S3E23 - For the Glory KC is back with the 88th episode of the show! 

Sporting Kansas City ended the streak! For the second straight season (let's not make it three, please) Sporting KC ended a 10-game winless run with a victory over the Seattle Sounders. This time, it was seven straight losses, so a win was a massive relief.

The question is, can Sporting KC sustain this success? They got the game winning goal against a 10-man Seattle side and their expected goals (xG) was actually lower than Seattle's. Then again, confidence can do wonders. The release of emotions from the players both on and off the field showed how much it meant to all of them.

The victory comes on the same day that Sam McDowell put out a fantastic story in the KC Star about a sit-down interview with managing owner Mike Illig. Mike, son of Cliff Illig, told Sam that he had no plans to fire Peter Vermes and wanted him to run a rebuild over the next three transfer windows (through the summer of 2025).

Infamously, Peter Vermes signed a five-year contract extension after missing the playoffs in 2022 that just kicked in this year. He's signed through the 2028 season, and it always sort of felt like they wouldn't pay him for four-and-a-half years of nothing, plus pay another coach.

Sheena and I weigh in on the story, Peter handling the rebuild, the targeted positions of center back and winger (no midfielders?) this summer. Fontas and Russell are probably approaching the end of their SKC careers, so replacing them makes sense. Ignoring the midfield is concerning though.

Before listening, I encourage you to read the whole story over at the Star.

We also address the rumor that Robert Castellanos has interest from Chivas (Liga MX).

And the Kansas City Current just keep winning! This time 5-2 at home over the Seattle Reign to climb back to the top of the NWSL standings. There were new starters, new goal scorers, a testing of the team's depth and the return of orchestrated celebrations by captain Lo LaBonta.

In the Digital Crawl, we hit a few other topics, including:

Here is a rundown of topics (and approximate start times):

Upcoming Schedule:

We recently turned on "Listener Support." Don't feel obligated, but if you have a few spare bucks and are a fan of the pod, we'd appreciate your donation.

As a special gift to For the Glory KC listeners and KC Soccer Journal readers, Backheeled dot com is giving away 30 days of their amazing, independent American soccer coverage for free. If you decide you want to turn that into a paid membership, they'll give you 10 percent off too. Just follow this link!

Big thanks to Splitter Conspiracy (listen to them here) for our theme music made with the permission of the KC Cauldron.