"We have to determine whether we believe, for the immediate long term, if Tommy is the guy to lead the team," Payne said. "We don't go into this with our minds made up. We want to almost treat it like a blank slate."Ignoring the ass-hattery implied by "immediate long term"...why does Tommy get a blank slate? He's had three years at the helm, we've had no significant development of young players under his regime, he's become more inclined to jump in his bunker at the drop of a hat, is making increasingly erratic decisions with regards to substitutions and team selection, can't seem to get his players to either apply pressure or move off the damn ball, has failed more often than not in high-stakes games (where the players often appeared unmotivated and confused), and we're supposed to give him a blank freakin' slate? Unbelievable!
Wait! He's not done...
As for the status of Kasper, who has been in a player personnel role since 2002, Payne said: "We're very pleased with Dave. We think Dave is the best in the league at his job."Hmmm. I'll grant him Wallace, Jakovic, and Pontius, all tremendous acquisitions this year. I'll even give him the benefit of the doubt on Vaughn, James, and probably even Szetela, who all have the potential to be long-term contributors to this team, assuming we can get a coach who understands how to construct a solid defense and not kill the confidence of his players. But that ignores...last year's Sudamericano cavalcade, Zach Wells, Fred on 200k+, the return of a past-it Gomez, Avery freakin' John!?!, various USL2 desperation scrambles, giving Emilio DP dollars and then keeping him past his sell-by date, wasting a first-round pick reacquiring Iron Rod Dyachenko, wasted draft after wasted draft after wasted draft, etcetera ad nauseam.
"With our past and the expectations, it's very disappointing the way things ended this year," Kasper said. "You have to ask yourself: 'Why?' And that's a big part of our evaluating process."Head on down to the dollar store and pick up a cheap mirror. Take a look. Pass it to Tommy. Then pass it to Kevin.
Problem solved.
You're welcome.
Tommy is gone. They just don't want to come out and say it. Kasper gets to hang around because he is Payne's guy and has more history. The South American spending spree was bad, but hopefully we can build on the young nucleus of Quaranta, Pontius, Jakovic and Wallace.
ReplyDeleteI'm not holding my breath on Szetela. Too many good coaches have given up on him already. Maybe he turns things around.
Let's decide on a keeper, find a good left back, an additional qualty central defender, someone who can launch an attack out of midfield and an additional attacker who can run and shoot on frame. How about one of those young Spanish guys who rattled the heck out of our central defenders at the U-17 WC despite being a man down. Those boys could play (Real Madrid or Barcelona probably have dibs on them already).