I am an IU Alum as well, I was there for our when we lost the national title game. I think college athletics and MLS is comparing apples to oranges though. He was on the injured list as probable for a couple of games when he was starting, after he got benched he was only on the list for 2 or 3 games, he has been remarkably healthy all year and played in most of not all of the reserve matches. Actually DH subbed him out at the half, didn't even let him see a minute of the 2nd half. I though it was meant to protect Frankowski's health in a cold, rainy, windy game, but knowing what I know NOW, I know that was simply not the case. Yup I think it was more that Frankowski was not a guy that DH wanted. DH wanted Andy, Frankowski was a Klopas/Guppy find. I've felt the entire season that DH was undermining Franek by placing him in situation's where he would likely not succeed as a justification for limiting his playing time. Instead Franek actually did fairly well in those situations, so what could DH do? Give him more pine time. Perfect example: Since Franek assisted on McBride's goal against FC Dallas in that 4-1 drubbing we got he has not seen a minute of time, not even seeing the bench. Andy Herron, who has not scored a goal and who has not been credited with an assist all year has been getting big bunches of minutes and starts since Herron came back from his injury. Can someone tell me how many goals Herron and Frankowski have scored for the Fire reserves this year?
Are you sure that you want to know? Franek- 2 goals in 269 mins Herron- 3 goals, 2 assists in 366. Frankowski still should've been playing alot more, though. I'm with you on that. I'm an IU alum too...how many of us are there on this board???
ouch, year before i got there... unfortunately we did not reach such glory during my stint never would have thought there were so many IU alums on the Fire board on Bigsoccer... i feel for Frankowski, i really do... his begining of the season was so promising, yet things seemed to fall short.... whether it was injuries, coaching staff lacking of confidence, or whatever... i sure would like to see the fire with a prolific goal scorer... who knows tho... a full season with Rolfe, BMB and Nyarko could lead to quality things next season.... but heres hoping whomever we have on the field the remainder of this season pulls through and notches the goals....
I disagree with most of what is said in this thread. Frankowski was removed from the lineup simply because there are much better options available up front. He definitely shouldn't start--we have McBride and Rolfe for this. The first sub of choice is Nyarko now. I think all this conspiracy theory is nonsense. Frankowski doesn't even make the bench now because he sucks. Plain and simple. Actually, he didn't even make the reserve bench in Toronto. I also disagree about any excitement that Frankowski brought when he showed up in Chicago. I think it was laughable--what, 15 fans showed up to greet him when he was introduced? He also failed to bring any extra fans to games. 50-100 new fans may have come to see him the first couple of games but eventually they disappeared quickly, WAY BEFORE he was benched. Get your facts straight. People figured out he sucked much earlier than Hamlet did. Also, if he is supposedly such a big figure in the Polish world, why didn't people come to cheer on him at reserve games? Somehow Polish fans didn't show up to any of them. The only Polish guy there was the referee.
I can't take your argument to seriously when you completely fabricate the facts and then couple it with some clear jabs that show that you have an inherent dislike of the guy. Excitement for Frankowski was building, no one knew what to expect, but when he scored those 2 goals against NE in front of a large Polish crowd at a home opener IN THE RAIN it really looked like we would have 1998-2002 Polish crowds again. We had 15,553 at the home opener on a cold rainy weekday night in part because of Frankowski. We had 13,274 at our home finale on a cold rainy night, I have a pretty good idea of why we were missing over 2,000 fans. Are you frigging joking? You want Poles to go to reserve games which have ZERO promotion (hence no one even knew when Frankowski would be playing in these matches) to watch the player they believe should be playing in the first squad? That's some twisted logic, but whatever.
Of course I am not joking. True fans know things, you know. See: CWKS Legia fans showing up at A division games. Just one example but I have them aplenty. And seriously, and there is no way in denying it, I saw many more Polish fans at yesterday's game than at the home opener. If you attempt to claim otherwise, you must live in some strange parallel world. Even plenty of Polish old timers hanging around the top of Section 8 were surprised there were so many Polish guys at the game yesterday. Frankowski had no impact on the attendance at any of this year's matches. Deal with it. J12Fire - I agree with you. Frankowski seemed to be higher up than Herron mid-season. But you could also argue that Rolfe could have started up top all season long which would leave Frankowski on the bench anyway.
Definitely. And I'll see your "could have" and raise you a "should have". It just sucked that Hamlett seemed to have zero intent to play Rolfe up there and Frankowski was never even in the conversation to play as forward after what, the 1st DC match? Ideally, it would've been Chad and Rolfe up top because say what you will about his finishing, but Chad wasn't all that shabby at setting other guys up with chances. And if you don't want Chad starting, Rolfe pulling the trigger from the top of the 18 probably would've led to some nice poaches by Frankowski. It's all moot now, but early on Frankowski could have and likely SHOULD have been seeing more minutes. All that said, I'm happy with McB and Rolfe up top and wouldn't have been upset seeing it all along.
Can we all agree, despite our various nationalities, that both Herron and Frankowski signings were mistakes?
I disagree. I believed Herron's signing was a mistake, having him seen him play for us earlier. I was thrilled by Frankowski's signing as he gave us someone in the box who knew how to score. Unfortunately, we don't know why he was never given the opportunity to play. But after he came back from the injury, he never started regularly. I don't know if something happened behind the scenes, in the locker room, whatever, that prevented him from returning to the starting line up. So I can't say his signing was a mistake. It has become, however, a disappointement. I had dreams of winning the triple this year. And at times our offense was unbelieveably unproductive. And still he wasn't started by Hamlett. But Herron was. And then he was first off the bench. Only now, apparently, has Herron moved down the bench. But lo and behold, wasn't that Andy Herron hugging Chris Rolfe after the end of the game Thursday? So he was still on the bench ready to be subbed in!
Well I was pretty sure you were a Legia fan, and now I know you are, so that explains your animus towards Frankowski. Without question we had more Poles at the home opener, the south section behind the goal was bought up by all Polish fans that night, and everyone under the roof on the west side seemed to be Polish that game, this time we didn't have any people behind the other goal and the west side was empty. I also brought 8 Polish friends to that NE game, didn't bring any Polish friends to this one, it was to hard a sell.
Wow, guys, I visit BigSoccer once in a blue moon and was here last time maybe 3 months ago and you are still crunching the same subject. You are pretty amazing. milicz, I think FireUltras98 is trying to be funny; obviously he is blowing things up a little out of proportion but in essence he has a point. Let me offer this view (as much as I can be neutral). Frankowski simply WOULD NOT IMPROVE the Fire. He might have been a good replacement for one of the weaker forwards we have but he would have served just like a few other second tier forward guys we have. Now, I think Hamlet simply used the principle employed everywhere in the world, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Let me go further and say there is absolutely no proof that Frankowski would perform better being first off the bench than Herron, not because he is a worse player, mind you, but because he wouldn't fit our style of play. Really, seriously, I think the issue of who should come off the bench first is probably not even in the top 10 or 15 tactical things affecting the style in which Fire play. It simply looks funny that you are still discussing the issue that to me is simply nonexistant. In other words, and I don't mean to be rude, "Who cares?" As far as attendance is concerned, Frankowski was a definite failure. His fans came to the first couple of games only and I dare to say that probably just to the first one on Thursday and maybe to the next one on Saturday I believe. I don't think Frankowski's fans were invisible at the beginning of the season but their numbers were not significant either. He definitely didn't bring 1000 extra fans per game he was supposed to draw just to pay his salary (not even talking about additional income). If you look at the Polish groups I brought to the game, I had about 20 guys come with me to the home opener and 5-6 come to the next game, but I had around 10 guys come with me to the last season game, as well. So I really think it is almost a wash, at least within the margin of error. I do actually think, however, that it was a good thing. It simply proves my point that the Polish soccer community in Chicago is very insignificant and people who claim that it is the biggest after hispanics are simply dreaming. No, Chicago Poles loving soccer are just one of the many ethnic groups here. For example, I loved the Koreans--they made a presence 10x more visible at the games they attended than any of the Polish groups. I'll play a devil's advocate here but if Fire concentrates on any player due to ethinic reasons, it should be a Mexican or Korean player. All other players should be considered based on their abilities. So I agree with you, milicz, no more Polish players on this team just because they are Polish. Seriously. I would like to see some young Polish player some day but not some rusty icon that was good 5-6 years earlier and now just frustrates everyone with his inabilities or lack of fitting into the team. No, bring me a Polish Marco Pappa. Ideally from the Polish community in the United States (I know, I know, I am hallucinating ). Marcin
The rumor I heard is that Frankowski and Zurawski are both planning on going to Gornik Zabrze. I guess if it's true we'll see just how "washed up" they are! Maybe there's a little magic left (no pun intended)...
If this is true, and there is no reason to doubt Luis in saying it, it is one of the saddest stories I have ever heard in sports. What the Hell is Denis doing? How can any head coach show such disrespect to a player (and one of the highest paid players on the team)? It is inconceivable that Denis Hamlett would simply ignore a player and not tell him why he is not playing. No one, in any line of work, deserves to be treated thusly. If a manager, in any business, does not want someone working for them, they have a duty to inform that person and, if it is advantageous to the company, let the person go. There is NO requirement to keep a person on payroll if they are not going to be utilized. They could have simply released him Frankowski in August, by which time it was clear he was not part of the Denis' plans (Denis has a plan?!?) and not going to be playing much, and he could have hooked up with another team. Yes, if Frankowski did not find another team, the Fire would still have to pay him under his contract, but that is what they are doing now! He has not even been on the substitutes' bench in the last few games. I sincerely hope for his sake that his agent is doing major damage control and trying to find him another team now. Whether one thinks he has sucked or not, it is truly despicable for any player to be treated in this manner. This is truly sad, indeed.
Xtomx - That is exactly how I felt when I read it. I can imagine if I had a boss that did that to me. And it calls into question Hamlett's abilities as a motivator of players and manager of talent. How can you not give a player feedback on how they are performing? Or provide him ways you want to see him improve his play in order to get back on the first team? Communication is vital to success. Frankowski is apparently in some sort of roster limbo. He was signed with great fanfare -- a former national team player, all-time goal scorer for one of the biggest clubs in Poland -- scores two goals in the first rout of New England, gets hurt, and is never given a starting role in league games again. Why? How can the club spend so much money on a reserve player? Why is he being punished with no playing time? His high-light reel shows a player who could've helped us win the Supporters Shield, and now we're one loss away from exiting the playoffs. Again. What were the coach's reasons for this gamble on sitting such an experienced player? Why did he send out Offsides Herron repeatedly as a sub in a futile effort to jump start the offense? And our media reporters never bother to find out why Franek sits. In this case, the player has to come to a reporter with news and the reporter (who whines that nobody returns his e-mails) doesn't seize on the opportunity to do a story. Sad, indeed.
Something I find interesting is that, when Hamlett was hired, he was naming things he learned from all of his experience as an assistant. The first thing he listed was that he learned from Bob Bradley to be direct and open with players on where they stand. So in his first season, what does he do? He pulls a Sarachan.
Unless I'm missing something, Frankowski never said Hamlett hasn't explained to him why he isn't playing. He simply said for Luis to ask Hamlett about it. In the same week that Frankowski (a veteran player in his first year with the club) is quoted complaining about lack of playing time, Gutierrez (a veteran player who bleeds Fire red) is quoted as saying he understands Hamlett not wanting to mess with team chemistry and will perform whatever role he is asked to perform – even if that role is on the bench. Just sayin'.
Also, look how Busch acted last year. When he was riding the pines all year long, he was always into the games and very vocal. He didn't care that he wasn't starting, or at least it didn't show. He was more into the game than the coaches and even many of the players on the field. That is why I wasn't surprised when he had such a spectacular year this year.
