On Wednesday night, Orlando City sent shockwaves through Major League Soccer with the announcement that they had agreed to amicably part ways with coach Adrian Heath. Heath had been, up to that point, the only manager the club had known since its inception in Austin in 2008.
“Yeah, no one had a clue,” said Orlando City defender Luke Boden on Heath’s departure. “It was a big surprise to everybody.”
The team turned to assistant Bobby Murphy, who was appointed interim head coach and tasked with steadying the ship as the team searched for its next head coach. His first match at the helm came not forty-eight hours after his temporary ascension, as the Lions welcomed the Houston Dynamo into Camping World Stadium.
The match ended in a scoreless draw, which was the first clean sheet that City has posted since their third match of the season. However, the home side was held without a goal at home for the first time all year in MLS play.
“I think in light of the events of the last few days,” Murphy said following the game, “there was a bit of a cloud hanging over the place tonight.” But Murphy added that it was his job to keep the players’ focus on the pitch. “This was just another game, and we had a job to do, and we did it as best we could.”
Orlando dominated the last-place Dynamo in possession, but weren’t able to find the back of the net.
The play, however, took a back seat to the emotions of the evening. Murphy was asked about how the players responded to his message leading into the game following the recent coaching upheaval.
“I think as well as can be expected,” he responded. “The meetings I had individually with them were all positive. I think they gave me everything they had tonight, which is all I can ask for.”
Murphy himself has been alongside Heath for many years now, so when he was asked about his optimism in leading the team despite the emotional cloud, his answer was clear and concise.
“You don’t really have a choice, do you? You can either be part of the problem or part of the solution. And I choose to live in the solution.”
Murphy’s solution – albeit in the short-term – proved enough for Orlando City on Friday night, as they came away with a point and look ahead to a new page in their history book.
