Report: Andy Roxburgh departing come season's end

A report from Franco Panizo published at Soccer By Ives has Red Bulls Sporting Director Andy Roxburgh departing the team come season's end.

The story is short on why, and it's not clear whether it's Roxburgh's decision or Red Bull's, but if it is true, it can't be a good thing.

Roxburgh's rolodex is unmatched in MLS. No one has the sheer connections he's got. On top of that, he's a soccer lifer and the kind of guy who seems to have an idea of what it takes to win, while keeping an open mind on what works.

You can deride his decision to keep the 2014 Red Bulls looking a lot like the 2013 iteration of the squad, but continuity helps in MLS. If he blew it up, it'd be received just as poorly.

The Red Bulls were lucky in getting Roxburgh and former General Manager Jerome de Bontin to replace Erik Soler and Chris Heck respectively. Both Soler and Heck were utterly hapless. De Bontin had a vision and seemed to be pushed out by a corporate giant that didn't seem interested in making fans resonate with the team. Now Roxburgh, for whatever reason is supposedly gone, too. It certainly doesn't feel good.

The other concerning part: Roxburgh fought hard for Head Coach Mike Petke, who's still learning on the job. It remains to be seen if Roxburgh's successor -- again, if the report is true -- is so patient.