http://www.newyorkredbulls.com/news...eson-during-halftime-red-bulls-vs-revolutio-0 A few funny moments in this one. Thanking Joe Tolleson for "coming out to the game tonight" (as if he had a choice), referring to Harrison as a "village", citing Petke being an aquarius as a coaching strength! He does go on to talk about how he and Red Bull are behind Mike Petke and want to give him time to build his squad. Construction updates: Breaking ground in June for the new PATH which he hopes will be completed in 18 months. More parking. 280 will be changed to come in behind the east side of the Arena. 1 of the 6 blocks in front of the Arena is starting construction for a 300 unit apartment complex. "Special announcers" for the blind? Not sure what that is, but sounds good to me! There was also this interview recently where he talks about Red Bull's partnership with Rush Soccer, the soccer community as a whole, and some Red Bull specifics: The part about the 150 coaches on the Red Bull payroll running around the NY/NJ was particularly interesting.
Well duh, Aquarius people are awesome. Late January birthdays especially, like he said. (Im 01/27 btw). That bit of weirdness aside, he seems pretty likable and passionate about his job. I liked the part where he compares Petke to Didier Deschamps and also how Houllier wanted to bring in Luyindula to form a partnership with Juninho (in the second video).
He and Roxburgh have been shockingly on point with just about everything they've said so far. Roxburgh has fulfilled his end so far, still a bit early to see what kind of affect de Bontin has in the long run but honestly from his interviews he seems to understand the NY soccer scene better than Garber does...
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/redbulls2.php?article_id=36703 Jerome de Bontin says he decided to leave due to strategic differences between him and the team hierarchy in Austria.
Sounds like he had a lot of ideas Austria didn't agree with. Too bad we'll never know what the specifics are. My guess is that he had a lot of different ideas about how to improve the team and the morons in Austria did what they've always done...f#ck the whole thing up.
I just can't really think of anything outside of money that would lead to a disconnect. Its not as if Austria has ever been "hands on" with the club's operations, they seem to leave almost everything in the hands of the guys they hire. If De Bontin had some good, cheap ideas to work with, what would they care?
Maybe he told them not to bring in a superstar that they were targeting and was told if he isn't going to tow the company line he could get lost. Maybe he asked for more investment in the academy set up rather than the actual full team. Maybe he asked them to change the name back to the Metrostars. Who knows? What we do know is this: For the longest time Austria has been getting in the way of this club being successful. Now mind you they built a beautiful stadium...but they also did just about everything else wrong which makes our "soccer cathedral" a little less glamorous.
I'm apparently the one and only fan who doesn't hate our owners with an undying passion. They're far from perfect, but they're also far from the worst we see in MLS.