Jeff Plush Q&A on Class VI website

[Jasonma]

http://nofanalone.com/

Jeff Plush answered questions submitted to him through Class VI.

My questions were the second and third one. I'll say I was not impressed by his (non)answers.

[greenie]

Typically evasive answers. And just what aspects of DC/SLC do the Rapids not want?

What fascinates me is that he spouts crap like what Jason quoted below, but then has no problem throwing things right in Fernando's face:


"At the end of the day all player transactions other than a DP is the decision of the head coach."

"...there are no budget/player constraints on this team. We have spent virtually every dollar available to us to be at the salary cap... DC, New England, Houston and Chivas are all on essentially the same money as we are, with no DP. And they are the 4 best teams in the league."

"I would also say that our sub-par performance is not from a lack of talent... The fair criticism of where we are today is that we have under-performed with the money we have spent."

"When we look back on this year I would imagine we would conclude that a lack of continuity was a net negative." [in response to a question about trades and roster turnover]


...so despite all of the above, somehow Plush doesn't see an immediate need to shitcan Clavijo?

I've got a new nickname for Plush: Harvey Dent.

(aka "Two-Face," for those not closely familiar with Batman)

BTW: Mark, did you copy/paste Plush's response from an email, or are these transcribed from a phone call or in-person meeting? I'm a bit surprised that Plush would spell out the word "publicaly."

[DavidJames]

Typically evasive answers. And just what aspects of DC/SLC do the Rapids not want?

What fascinates me is that he spouts crap like what Jason quoted below, but then has no problem throwing things right in Fernando's face:



...so despite all of the above, somehow Plush doesn't see an immediate need to shitcan Clavijo?

I've got a new nickname for Plush: Harvey Dent.

(aka "Two-Face," for those not closely familiar with Batman)

Plush told FC he had 3 years, being two faced would be to "shitcan" him before the 3 years were up.

[denver_mugwamp]

Yeah, what do you expect him to say?

"I can't wait until I have an opportunity to fire that little smurf who jerked us around with his three years to a championship team bullsh!t."

[GoRapids]

BTW: Mark, did you copy/paste Plush's response from an email, or are these transcribed from a phone call or in-person meeting? I'm a bit surprised that Plush would spell out the word "publicaly."

I cut and paste - but I think I must have hit an "a" or something while editing with fonts and stuff.

It's spelled correctly in his original email response.

[spaceman333]

I thought it was as frank an assessment that you will get from ANY Managing Director. But he came out and said what a lot of fans feel and have been feeling:

"Clearly we have to do far better. Our form since June has been frankly embarrassing. We have not performed to our expectations, but worse we have not performed to our abilities. That is troubling."

Smells Like FC and his poor kids will be living in a cardboard box come this time next year. Or we could squeak into the playoffs courtesy of another teams flame out, and FC will suprise us all with the Rapids playoff form and the Rapids will be on the front page of every single section of the Rocky Mountain News instead of the Rockies, as they rally for the Championship. Anything short of that and I think KSE is just as tired, if not more so, of FC as we are and he will be a fading footnote and bad memory starting October 28th. They gave FC his 3 years, very commendable, but expectations were not met, and such is BUSINESS.

[Bonji]

It is important to note that teams like DC, New England, Houston and Chivas are all on essentially the same money as we are, with no DP. And they are the 4 best teams in the league.
Then the problem is obviously talent scouting. While DC gets Fred and Emilio we have Jovan and Niko. :rolleyes:

[Jasonma]

I'm not sure the numbers avaialble to the public match his statement about that they are spending every dollar up to the cap. Obviously we don't have all the details, but looking at the salaries published by the players union, I thought Colorado appeared to be significantly under the cap.

[Malaga CF fan]

I'm not sure the numbers avaialble to the public match his statement about that they are spending every dollar up to the cap. Obviously we don't have all the details, but looking at the salaries published by the players union, I thought Colorado appeared to be significantly under the cap.

And we all know that spending to the cap is not indicative of success on the field, just look at a league like the NFL or NBA. The Knicks have the highest payroll in the league, but they have overpaid for underperforming players and have bad coaching and management.

The ability to pay a player what he is worth is the real issue, as well as providing a playing environment where a player feels there is more to keep him there than just a paycheck. My guess is if you looked across the league and surveyed players, I'm guessing they would prefer to play in places like DC or LA, or for coaches like Steve Nicol, Preki or Kinnear for less money than playing in a place like Colorado, Kansas City or Toronto. There probably isn't any empirical data to back this up, but what would you choose, play in Colorado for $200k or DC for $175k?(let's not factor in cost of living - just so I have a better argument here ;))

I think the Rapids have overpaid guys like Casey (injured too much) and Kirovski (plays too much, no production for a forward) and have discarded players with value (Beckerman was a bargain) on the whim of a personality conflict.

This isn't rocket science, but the Rapids are doing their best to make it look tougher than it actually is.

[Malaga CF fan]

I would begin by saying that it is not a widely held belief. I would then say it is absolute fiction. We have spent money, in fact more than DC, New England and Houston. Any shortcomings we have experienced are not from a lack of spending.

I would also say that our sub-par performance is not from a lack of talent. We have built a talented roster both through the draft as well as trades/signings. We will continue to build through development and scouting.

The fair criticism of where we are today is that we have under-performed with the money we have spent.

I thought this was a very telling quote, specifically because of what Plush did not mention. He excludes talent on the field and spending (salaries) from the reasons for why the Rapids have underperformed. Aside from those two elements influencing the play on the field, I'd have to say the only other significant contributors to success are team chemistry and coaching. He mentioned that the lack of continuity was a "net negative" later on in the interview, but he never mentions coaching.

I think this is telling. He has to know that coaching is the other major reason why the Rapids are where they are right now. I just hope he does something about it.

[DavidJames]

And we all know that spending to the cap is not indicative of success on the field, just look at a league like the NFL or NBA. The Knicks have the highest payroll in the league, but they have overpaid for underperforming players and have bad coaching and management. Well said. People want (or think there are) easy answers to a teams problems. They don't spend enough money or they don't care enough. Those are easy to fix. Finding the talent, within your assigned budget, who can work together as a team, much more difficult.

[Prazan]

I'm not sure the numbers avaialble to the public match his statement about that they are spending every dollar up to the cap. Obviously we don't have all the details, but looking at the salaries published by the players union, I thought Colorado appeared to be significantly under the cap.

What is even stranger is that he would take credit for spending to the cap. All salaries are paid by MLS, which means that Kroenke only pays 1/13 of the salaries of the Rapids players, just like he pays 1/13 of the salaries of every other team. If the Rapids stay under the cap, only 1/13 of the money saved goes into Kroenke's pocket. Plush is therefore trying to take credit for spending other people's money.

Now if he could point to high levels of spending on areas that the team is solely responsible for, such as coaches' salaries, DP salary, youth program spending, scouting staffs, etc., that would be a different story.

[TLee]

Having read the entire thing...I think there is little doubt Plush is saying Clavijo will not be leading this team come next year.

[DavidJames]

Having read the entire thing...I think there is little doubt Plush is saying Clavijo will not be leading this team come next year.

Yup, that's what I get out of it. One thing I'm trying to keep in mind though is we are hearing his side of it. We've also read a bit from FC which, on the financial side, seems to contradict Plush.

[GoRapids]

I think the Rapids have overpaid guys like Casey (injured too much)

The Rapids are only paying Casey like $60K - Toronto is paying part of his salary - heard it straight from the lips of our gaffer.

[deron]

The Rapids are only paying Casey like $60K - Toronto is paying part of his salary - heard it straight from the lips of our gaffer.

If it remains that way, I'd say keep him on the protect list.

Bet he's wishing his contract was for pay in Loonies.

[prk166]

The Rapids are only paying Casey like $60K - Toronto is paying part of his salary - heard it straight from the lips of our gaffer.



eeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwww!!!



oh... you said "heard" when speaking about FC's lips. :D



Jeff Plush ----> Thank you for taking time to answer those questions.

[Malaga CF fan]

The Rapids are only paying Casey like $60K - Toronto is paying part of his salary - heard it straight from the lips of our gaffer.

Ahhh... Good to know. I just remember his salary # was like $180k. I actually think he has begun to prove his worth when he's been healthy in the 2nd half of the season, but he's got some serious injury issues. That's gotta be something that he needs to overcome for him to be a factor for the Rapids.

[prk166]

Seems like too many players on this team have injury problems. Could it be the training?

[Bonji]

While it is nice of Plush to answer questions, I still want to see results. He's disapointed in the results of the team but can't fire a bad manager. Or does he realise his medling in player decisions made it a bad team and he doesn't want to fire himself? He says one thing to us and his actions don't seem to match up.

He says his coaches and technical staff make player decisions. They both need to be fired to get a fresh start. Will Plush be able to do that?