I don't think he is campaigning for the job, but here is the facts about Philly Team. Foley was the one who has done all of the trading during the season and was heavily involved in the recruiting the current Philly team. If you speak to the coach Paul Riley he will be the first to tell you that Terry Foley was the one that put the team together. In saying that I think he is worth a look at.
osgood, I don't want to be rude, but 3 of your 8 posts suggest hiring Foley for a WPS team. I know we all have our own personal hobby horses but are you a former player of Foley's or a personal friend of his? Those are rhetorical questions, really, as I'm not expecting you to reveal personal info about yourself. I'm just noting the curiously high proportion of "hire Foley" posts.
Foley may have done a decent job of getting the starters on the Philly team; but his finessing ended there. The Japanese player was a total washout and the team's depth leaves much to be desired. I may be wrong but I don't think he brought DiMartino in, which was the only thing they did right after St. Louis folded. Maybe Philly is more constrained by budget than other teams, but they should have done a better job of stocking the team than they did. I would imagine there will be some decent changes in the off season. Also, just because he can recognize SOME talent doesn't mean he can coach, at least not at this level.
You're right - my bad. But still: Big Soccer: 6. 6. 3-4. <4. 3-4. 5. "definitely not good." 5. 7. 3. <4. 5. (<4 meaning outside of a playoff position.) Can only find one prediction of a #6 finish on the season. But I don't recall very many people expecting the Freedom to be one of the top teams, considering that Whitehill and Wambach were recovering from injuries, Krieger was in Germany, Huffman was out for the season, and hardly anyone realized what a phenomenon Bompastor was going to be.
I am neither an ex player or friend, i am actually a coach in atlanta that as coached against foley and riley for many years. Am i campaigning for him no but i am an advocate for his ability to coach yes. There are 5 people who have experience and success in this league the last two years, naimo/rogers [la sol+ marta] montoya fcgp + marta and foley/riley at philly. Three are coaches and i would like to see the other two coach also. If there was an LA team i would be an advocate for abner rogers. One the east coast i think foley deserves a crack somewhere. I will not comment anymore on this subject. I will let you assume what you like
Thanks for the reply. Please don't stop posting about coaches you think are good candidates. I was just curious. When someone with a very low post count makes multiple pitches for the same person, it is natural to wonder.
I will keep posting from time to time kool-aide. Like yourself i want the league to be around i enjoy watching the games. It should be a good game tonight i hope you will be watching it
Gabarra resigns. I wish Gabarra all the best in his next venture. He was at the Freedom for a long time. I hope WPS and the Freedom play next season.
Jim Gabarra kept the Washington Freedom going for many years. I hope that he stays with the organization in some sort of capacity. I remember the Freedom were going to play in Cincinnati against U of C and Xavier about 6 or seven years ago with guest stars like Heather Mitts. I was "jonesing" for pro womens game after the WUSA folded so I drove 4 hours from Chicago to see that and I was appreciative that someone like Jim Gabarra cared enough of the women's game to keep it going. He deserves a lot of respect.
Kool-Aide like yourself i want to wish Jim all the best. He as done wonders for the womens game. I hope you stay in it Jim in some shape or form
I do wonder how much of the Freedom soccer-for-all-ages approach is down to him. I hope that will be kept up even without him and Clyde, but I'm already hearing ugly rumors that there'll be no W-League team next year.
They may be doing that to save money so they can keep operating in WPS. It sucks, but better no W-League team than no WPS team.
Gabarra and Watson are two extremely qualified, dedicated, and loyal coaches. Gabarra kept the Freedom going and gave the girls a place to play even when there wasn't a league. He is the only coach to have made the WPS play-offs both years. The stats and records of these coaches can be found, what can not be measured is the strong loyalty and commitment Gabarra and Watson have for women's soccer. It is a HUGE red flag that management/ownership let the two of them go. Anyone else see that? The Freedom will not be the same. Good luck to Jim and thank you!
I just hope it doesn't go any further than that. I'd go along with that, but not with better no youth teams at all than no WPS team.
He Actually ran the team for all the years in between the league. They were an exhibition team for a year or 2 before joining the W-League He did a Great Job... Guessing they did not want to fire the GM. This is surprising considering the relationship he has had with the Team Owners all these years
Yes, the Freedom were a "barnstorming" team in 2004 and 2005 before joining the W-League as an associate member in 2006 and a full member in 2007. 2005 was a lot of fun, actually - Gabarra managed to recruit topnotch players like Betsy Barr, Tiffany Roberts, Kylie Bivens, and Emily Janss, and to persuade high-profile players like Sun Wen and Brandi Chastain to participate as guest players. The Freedom also played a home-and-home series with Charlie Naimo's eventual W-League champion New Jersey Wildcats and gave them a run for their money - the match in New Jersey (a 1-1 draw) is still one of the best women's club matches I've watched in person.
I was wondering about the status of the GM w/ this shakeup, myself. Of course, given the general fear for WPS longevity, I'll just hope that the team survives. I've got to believe Gabarra will land on his feet.
That's clearly what management thinks. But if you look deeper at the team and the injuries, I'm not so sure--that midfield looked weak at the beginning of the season and was week all season. With De Vanna injured, another partnership w/ Abby never really developed. The real mistake Gabarra made (if it was his mistake and not a joint decision w/ the GM) might have been leaving Lindsey unprotected and keeping Sawa. I brought up the GM b/c of off-field items not achieving the goals I think ownership hoped to meet (eg attendance)
Well, I do agree that it was a mistake for them to let Lindsey go. And I also think they should have picked up someone when St. Louis folded. But that also depends on where those players wanted to go, and it seems a lot of them wanted to continue to play together, in Atlanta. But I also think that Gabarra did not make good use of his midfield last year, holding Lindsey and Sawa back, and the mistake was obviously compounded when they let Lindsey go and no one else stepped up.