mmm, has anything really changed all that much since the Dynamo came to Houston? AEG never treated us the same as LA. We were always treated like the ugly step child, especially after DP became a thing. I would say things were better under Luck but that's different.
So ... as I remember it the DP thing happened about the same time AEG sold half the team to the boxer and his developer buddy. AEG's position was "go big." Green light to invest. The Boxer and his buddy's position was "we will only investe if you show us short term ROI." So my memory is that it is the present owners who held the Dynamo back. AEG built the stadium. AEG brought the team here. AEG gave our coach full authority to just win -- and we did. So yeah, I think things have changed a lot from that. The current situation is FUBAR. That is my memory of it.
I really think you are giving too much credit to AEG. Luck was the Dynamo President from 2005 to 7/1/2010. Yes AEG brought the Dynamo to Houston. The Dynamo's first season was 2006 and we won cups in 2006 and 2007. The DP rule started for Beckham in 2007. 2/29/2008 is when Luck informed everyone of the new ownership structure with Brener, Oscar, and AEG. The new stadium opened in 2012. The stadium doesn't get built without Luck working his connections with the city. In my opinion we started our slide into FUBAR in 2010.....which happens to be the same year Luck left.
I think that is my point: "AEG built the stadium. AEG brought the team here. AEG gave our coach full authority to just win -- and we did."
yes - until they decided that LA was to become a 'Super Club' and that they were going to wind down their investment in Houston.
When Alexi Lalas called LA a "super club," I couldn't stop laughing. Then I got pissed because it was Garber & Co. that wanted to make sure they were a "super club." New rules all over the show for LA.
I appreciate AEG helped bring the team here and helped pay for the stadium. I also assume that they were cashed out for the privilege on their way out the door, lest we act like it was humanitarian altruism. AEG owned their share well into this decade including the downturn. What happened to us in stages 1 (dynasty) and 2 (decay) was a long term, cross-owner, cheap payroll approach that worked only when the league was a hard cap or allowed just one exception who couldn't help a bad team and could undermine a team's salary structure if not handled right (LA in the Gullit era....people forget there was that period when Chivas was the best team in town and LAG had spent money on an oft-injured Beckham, and to afford Beckham, Donovan, and the keeper they were fielding crap all around them). Once they created the exceptions it less and less paid to be the most organized team essentially obeying the cap, and the quality picked up such that the old mousetrap didn't work anymore anyway. Once they did that, our ticket(s) back became either "join em" (spending like the best) or "beat em" (becoming much more efficient in personnel matters, or finding a new systemic mousetrap). Recent years reflected a dysfunctional mousetrap and poor personnel. This year reflects improved but still debatable personnel and a mousetrap gimmick that works at home. Winning will require further increased personnel, system, and efficiencies -- or the shortcut of money. But this year kind of tells you how mismanaged it got that you can still be hit and miss personnel and have a system that only works at home and that's solidly enough for playoffs. How bad did it get. I'm not putting AEG on a pedestal because they didn't spend money, for all the go big talk. They presided over the good years, yes, but they also fled as it was hitting bottom. I think they did to liquidate Anschutz some but I'm not going to paint a rosy picture of the red headed stepchild situation just because we won a couple while they were here. This pivoted into the DP era while they were still here and we didn't exactly match LA and NY and try to stay relevant.
Sorry but LA was always exceptional, eg, Donovan grandfathered around cap rules, forced trades back in the bad old days. Before that LA and DC were attempted superclubs when the league tilted that way. When consistent regional power evaded us, hard cap, LA and DC balanced out. The Beckham exceptions tipped back to rewarding the already rich. But then teams like Seattle and TFC got expansions and emerged as equally willing to spend. None of the NYC teams has ever won the league. LA is watching the playoffs this season, and will be having a Bradley led team coming in cross town next season. [I'm going to be curious if Arena lands right back there.] Granted, TFC may buy the title but any sort of "waaaaaah they treat LA better" discussion is about 2 years dessicated and old. AEG is not your daddy anymore, and their kid isn't that great, get over it.
Probably sitting around collecting a check from the Dynamo each month. Taking his kids to school, etc.
Yeah one subtle thing people don't often realize is happening is that if they have a paper deal and it provides for a term of years and limited grounds of "for cause" termination, either they just finish out the deal (but the coach is removed from the position) or maybe they agree to settle the money left in exchange for a non-compete and release. If you finish the deal there may be a no moonlight clause that is like a de facto non-compete. So you're getting paid either regular paychecks or a lump sum but you're off the market until the term runs. It doesn't necessarily have to be that way -- they can let you go right away. Nowak is one of the few people where they actually called it "for cause" -- which is breach and end of the money responsibility -- and that's when all the inside baseball nastiness about how they felt he ran the team spilled out. And he sued the Union. And they ran up bills for that. So most of the time I assume they just let it go and pay the dude. Otherwise, a behind the scenes reality of firing Klinsmann or a college football coach or a MLS coach is the coach may insist on their money and while the team can fire them from doing the work the contract is essentially still in effect unless one of the sides breached it or did something giving grounds to terminate. Usually that doesn't cover underperformance. So we're calling for his head and may get it and we think it's over but behind the scenes they have to resolve how the remaining contract term is handled. For a period of time they have to pay two coaches. We I gather paid off Coyle -- though I don't understand why that wasn't a mutual walkaway in exchange for him going right back on the market -- and are now probably paying both Barrett and Cabrera paychecks at the same time. Sometimes this can be an issue if you have an expensive deal. College football teams pay way too much for coaches and sometimes it's a negotiation of boosters paying off the deal so it happens faster. US Soccer presumably had to pony up some cash to be rid of Klinsmann.
Saying Peter was let go for cause due to inside baseball and how they felt he ran the team just doesnt quite cut it. He was a tyrannical POS and should never coach anything ever again.
That's not quite what I meant. I meant that what is usually inside baseball -- how the team and coach got along and specific incidents -- got out because they disliked him so much they risked "for cause" termination. Even tyrants usually get severance because you have to air out the whole tawdry situation to establish legal bona fides for truly firing the guy. I'm not trying to diminish how he behaved, I'm saying we don't usually hear about such things, and did here because it was so bad and they wanted to save the money so much they risked litigation and called it for cause. Usually you could be a jerk and they still just buy you out.
I thought Ownby had a pretty good game. Ownby was a top pick of the Dynamo a few years ago. Fun watching he Louisville FC supporters invade the pitch and enjoy their championship team.
I've long believed that Ownby deserved more of a shot than he got here. Injuries held him back though as well, but I can't imagine he would have wanted much more than the minimum. But I guess he didn't fit into Coyle's vision for the team which should probably be taken as a huge compliment.
Cubo Torres came on in the 82’ for UNAM and looked very poor. He is lacking confidence at this point.
Alex López and Luis Garrido are at Alajuelense in Costa Rica since the beginning of the year. Glad to see Garrido healthy and playing after his horrendous injury here. Both seem to doing well there.