Nelsen as assistant coach would have been great. Nelsen as head coach means yet another TFC head coach with little to no prior experience. If this is true I don't like it, even if it means Mariner is gone
The question isn't whom they hire to be the coach, it's whether they have the patience to stick with that coach if it doesn't start out well. If there's really a plan in place, he gets three years regardless of the results - even if we're 0-9. If they start out 9-0, even better but if they bail on any new coach after a poor start, we're doomed no matter who that coach is. Giving him the pressure to have to win now is unfair. Nelsen has no responsibility for the last six years and deserves a true fresh start.
Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose. Maybe the law of averages will work in our favour. Try enough coaches, one will work out, even if by pure luck.
To Scarbototfcfan's point ... Mariner had his faults, but with his MLS and coaching experience, plus having a new man at the top to help make and support better decisions .... I was hoping that they would give this new combo a year to make some sort of a difference ... but nope, typical of TFC, out go all the babies with the bathwater.
I was referring to all the drama. Just when you think it's died out, it starts up all over again. ------ I understand that Payne isn't going to hire someone who doesn't know jack about tactics. Afterall, he did hire Piotr Nowak and Ben Olsen who were both first time head coaches. But there's 10 days before the draft FFS. He let Mariner handle some of the scouting and the roster decisions and now he's going to replace him with someone who's going to need a crash course. We were not rumoured to be have talked to Jesse Marsh last month? Why not hire him? Oh right, that would the fun of hiring another first time head coach 10 days before the draft. Suddenly, Marco Schällibaum is looking pretty good now.
Just yesterday I was reading that he was in line for an assistant manager’s job (possibly a playing assistant) with DC United and that ‘arry expected to lose him to that gig. As I read it, what popped into my mind was that “wouldn’t it be perfect if Payne could scoop this guy? What we need more than anything is a new head coach with no experience whose last gig was anchoring the backline of the bottom team in the EPL who’s goal difference is -19”….wow, things just keep getting better for TFC!!!! I get that every coach gets his first gig somewhere and sometime. I also get that some of them work out fine (some don't however)....I also get that year 7 of this club is not the time to take that risk. A risk that, I suspect, was made easier by a better than expected renewal rate.
I am not surprised this happen though I am one of the few who thought Mariner would of done a decent job but like many on twitter said Payne in the past has no trouble giving new coaches the job as we seen with Nowak and Olsen when he was at DCU. I just find it odd for Nielsen who was playing with QPR a few weeks ago is now the coach of the team. I guess for some of the players it is a fresh start to impress a new coach.
Ryan Nelsen is a good man and a real leader. Those of you who don't know anything about him should read up on Nelsen before making your judgements. He's considered a legend in DC and quite a few United supporters are really disappointed that we didn't get him back as a player-coach or assistant. I think he'll make a great coach, even given that there will be a bit of a learning curve. And Payne seemed to make the right call when he made Ben Olsen DCU's coach with only a few months experience as an assistant.
I like Neslen...I do....I just don't think we are in the situation to take this chance. DC may...but I am not comfortable with us going this route.
For the record, Olsen had been an assistant coach for more than 7 months before he became interim coach, and he had spent much of the previous year (2009) as a pseudo player-coach due to injuries. Payne did put a lot of trust into naming Olsen as head coach, but Olsen wasn't a neophyte by any means. Nelsen, on the other hand, has no coaching experience at any level, but he has always been a strong leader and captain on every team he played for. He's an interesting choice, but he has the mental tenacity and soccer intelligence to do quite well if given enough time.
For the record, Olsen had been an assistant coach for more than 7 months before he became interim coach, and he had spent much of the previous year (2009) as a pseudo player-coach due to injuries. Payne did put a lot of trust into naming Olsen as head coach, but Olsen wasn't a neophyte by any means. Nelsen, on the other hand, has no coaching experience at any level, but he has always been a strong leader and captain on every team he played for. He's an interesting choice, but he has the mental tenacity and soccer intelligence to do quite well if given enough time. Yes ... if given enough time ... which at TFC historically averages less than 1 season.
While on the surface this looks like a de ja vu of pretty much every previous coaching signing, I'm inclined to be optimistic. The fact that he was chosen by long time soccer executive Kevin Payne, rather than building engineer turned MLSE executive Tom Anselmi is one huge reason to be optimistic, and for another thing, he'll actually have the support of his superiors, and likely wont have peers in a position to undermine him, like so many previous coaches
First things first, I am glad to see Mariner go. I'm not sure what to think about the new Coach... He seems professional and very well regarded... Regardless, I feel is an improvement over Mariner. I am wondering, though, what kind of impact this would have in the locker room. I mean, the player's seemed to be behind Mariner. The players that weren't "Mariner's guys" got shipped out - a la Plata, Avila, DeGuzman... What is now going to happen with Frings, and Koevs? They seemed to be on Mariner's side... I might be alone on this following thought, but I would not mind to see Frings go and Koevs, for that matter. I doubt Koevs is gonna come back from that injury and Frings, as much as I like him, is slow and provides very little in terms of long term planning or rebuilding. Frings, himself, might not want to comeback to start from zero again... Because, that is what this move pretty much does... reset, once again. I wonder what the fallout of this is gonna be....
Agree. I've long been a fan of stability rather than constant turnover, but I'm not sad about this move. Yes, Mariner had MLS experience, but if this means the end of the kick-and-chase experiment, then sayonara. Plus, it sounds like Payne is building the team with a long-term view so I think he's prepared to give the new coach some time and won't just yank him at the first losing streak. At least that's what I'm hoping.
Do the "all whites" do one? Can we get the thread title amended to respect the correct spelling of the new guy's name? If nothing else, this hiring should confirm Payne's power and autonomy.
I second that on mariner going..but hes the worst Manager TFC has ever had..MOJO would be up there too..the new manager will be able to build his club his way and TFC/MLSE must give a decent amount of time to do this (check his progress after 3 seasons). Maybe Payne can get JDG back, only not as a DP as he does not seem to fit into FC dallas's plan for 2013.. we need Frings and Koevermans experience this year to help get the new manager off and running..
JDG has signed elsewhere. Plus, as shown over the past few years, he's not really a good fit for the style of play in MLS