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The job at hand represents a familiar theme to Vancouver Whitecaps fans — the club, after moderate success in its first few years, has seen the rest of the league pass it by. The Switchbacks have missed the playoffs the past three seasons, finishing last in the Western Conference in 2019 with a 7-21-6 record and just 31 goals scored — 11 fewer than next lowest team.

Koch got a brief taste as Switchbacks head coach after replacing interim manager and longtime Switchbacks assistant Wolde Harris for the final two games of the season, and is now beginning the process of reconstructing the club from the ground up. He has signed six players — including a well-known Vancouver product and previous MLS trialist, who will be announced shortly — and will be reconstructing the staff side, as well.

“It’s a very big project,” said Koch. “The table doesn’t lie. And now we have to go in and make some adjustments to player personnel, team structure and make sure we get everything right so we can head forward in a positive direction.”

Koch’s contract is for two years plus a team option, meaning he should get the chance to see his project through — including the construction of a spanking new soccer-specific stadium and adjoining apartment complex in the heart of Colorado Springs.

He didn’t get the chance in Cincinnati, lasting just 11 games into the Orange and Blue’s inaugural MLS season. It started brightly enough — a 2-1-1 mark, including a 3-0 home victory over Portland and a 2-0 road win against New England — but the jump out of the gates was followed by the stumbles of a seven-game winless streak.

Cincy scored just one goal in that span, a 1-1 tie with Sporting Kansas City, and lost the rest, including a five-game skid that spelled the end of his time there.

Reports soon emerged of a schism in the locker-room that dated back to the USL days, even though that team won the regular-season title, had a record 23-game unbeaten streak and set (since broken) single-season marks for points and wins. But it appears politics in management also played a key role in Koch’s departure, although he declined to comment on the reasons behind his Cincinnati firing.