteran, but he’s still a young, under-23 player. That’s our philosophy. That hasn’t changed. There’s a lot of people who kind of seem to think we’ve gotten away from that philosophy. I don’t know where that’s coming from because when you look at our starting lineup, we’re very committed to younger players.

We’re proving it every game that we feel our starting 11, with our newcomers like Pajoy and Perlaza and Josue Martinez, who we have not seen enough of and when we’ve seen him, we like what we’ve seen. Those guys are great adds to this team. Now the key for John and his technical staff is pulling them all together and making them a team, instead of just individual talented players. That’s what we’re looking for John to do."

ON NOWAK APPLYING TO HEARTS AS BREAKING POINT

“Not good timing. No employer, no manager likes to read that his most important guy or most important asset is out looking for employment. It was a rumor and I don’t react to rumors. I believe 80-percent of what I hear and 100-percent of what I see. At that point it’s just a rumor. I don’t really react. If you’re asking me if that was the reason for the change, it’s absolutely not."

ON WHETHER HE ASKED NOWAK ABOUT IT

“It was discussed. That discussion was a private discussion, so I’m not going to comment on it."

ON TRADE OF DANNY MWANGA FACTORING IN

“No. None of the player moves were reasons for this. None of those. Danny had a great time with us and, hopefully, he grows and have a different environment. You read all those comments and press releases about Danny when he was moved. He had nothing to do with this move."

ON WHETHER NOWAK DIDN’T HAVE PRIORITIES IN PLACE 

“I think Peter did the best that he can while he was here. He’s a very good coach and his instincts on the sideline were the best I’ve seen and I’ve been around some pretty incredible coaches in the world and his instincts are almost second-to-none, I would say. And he brought a lot to the club. I made the decision because I felt, philosophically, we were not on the same page anymore."

ON HACKWORTH HAVING A CHANCE TO SHED THE TAG ‘INTERIM’

“Of course."

ON HACKWORTH’S SPECIFIC TITLE

“John is the team manager who reports directly to me."

ON NOWAK STEPPING DOWN AS OPPOSED TO BEING FIRED 

“I informed Peter we were moving in a different direction with our team manager. That’s about all I can comment on right now, because it’s fluid. All I can tell you is, right now, I informed Peter this morning that he is not the team manager because of philosophical reasons."

JOHN HACKWORTH

OPENING STATEMENT

“I want to start by mentioning I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Peter Nowak. He and I had discussions about what it would be like to work together and start a new franchise. Peter’s a dear friend of mine and a lot of things we did together, I’ll remember forever. I’m very thankful to him for those opportunities.

“At the same time, I’m very excited about this one. I’m humbled and honored to be in charge of this organization. I take that responsibility very greatly. There’s tons of potential in our locker room and I’m very excited to get to work."

ON KEEPING REST OF STAFF INTACT

“We have a great staff before today and we’re going to continue to do so. Things won’t change in that regard at all."

ON ADDING A COACH

“Nick and I will talk about some possibilities. Certainly there’s a lot that’s going to change. This is happening rather quickly. We have a lot of work to do and we’re in a good spot to do some very good things."

ON CHANGES ON THE FIELD

“I can’t give you that answer right now, but I can tell you that I’m not Peter Nowak. I’m John Hackworth. I’m going to do things the way I’ve done it as a head coach and work with my staff and my players. I believe in the players we have right now. We have a young locker room, one of the youngest teams in the league. We have guys in there who are fighting, scrapping every day who want a chance. From ownership and the support I’ve been given, there will be some changes. There will be some new faces out there, but at the same time, as Nick said earlier, we’ve played some really good soccer this year. Our record does not reflect how good we are. It’s not like you’re going to see a whole new team or lineup out there on Saturday, that’s for sure."

ON MEETING WITH PLAYERS

“Their reaction is probably the same that Nick and I had. The feeling in there is that it’s a big change. It’s an adjustment time. With any change that takes place, guys are hopefully going to take it the best way possible. I’ve got to give Nick congratulations because he went into that locker room and said a lot of things to those guys that put them back in a place that is the foundation of this club, this organization. He announced me to those guys and, for us, meaning me, the players and our staff, we’ve worked together for a long time now.

I think that’s a little bit of relief to those guys and I think we all know we’re much better than our record reflects. Now it’s time to go prove that on a consistent basis."

ON CHANGES HE MIGHT MAKE AT WINDOW

“It’s a great opportunity for us to potentially make some moves. For right now, we do want to concentrate on the guys in our locker room and make sure they know we believe in them, have faith in them, that they were brought here for a reason. Any decision we make going for will have that in mind, that those guys are who we have to take care of first."

ON FAIRNESS OF PHILOSOPHICAL DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HACKWORTH AND NOWAK

“You’re not going to be able to tell on Saturday. You’re not going to be able to tell in July. You don’t change things overnight. We have a lot of work to do. Saturday, what we hope is we put our best foot forward and compete the way every player and coach wants to happen. Peter, again, is a great soccer person. Our philosophies as far as playing is very similar. I don’t think we’re going to change stylistically from what Peter believed in. Will we do some things different? For sure. But we always want to play attacking soccer. We want to be a team that presses high up the field, that gets numbers forward, that creates numerical advantages, be an attractive team to watch, have a good style, be very hard. One thing I love about this city and this club is how tough everybody is. We as coaches and as players want to make sure that every day we compete to the highest of our ability. I think you’re going to see those things. At least that’s our hope. It’s not going to be an overnight thing."

ON SATURDAY BEING EMOTIONAL

“I’m going to steal one of (Sakiewicz’s) lines. It’s not my first rodeo. I was a college coach for nine years. I was a head coach in college for four. I was a head coach with the national team for over four years. Even here, I’ve been the head coach numerous times. I don’t think any of that is going to be different. For me, just so you guys know, I don’t think this should be about John Hackworth as the focal point of this team and this organization. I’m very honored to be in this position, but at the same time it should be about this team, our players, our fans and this organization, putting all these things first."

ON WHETHER HE SPOKE WITH NOWAK

“I have not had the opportunity to talk to Peter. As soon as I learned, I tried to get a hold of him, but we have not spoken yet."