This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Defender Robbie Russell mentioned all the new faces, so we figured we better give you a quick rundown on what has changed for RSL since last season.
Aside from adding midfielder Arturo Alvarez and losing forward Robbie Findley and defender David Horst, the biggest move was the departure of assistant coach Robin Fraser, who left after 3 ½ years to become the head coach at Chivas USA. The team replaced him with C.J. Brown, who just retired from the Chicago Fire after a long career in Major League Soccer.On top of that, RSL has recently lost both its head trainer and its equipment manager.Trainer Jake Joachim accepted a similar job with the Vancouver Whitecaps — assistant trainer Tyson Pace has been promoted to replace him — while equipment manager Kevin Harter resigned for family reasons. Assistant equipment manager Mike Rigby was promoted to replace Harter.Meanwhile, the team has one trialist with it down in Arizona.Defender John Gilkerson is hoping to impress after spending the past two seasons with the Carolina RailHawks of the USSF Division 2 Professional League. He had a cup of coffee in MLS when the New York Red Bulls picked him out of Winthrop University in the 2008 MLS Supplemental Draft, but he spent part of that season on loan to the Richmond Kickers. Gilkerson evidently is a pretty strong left back, and could potentially give the team some cover at that position in case of injury to its existing outside backs.