Republic FC and Paul Buckle call it quits

After an uneven 2.5 years at Sacramento Republic, Technical Director and Head Coach Paul Buckle is leaving the club, and the timing is less than ideal. Preseason training camp kicks off today.

This will not be an editorial on Paul Buckle’s time at Sacramento Republic FC (but leave your takes in the comments, by all means). There isn’t time, because it looks like the club could be naming a replacement at a 10:30am PST press conference.

Former MLS player Todd Dunivant was announced by Republic FC yesterday as General Manager, and at the time of the release, “already is serving in the role.” Indomitable City Soccer has learned, however, that Dunivant’s arrival was not an influence on Buckle’s departure.

The club release uses the common phrase “mutual agreement”, which spans pretty much every non-disciplinary reason. If that’s the case, it’s possible that Buckle has been absent from daily team functions for some time now, and probably the preparations for an unBuckled 2018 have already begun.

Buckle’s 31-19-21 record at Republic was solid, if inconsistent. And despite three playoff appearances in three tries, the team has never come quite as close to the glory of 2014 as many fans expected.

More to come as the coaching story continues.