Toronto FC assistant Robin Fraser could be a contender for the Real Salt Lake job

If you haven’t already heard, Real Salt Lake have fired head coach Jeff Cassar tonight just three games into the new MLS season. Cassar was under pressure after RSL ended 2016 on a seven-game winless run and they have a draw and two losses to their name so far this year.

Any dismissal this early always comes as a surprise, of course, and detailed reports on who might be targeted to replace Cassar in Utah is yet to emerge. Keep an eye, however, on Toronto FC assistant coach Robin Fraser, who was tipped by two MLS writers - Andrew Wiebe and Sam Stejskal - to be a contender for the job in Utah after the news broke on Monday night.

Fraser was an assistant with RSL under Jason Kreis between 2007 and 2010, winning an MLS Cup in 2009. He landed the Chivas USA job as a reward for his work on Kreis’ staff but inherited a club in a downward spiral that eventually proved terminal, winning just 15 of his 68 games in charge. Fraser moved on to the New York Red Bulls as an assistant to Mike Petke after that and was in the running for the RSL job when Kreis left for New York City in 2013.

Kurt Larson of the Sun is reporting that for now, Fraser has not been contacted about the post.

Unless they already have someone lined up, though, you’d expect they will be reaching out to potential candidates over the next few days (Petke, as it happens, is currently the coach of RSL’s USL affiliate and also a contender). Watch this space.