Seattle Sounders coach Sigi Schmid has heaped praise on his Portland Timbers counterpart John Spencer ahead of this weekend's first MLS clash between the clubs.
The former Chelsea, Rangers, Queen Park Rangers and Everton striker has got the Timbers in a fairly strong position in their opening eight games which have yielded 13 points and a perfect home record of four wins from four matches.
Schmid says that Spencer has done well in Portland so far and is expecting a tough test a Qwest Field on Saturday.
"He's doing well. He's a guy you could always tell was going to become a head coach. He was a ready to be a coach," Schmid said of Spencer.
"You could tell when he was playing he was going to become a coach. With certain guys you can just see it, and he's done well. He's confident. He's got a lot of playing experiences that he can rely on. He's had good coaching experiences as well in Houston.
"He's a feisty guy and he passes that on to his players and his team. Sometimes that's good, it gets your team motivated and gets 'em going.
"Hopefully we can take advantage of it when sometimes you get a little bit too excited."
