Gary McAllister is too Rich for the Red Bulls' Blood/The Other Options

Those "internal struggles" Ives Galarcep cited as holding up the Red Bulls hire of Gary McAllister?

According to Michael Lewis at Big Apple Soccer, it's because McAllister comes with a price tag north of $1 million, more than the Red Bulls are willing to pay any head coaching candidate, let alone the organization's two top guys' guy.

In the meantime, other options have made themselves available, Lewis writes, including Owen Coyle, the former Bolton manager who brought both Stuart Holden and Tim Ream to the Reebok Stadium, former MetroStars, Real Madrid and Portugal and current Iran boss Carlos Queiroz and...wait for it...wait for it...Eric Wynalda (more on that in a later post).

Add those three names to a list that already, to at least some degree, includes (or should include) current Interim Head Coach Mike Petke, Tony Meola, who has expressed interest in some kind of coaching position, Claudio Reyna, who Lewis mentioned as a "real possible move" in an Offside Remarks column and Steve Nicol, who despite being all quiet as of late can't not be considered with his connections to both MLS and Roxburgh.

That's an impressive list all on it's own. We all know McAllister's connections to Roxburgh through the Scottish national team and Houllier through Aston Villa, but, to be blunt, Coyle and Queiroz have a better "pedigree" as it were. Wynalda, desperate to break into the league, is the kind of guy who would treat the appointment with the gravity most of us would respect. Petke, Meola, and Reyna all have legitimate U.S. Soccer and MLS experience, with Nicol bringing that, four MLS Cup apperances, a U.S. Open cup and a playing career that made him a popular figure at Liverpool.

You guys have a preference?