I wouldn't be surprised if visiting coaches/assistants occasionally engaged in speculative discussions about the possibility of moving to SJ if something opened up. (As I'm sure I mentioned at the time, I had the strong impression that Dom was scoping out his return during the last Dynamo game at Buck Shaw.) So if that sort of interaction constitutes "interviewing" then the team may have met the letter if not the spirit of the rules.
Well, it's not like the Quake ever have any news to banter about, besides the opening of the stadium years ago...
I don't know how Leitch is going to do, but all I know is that the Quakes, after Sunday's news, just retained me as season tix holder, who's also going to do an upgrade on his seats I appreciate all the back and forth on this thread, but folks, let's take some time out to CELEBRATE!!!! WHOOOOO YEAHHHHH!!!!!! Peace the F out Dom!
I'm celebrating Dom gone (without forgetting what he did to contribute to the club and his loyalty to the club.) I'm still celebrating signing a player like Vako. I hope he's a game changer. His first game can't come soon enough. I'm celebrating the sliver lining of an injury-weakend squad meaning we'll probably see more of Jackson Yueill, who I have a feeling should be ahead of Tommy on the pecking order already. I've now moved on to worrying about whether there's any chance all of Dawkins' woes are injury related and he can become a different player in the 2nd the half of the season...or if not, how to get rid of him. Because non-contributing DPs are always a big problem. I'm not going to worry about Leitch at all until some games get played...and hopefully nothing develops to worry about. And I'm going to worry a tiny bit about how Wondo is going to deal with reduced playing time since I suspect that could happen. And I'm going to worry about squad depth during the Gold Cup given all the long term injury losses. Leitch's initial tests are tough ones.
The Mercury News could have analyzed the John Doyle firing last August. The paper could have analyzed why Kinnear was not axed with him at that time. The paper could have done a 2016 season postmortem and, again, analyzed why Kinnear was not axed at that time. The paper could have analyzed the hiring of Jesse Fioranelli, and analyzed at the time the prognosis for Kinnear remaining coach for the entire 2017 season. Merely a few examples of opportunities missed.
This is worthwhile advice. We should encourage good coverage in the Mercury News by clicking on its articles about the Quakes. Elliott Almond has always been a terrific journalist in the old-school mode. But he has to battle with his editors for coverage. Clicks help Almond, and the alternative to a vigorous and objective mainstream media is glorified press releases from the league. So, click to encourage more coverage.
But, the Mercury News site is so incredibly frustrating - layers and layers of popups and other crap that slows it to a crawl. I like Almond's reporting, but ever since the Merc changed its name from The San Jose Mercury News I've been tepid at best in regards to supporting it...
Tommy and Yueill should not be on the same "pecking order". We should be talking about where Yueill stands next to Ceren, Alashe, and Flo as a center d/holding mid. Tommy does OK at that position but it is not the best for his skill set. He should be in some kind of attacking mid position. Conversely Jackson has looked pretty meh at outside mid with Reno and should not be playing there. Granted we don't know what setup Leitch will play. He may play with 5 mids for example and that muddies the water a bit. Anyway they should both be getting decent minutes and not just when the squad is depleted due to call-ups and injuries.
I spoke with Chris Dangerfield prior to the KC match and asked him about Simon....he said Simon is still having knee issues. They way he explained it, he rests a while and then the knee seems fine....then he plays and it starts to swell up again....
https://www.mlssoccer.com/post/2017...uakes-coach-chris-leitch-right-man-right-time "As San Jose Earthquakes general manager Jesse Fioranelli was fielding calls from prospective coaches and their representatives looking to replace Dominic Kinnear, the leading candidate was quietly and unwittingly building his own case inside club headquarters......" "Despite dumping the winningest active MLS coach for a replacement with no appreciable experience in the field, Fioranelli showed no interest in slapping an “interim” tag on his new coach. And Leitch has undergone the grueling two-year training program sponsored by MLS and administered by the French Football Federation, graduating with the coveted Elite Formation Coaching License. That badge is held by only a few dozen American coaches."
"hi guys, remember me? I was technical director during the glory years and always wanted a shot at coaching or GM or whatever position might advance my career. believe it or not I was a defender briefly for the Quakes and therefore know what it means to have had a coach, how hard can it be really to switch boots and be the coach? besides, as much frustration as there was with Dom, the last remaining fans would've been happy with the groundskeeper taking over as coach. and, this saves the team from having to search for a proven coach and fits perfectly with our small team philosophy!" -CL go quakes!
I asked this in the Chris Leitch thread and still want to know. What exactly is a technical director and what is his job entail? I mean the players play and the coach employs his tactic to the players so how can a TD be in charge of the technical playing side of things? It sounds like an involved job and I'm sure it isn't easy but I never quite understood the role.
and whatever it was, there's not much chance he was successful at it, given this teams abysmal performance for as long as anyone can remember, but what the hell, this is quakes soccer, promote him anyway!
Makes no sense. The last time I saw an exciting Quakes team was Frank'sin 2012 and Dom's in 2005. Not much else in between notwithstanding the two year hiatus.
Chris Leitch was in charge of the Quakes' academy program, which has had quite a bit of success. The fact is that Leitch wowed Dave Kaval before Jesse Fioranelli arrived, and he's wowing Fioranelli after Kaval has departed.
Have we seen fruits from the academy other than part timer Tommy Thompson and college grad Nick Lima?
Yes. For example, only a week ago the Quakes tweeted that academy product Andrew Paoli scored the game-winning for the U18 USMNT in a tournament in Lisbon. Many other "fruits" are chronicled contemporaneously on the Quakes Academy Twitter account. https://twitter.com/sjeqa
We are all so used to thinking small that CL as coach or maybe GM makes sense. This is the move of a team looking to save a buck. I've been saying for years, until this team starts investing properly in players, fans are losing interest and voting with their feet/dollars. Sadly I think we missed the opportunity to leverage novelty of new stadium. And replacing Dom with CL is hallmark of small team lacking ambition - typical quakes. I was hoping there would come a time when I regretted giving up my season tickets, won't be this season, apparently.
Chris Leitch hasn't coached his first game and already you're complaining about him. Congratulations.
I'm complianing because, as you say, he hasn't coached his first game, professionally. This is such a lazy, uninspired, low budget decision, that's what I'm complaining about How about if we find folks for these critical roles who have actually accomplished things, you know, winners! With this team in the tank after years of failure how does it make sense to gamble on a guy who's never coached a pro game, let alone ever won anything? I know you wanted him for GM too but I just don't see how moving folks who have failed in their position working for a failing organization into positions of vastly greater influence makes any sense whatsoever, unless you're naively trying to save a buck, which sadly fits with what I know about this team.