Funny aside ... my first ever brand new car was a 1997 Chevy Cavalier. Literal base model, complete with a blank plate where the radio should have been. My boss at the time, coincidentally, had just bought a brand new, loaded Audi something-or-other, and brags that he can roll all his windows down with the push of a button. Big deal ... I can reach both window cranks and roll mine down simultaneously, too.
That's a thing? I just thought it was something we joked about for the Sugarcopter! Which brings us back to the topic of the thread... Hey! Jay! Sell the ****'n team! (that should be a chant during games)
Time to sell Jay, the neighborhood has passed you by and gentrification has come to MLS. Take the money and upgrade the helicopter or tie a bunch of balloons to the team and fly away to south america with boy scout Jim and big bird Earnie.
Is that why Jorge Aparacio never made it off the Discovery board and onto the roster? "We have this guy...but we're not sure where he plays!"
Jay Sugarman: "When you look at what we spend between our first team and our second division team, youth development, we’re in the upper echelon of the league."Show me the receipts.— Matthew De George (@sportsdoctormd) June 6, 2018
Spending money is not enough. You need to get good value for the money. Our big spending does not seem to work out.
I get that Steel and the academy could provide positive contributions to the first team, but the first team is the only part of the organization which participates in the league. I don't think it's fair to include them in the statement, other than to prove that they are investing in the entire thing, top to bottom.
Agreed. But it's a start. Jay straight up said: "When you look at what we spend between our first team, our second division team and your youth development we are at the upper echelon of the league." I don't buy this for a ********ing second. Sure, they are investing some money in the development path... but the organization spending as a whole? It's not upper echelon by a long shot, particularly when you factor in the first team. 1004434797316329472 is not a valid tweet id
Tannenwald Interview: http://www.philly.com/philly/sports/soccer/jay-sugarman-union-earnie-stewart-us-soccer-20180606.html?__vfz=medium=sharebar Talent identification is going to be critical. How do we play in the broader universe of talent acquisition? It’s not just putting kids through our system — it’s how do you get the best kids into that system. And on the open market, it’s not just how much money do we spend, but do we spend it wisely? Are we getting big bang for our buck? We need someone who’s very disciplined, who’s going to take a long-term view. And candidly, is not going to flip-flop based on short-term results, but has a very clear vision. Translation: we need someone who won't get frustrated with my lack of money. That said, I agree on the point of wanting someone who is good at talent identification and can spend smart. (Earnie's track record wasn't that great)
You mean a 1st team that has finished precisely on 42 points 3 of the last 4 seasons...AND...for all the talk of improvement is on pace for 43 this season? The last 2.5 years are certainly better with our 1.24 PPG, than our previous 6 seasons at 1.20 PPG. But that is a marginal increase in results, and certainly NOT upper echelon. And I know Earnie will say it's about what is being done and not necessarily the results. But, at the end of the day, it's more fun to win championships than to just have a bunch of "good seasons" linked together.
Does the sporting director have the right to pick his own coach at the time of his own choosing? Yeah. The way we’re set up, the sporting director governs the technical side of the club. Ultimately, that is their choice. But I believe anybody we hire will be thoughtful and very judicious, and weigh the evidence of Jim’s successes recently and the progress we’ve made. I don’t see any reason to make a change just for change’s sake right now, but that’s not ownership’s call. We’ve said to ourselves that a sporting director who is good enough to be our sporting director should be making that call, not us. Grow a set of balls Jay - it's your team, not the GM's. I hate the change for change's sake line... it drives me nuts. "When we started with Earnie, we had a set pool of money, and we said: You tell us. Do you want to spend it all on the first team? Is that the way to win in this league? Or do you want to spend it part on the first team, part on youth development? Earnie’s was, I have to spend it on youth development. I want the best youth development system. I want the best USL team. He didn’t want to cut any corners. … And as those foundational elements got firmed up; as, frankly, the physical infrastructure got to the place it needed to be, then we said, OK, now we can start spending money on the first team. We could have done that from Day 1, but we’d be two or three years behind in our development process. Now we’ve got a development process that, as you can see, is starting to put players on the field. And as those players come through, we will have more money available to really focus on that first team. … I don’t think you can win in this league with significantly fewer impact players than anybody else."
I think everyone is spot on here, but I would like to add a bit of balance though I wear my nexus of negativity badge with pride. I saw something Tuesday night that I hadn't seen before, confident young Union players taking it to a team it should. What stood out, however, wasn't the score. Real, Jones, Fontana, Epps, Rosenberry, and Burke are all comfortable with the ball, have nice touch, and displayed a bit of quality that the Richmond players did not have. Granted, you expect that from an MLS team and Richmond is not good, but there's skill there we didn't see from all of the first team recently, let alone the reserves. That doesn't mean I am confident this model will work but they do seem to be developing some depth and I was pleasantly surprised.
100% agree with this. The academy and Steel pathway to the pros has been a HUGE success and should be celebrated. My number one issue is that I don't think that will ever be enough on it's own. The Union need to be willing to spend and execute on all of the player acquisition methods at their disposal. Yes, continue to spend on academy. (Increase spending here, it's working, keep going at at it) Create an extensive and effective scouting network to find diamonds in the rough. Be willing to pay big transfer fees to bring in hot young prospects Be willing to spend big money on big name established players. Make smart savvy moves within the league Be willing to spend money on premier coaches Keep improving the facilities, always be on the cutting edge Market the shit out of this team and make it relevant in the Philadelphia area. I want it all because that is what we deserve. Jay Sugarman doesn't have the money to provide what I want, so it's basically simple as that. I want a new owner who can provide it all. I want this team to be world class, not a second class citizen and I'll continue to push for that. Winning under Jay is great, if they can find a way to do it I'm all for it. This is the team I hitched my wagon to, so I'm going to be cheering them on and following them win or lose. I'll give credit when it's due, but I'll also call them on their shit when they deserve it. (I think that's the mentality of most people that post on this board) I refuse to be content and will always be demanding platinum. The goal posts are constantly moving and the team needs to keep pace.
Their spending doesn’t compare to the teams who are dropping millions on multiple DPs, but their first team payroll is always in the middle of the pack and their academy investments are routinely rated as one of the top two or three in the league. They’re making interesting signings with Steel (two or three African signing this year for instance). So I do see investment at all levels of the organization and I do buy that of the league’s middle class we probably spend towards the top. The issue is that salaries of the top MLS earners dwarf those investments, and you’re either willing to pay for those players or you’re not. But yeah, I do think they spend enough to be competitive a la RBNY or FC Dallas. The issue is we seem to always have an albatross or two, like Jay Simpson or David Accam, that totally screw the team’s budget.
The Red Bulls spent 6 Million+ on Kaku. I can only dream of the day the Union are willing to do that. FC Dallas is not a team I aspire to be.