Colorado Rapids president Tim Hinchey insists there were never any nerves regarding the late appointment of Pablo Mastroeni as their new head coach.
The former Rapids captain took the reins in an interim form after Oscar Pareja left to take the FC Dallas job in January but was only officially appointed on the weekend.
The decision comes just a week out from the Rapids' 2014 MLS season opener but Hinchey says there was never any anxiety in the Colorado boardroom as the club wanted to find somebody who could take control for the next decade.
"I can appreciate everyone's concern [over the timing]. But we weren't concerned. We were never nervous," Hinchey said on Saturday after the official announcement.
"We wanted to make a decision for the next 10 years, not for just the season. I think we showed when we gave Oscar the support in his first year, we're willing to wait.
"We have a great ownership group that allows us to be patient and that funds us. At the same time, Paul [Bravo, technical director] has incredible relationships, not just in MLS but all over the world, as do I, and we owed it to some people to have a conversation."
Hinchey added: "We wanted to do a deliberate search. We talked to people in several continents, we talked to assistant MLS coaches, we talked to college coaches.
"We did our research. We wanted to go through that process. Every day that went by, [Pablo] got stronger and better at the job, and as I said before, as a fan I wanted Pablo to be the guy. And now that it's come true, it's even better."
