Whitecaps staff meshes together

After two successful seasons together in Carolina, Paul Ritchie knows what Martin Rennie is thinking, and when he’s thinking it.

That chemistry is now at the core of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ coaching staff. Ritchie was welcomed as Rennie’s first assistant on Thursday, the second day of an eight-day mini-camp at the Burnaby Lake Sports Complex.

“One thing I like with Paul is he’s very proactive,” said Rennie, who was announced as the Caps’ future coach on Aug. 9 but didn’t take the reins until this week.

“He can take care of problems before they really arise, or do things without me telling him to or asking him.

“He’s also played at a very high level and gets the respect because of that, and also because of how he treats [the players].”

There’s an obvious connection between the two. Both are Scottish. Both are 36.

But they didn’t meet until Rennie was running the second division Carolina RailHawks in 2009.

Ritchie, who helped Hearts to the Scottish Cup in 1998 and had spells with Dundee United, Bolton and Manchester City, came to Carolina as a defender looking to extend his career in North America.

Forty-one minutes later, after a shutout win and a knee injury, his playing career was over and his coaching studies began.

He returned a year later and, with Rennie and Ritchie at the helm, the RailHawks were 30-12-16 in two seasons combined, with 94 goals for, 58 against and two NASL regular-season titles.

Working under the cerebral Rennie, Ritchie said, quickly changed the way he looked at coaching.

“In my playing days I was working under a number of really influential coaches and it was shout and shout,” said Ritchie, whose first professional coach was Joe Jordan, known currently as the Tottenham assistant with a laundry list of sideline feuds.

“You played with a fear factor. I thought when I’d become a coach that was the way forward, but Martin has re-educated me.

“Don’t get me wrong, I’ll probably be more aggressive than Martin. Martin’s a thinker, whereas I’m a seat-of-your-pants [guy]. I see things as a player, but the only way you’ll get things out of players is treating them with respect and encouraging them to get better.”

Ritchie holds his UEFA ‘A’ licence, his Scottish youth licence and is working on his UEFA Pro licence. He’s married with two young boys in North Carolina and hopes to have his family join him here in December.

Rennie’s first training session on Wednesday suggested a trusting, inclusive nature; academy director Richard Grootscholten ran much of practice while the head coach observed.

Thursday, Rennie said that Ritchie will often do the talking in the locker room. Ritchie described himself as “an excellent buffer” between Rennie and the players.

“It allows me to step back sometimes, which is important to see what’s going on,” Rennie said. “We have a clear idea of how we work well together. We’ve got different personalities but the same outlook on the game.”