Sigi Schmid still missing from Sounders training, ETA for return unclear

It has now been three days since Brian Schmetzer received a surprising Saturday morning phone call informing him that he'd be filling in as Seattle Sounders head coach. The official word, at the time, was that it would be a one-match gig, just as it had been the previous four times Schmetzer had served that role during the MLS era.

But on Tuesday, Schmetzer was still filling that role as Schmid's "health-related issues" have continued to keep him away from the team. Schmetzer was still unsure when Schmid would be back.

"That is a question I can't answer, partly because I don't know and more importantly that's up to Sigi and the people in the front office," said Schmetzer, noting he's talked to Schmid every day. "What's important to me is that Sigi gets back to full health, that's paramount. The messaging and whatever happens that's up to Sigi and the front office."

The messaging from the front office isn't much more clear, but it did provide some evidence that this is perhaps more serious than first believed.

"As you can imagine, there are medical privacy issues around this stuff when it’s health-related," Sounders GM Garth Lagerwey told the media on Tuesday. "My answer has to be that Sigi will address this if he chooses to. We are hopeful that he will be back and, again, there’s no pressure. It’s when he feels good, when he’s healthy, then he’ll come back. That’s what we’re hoping for, that he comes back 100 percent and happy and with everything in order."

Lagerwey said he visited Schmid in the hospital and also seemed to imply that there's at least the possibility that Schmetzer could be in charge for a bit longer. In the meantime, we can only wish the best for Schmid.