Brotherly Game Archive
Sakiewicz releases statement about team, Meulensteen
Union CEO Nick Nakiewicz penned an open letter to Union fans in response to the Sons of Ben's demonstration on Sunday.
Shortly after the Sons of Ben marched to the stadium carrying a banner saying, “Union Fans Deserve Better,” Union CEO Nick Sakiewicz issued a brief statement.
Soon after this statement was released, there was a belief that the above statement was lacking, especially due to the big gesture that the Sons of Ben made. As it turns out though, last night's statement from Sakiewicz was an Inception-style comment, a press release to the press release if you will. Today, Sakiewicz released another statement, further reaffirming his points from last night while dropping some interesting news throughout the release.
The most interesting parts of the statement are in the third and fourth paragraphs where Sakiewicz finally gave an update on Union mystery executive/consultant Rene Meulensteen. His six-month consultancy has ended and Meulensteen will now move on to other projects due to "personal reasons."
Meulensteen was hired in the summer as a consultant to the team, but it was always unclear what his exact job was. Was he there to oversee the continued building of the academy? Was he there to assist Technical Director Chris Albright with player acquisitions? We never really got an answer on his specific tasks, but it now appears that he will make his final "recommendations" and leave the team.
Now, the Union will look to hire someone to fill the position of "Head of Soccer Operations." It is still unclear what that position entail. If anything, it will give Union fans something new to speculate about throughout the season and possibly the off-season as well.
