Coach Dennis Career Deathwatch Thread: Part One

I believe I will start calling him Denise as well.

Let's see...

1. Brimstone Cup
2. USOC
3. Superliga Cup

OK.

3 down and 2 to go...or 3 if you count the ECF.

4. SS
5. EC Champs
6. MLS CUP

So we missed on the easy ones and is someone more confident about the hard ones?

I don't think Denis is confident about it...maybe the players will, I don't know, make do without him...it would take a heck of a revolt...but I sincerely feel we would be better without Hamlett...

We could offer Peter Nowak our entire coaching staff for a draft pick...it's worth a try.





McBlanco-for Coach...

PLEASE let this last episode be the straw that breaks the camel's back!

Dennis Sarachan-Hamlett, you suck.

We will not catch Columbus for the Eastern Division title with Hamlett as the coach. Columbus started out the season 0-2-5 (5 pts), that was our chance to get ahead of them and what do we do we go 1-1-5 (8 pts).

Since that time Columbus has gone 10-1-4, last 5 games without GBS, all wins (34 pts) and we've gone 7-3-3 (24 pts). We have more talent on our team then they do and there the ones pulling away from the pack.

It's going to end the same way it did last year, Columbus will finish first in the East and will finish 2nd (If were lucky). They'll have home field advantage for Eastern Conference Finals game and will lose that one also.

If Hamlett makes it that far, and it ends the same way Hamlett better be gone the next day.

The Fire are tied for 4th in the league and Columbus has played two games more than the Fire as of this morning. Unless Hamlett starts referring to Hauptman's wife in derogatory terms, he is not going to be canned any time soon.

For the record, if we win the next two that Columbus has in hand and they lose the next two, they'll still be a point ahead of us.

I don't think you mean to say "if they lose the next two" because then we'd still have two games in hand.

The whole point though is that we're still in the mix. In addition, Columbus has a tough final stretch because of the Champions League. Saying that we have no chance of catching them is idiotic.

But if we had a coach that knew what the ******** he was doing we would be the team on top. Alll I'm saying is that Columbus is playing very good right now and there doing it without last years MVP (GBS). They don't lose at home 7-0-4 as for us 3-2-4, there remaining schedule isn't that tough.

at New York (W)
vs. Houston (T)
at CHICAGO (L) (That's a homer call, but it will be a tie)
vs. Los Angeles (W)
vs. Seattle FC (W)
at New England (T)
at DC United (L)
vs. New England (W)

That would make there final record 14-5-11 (53 pts)

Our remaining schedule and what should happen:

at Kansas City (W)
vs. Los Angeles (W)
vs. Colorado (W)
vs. DC United (W)
at Real Salt Lake (L)
vs. Columbus (W)
vs. Toronto FC (W)
at Los Angeles (T)
at New England (L)
vs. CD Chivas (W)

That would make our record 15-6-9 (54 pts)

But this is what's going to happen:

at Kansas City (T)
vs. Los Angeles (W)
vs. Colorado (W)
vs. DC United (T)
at Real Salt Lake (L)
vs. Columbus (T)
vs. Toronto FC (W)
at Los Angeles (L)
at New England (L)
vs. CD Chivas (T)


And will finish with a 11-7-12 (45 pts)

You're giving the Crew too much credit with their schedule. They plan on expending a lot of energy in the Champions League. They're not just sending out the scrubs.

4-2-2 is giving them too much credit.

Nice work. Not even 24 hours and you have already underestimated us by 2 points.

To say that we are way more talented than the Crew and are behind them because of our coaching is ridiculous. They are defending champs and frankly, they earned it last year. Do we have a better team? Its a close call. These are two of the best teams in MLS along with Houston. Chivas and DC can be in the discussion as well.

Our home record has been disappointing, particularly a couple of the wins that got away and turned into draws. Still, our road record is insanely good. Of course, Denis gets zero credit from most on here for that. Even when we have not had our best players available, we have played well. Young players are making an impact after being brought along slowly. Veterans like CJ have found new life in new positions. Denis has made mistakes as all coaches do. On the whole, given players that are unhappy to be in MLS, injuries, national team call ups etc., we are cruising through the dog days quite nicely and will at least be in position to get hot and run the table in a month.

OK, smartass make your picks for the rest of the year, it's easy once the game is over. Do you think we could over take Columbus for the Eastern Division crown.

Wow. Relax killer. The smilie should have clued you in that I was joking. I don't really speculate game to game like you have. I don't mind that people do but it usually has no bearing on reality. Injuries, bad form, good form, all sorts of things are variables that can lead to funny results. I prefer to look at the next game and that's about it.

What I do know is that if we win our game in hand, we are one point behind Columbus. No need to panic. If you want to win the cup, you have to get hot in September anyway. If we do that, the SS will take care of itself.

I applaud the passion and the effort, but I've given up on the prediction racket this year cuz it is impossible to predict this team. Poor coaching leaves us dependent on whether and which one or two players might come up big. Ergo, even more so than in the general run of sports where "anything can happen in one game" yada yada, this team could literally beat anyone and literally lose to anyone. It wouldn't surprise me if we beat Man U. one day and then lost to the last-placed W League team a week later.

Yes, poor coaching has made us extremely vulnerable. It has led to a whopping four losses in 21 games this year. Three of those losses were to Houston and DC (on the road) by one goal. Yes, the Dallas game was an embarrassment.

I have acknowledged the frustrating nature of some of the early home draws, but we have been remarkably steady given the games missed. Blanco 6, McBride 5, Pause 5, Thor 4, Sega 9. One might even say that the coach has managed the season nicely.

Sometimes I think Chris M. is my twin.

Everyone gets hung up on the fact that our home record sucks. And it's probably because you've spent (a lot of) money to watch them tie and lose.

But...let's swap it for a second. If the Fire was 6-2-4 at home and 3-2-4 on the road, how would you feel about our season?

I'd feel alot better about the season. I'd be alot more supportive of the FO and Dennis "Clubber Lang" Hamlett. The reason that I support the Fire and MLS is because I can actually go to the games. The quality of MLS as a league is pretty poor and really the fact that you can actually attend is one of the only good things about it.

So if the team plays like boring crap at home where I pay alot of money to see them, but the only time I can see them play well is when they're on TV in another city(if they're on tv....) why wouldn't I just stick to EPL or Serie A or some other overseas league and save my money...??

Right, sorry. I didn't mean that. I meant that if we win the next two catchup games, we'd still be a point behind, but you know that.

It's true that it's hard to argue that we are near the top of the league, and that our depth has really served us well.

But, at the same time, we all see how we suck on set pieces, and how we can't keep 50% of our own damn throwins.

Mapp played every fricking game last year while Pappa sat on the bench almost never playing. It's clear that Pappa is multiple levels above Mapp but Hammy waited an either year to make the change.

We look so clueless on corner kicks, which is something they could practice until the cows come home.


Let me be honest... I'm totally willing to accept the possability that our "long ball to no one" strategy actually DOES gain us more points in the long run (no turn overs in midfield), but it makes me mad that Hamlett employs it because it's boring to watch, and it makes me think that he doesn't want to play real soccer. Maybe he's just really good at his job, clearly I am not a pro coach. But you get what I mean... It's like when the Bears had Shoup calling the 3 yrd passes on 3rd and 8. Maybe that was the correct/safe choice, but it looks dumb as hell to us.

Do you think he's a good coach?

Or, you might shudder to think how poor the FIRE would be in the standings, if worthless piece of shyte Dennis Sarachan didn't have the most talented team in the league at his disposal.

It doesn't really matter. The team he coaches is in third place in the league and second in the East (by a five point margin) and have lost only four times. That statistic alone is not going to lead anyone in a managerial position in this league to fire their coach. Yea, we Fire fans are an arrogant lot who expect better, but unless we find a way to buy shares in the club and exert real influence, then cheering on a good, if under performing team, is something we're going to have to live with for the time being.

Personally, I don't think Hamlett is a good coach and I think that this team has the talent to be atop the league right now, but over and over again new [foreign] coaches come into this league and get sent out again on their asses. Coaches who have been around the league as assistants or as players seem to be more adept at handling the rigors and unique operating procedures that MLS has embraced.

So here is a question for you. If Hamlett was fired tomorrow, who would you have coach the Fire (who is available)? If Hamlett was fired at the end of the season [assuming the Fire at the very least make the playoffs], who would have coach the Fire (who is available)?

Dick Advocaat.

This is a somewhat loaded question. The great majority of my arguments that are construed on here as being "pro-Denis" are actually arguments against the notion that a coach has as much influence on the outcome of games as many on here argue. Similarly, I think too much credit is given to coaches for success. That is NOT to say that a coach can't make some difference in a team, but you would think that they are evil puppet masters by comments on here.

Having said that, I think Denis has done ok given 1 and 2/3s seasons in charge. I do think he was handed a very good team with veterans who will not be around much longer, so I have said that the target must be MLS Cup in those first two years. Last year, we made the conference final and lost by a goal. I did not like the way we played at times last year but I think he has grown in the job. I think he has done a decent job managing personalities. I think he has done a decent job developing young players.

For the most part, we have played with a solid organized defense throughout the last two years. We have had periods of great soccer with everyone healthy and available.

On the negative side, I do think that we have been bad defending set pieces (although better over the last few months). We don't finish as well as we should. To the extent that those things can be improved through work/coaching, then sure, Denis should make adjustments.

By the way, I have noted that I believe we have looked our best at the beginning of games (with the exception of the two Houston games). To me that suggests that we are prepared and have a decent game plan. On the negative side, it may suggest that we don't adjust as well at halftime (the only time a coach really has a direct influence during the game outside of substitutions).

Cute. But Denis is very different from Dave. If I remember, a big part of the problem most had with Sarachan was the immediate bunker when we took a one goal lead and questionable substitutions. Of course, JCO had basically the same philosophy. The difference was the quality of players he had available in the second half of that season. Injured players came back, but most importantly, Blanco and Conde joined up. Funny how great players make a coach look so good.

Back to your point, today is a pretty good example. This was our team:

Chicago Fire -- Jon Busch, Austin Washington, C.J. Brown, Dasan Robinson, Brandon Prideaux, Marco Pappa (Calen Carr 88), Peter Lowry, Logan Pause, Justin Mapp (Mike Banner 66), Patrick Nyarko (Stefan Dimitrov 75), Chris Rolfe.

Not a bad group, but no Blanco, McBride, Conde, Segares, Ward or Thorrington, yet, we looked like a good disciplined team. So yes, he was given a good team but we have gotten results under Denis even when "the most talented team in the league" is not at his disposal.