So if I read all these correctly (and this is not any finger pointing at you): 1. We are so close to the playoffs and just gotta believe 2. We need to shake up the lineup but at the same point in time, don't see a perfect fit to make the team better this year. 3. Next year though. Next year by golly we are going to find the perfect player. Someone is full of shite
Based on the "Points Per Game" for both home and away, the Crew is estimated to finish with 30 points which would keep us in 8th place in the East and 9 points out of the playoffs. For us to even be able to sniff the playoffs, we need to significantly improve upon our current 0.3 points per game on the road. We may indeed be 7 points out of the playoffs (yeah team) but based on the schedule, it's just not something that I see.
I'll respond to these, not with my opinion, but by what I saw Gregg say tonight. Essentially, yes. Pipa is back, and Sauro is a major loss, but the talent and work ethic is there. Gregg made a point of saying early on that the team that made the cup final last year and finished second in the east, deserved to come back as starters this season. Though he did say towards the end that perhaps if he could do the season over, he would have signed more starter quality players to compete at the team's three weakest positions (didn't mention specific positions or players). Sauro has been a devastating loss. No one is perfect with transfers, no one. Everyone signs duds. My personal take: I think most everyone would agree that the team should have come back as it was in the final (some people turned on Clark by that point) more or less we had a great starting 11. Tarek didn't work out, it happens. Larsen didn't work out. It happens. Gregg wants to spend big money, and Precourt is all for it. He was interested in signing Bedoya. Talked to both Chicago and Philly, but neither was interested in a deal with Columbus. Gregg didn't see someone that they could get that would really make the team a whole hell of a lot better. If I had to guess, I think he was mainly looking at players that can play in sort of a wide forward position, like the wide position in a 4-3-3, but can also play through the middle if need be. That's me trying to interpret what he said, not what he actually said which was more vague. My personal take: If Gregg is gonna make a big signing (like 1 million dollars or more salary big) I want him to be sure, and we'll have a better idea of where the team is at and who's coming and going after the season, so I'm ok. If we make a playoff push, ok, doubt we'll do much. If we don't, ok, basically where we're at now. I think the season is done either way really, it's more about seeing who comes back.
I am glad I didn't go, So Gregg gave some players a free pass after the cup, yeah that's a problem, nobody should automatically get a starting position. A big name Striker is really going to help as the other team marches past in to bang in a tying goal. Gregg reminds me of those people on that plane that made the emergency landing and as the plane is on fire he's getting his luggage as other teams race past him for the exit.
Nope. Sadly, not a joke. The statistics all say we're so close to being unstoppable. Later someone asked if he believed we had the right players for his system on the roster today, and he said-- with a straight face-- yes. He also stated that his biggest regret/lesson learned from this season was not signing 3x starting quality players in the off season to push/challenge the weakest spots. Just between me and you, I figured that out years ago.
So, Gregg admitted that he was complacent in the offseason. If we had an owner who cared about the results on the field as much as he cared about Twitter likes, that would be a bigger problem for Gregg. But, alas... I'll never fully understand why they traded Kei away to get this money without having a transfer target in sight. Such a rash trade and an obvious punting of the season. We can talk 7 points out all we want. But going into their next game this team has not won a league game in 77 days. No beer and no PowerPoint animation can change that. But, that wasn't the front office's objective tonight. The objective was to continue to hold some fans under the illusion that an "engaged" front office is as good as wins. In that aspect they probably succeeded. A banner night for Columbus Crew in 2016.
So we showed interest in Bedoya and "tried to sign him". Why does it seem like we always "try" but always fail to make the deal. "Do or do not. There is no try."
To be fair, it's MLS. Signing players is a big wonky, you can't just sign a big fat check. This isn't the EPL. Remember how Jermaine Jones ended up in New England?
Additional tidbits... He said the biggest failure since he came here has been the affiliate situation (Dayton, Austin, Pittsburgh), and that they will make a move towards a Crew 2 in USL when they have enough players in the pipeline to fill an additional roster. The GAM / TAM we got for Kei is good through 2017, so they didn't want to use it on someone who wouldn't make an immediate impact in 2016. Gregg said that Aces has told him to go sign a DP, and soon. He also said that Pipa didn't tell him that he was bringing Gonzalo to Obetz, and that he just said to him "I found a new striker for you", and then Gonzalo walked into his office. NCAA is implementing a replay system this coming season for red cards, mass confrontations, and goals. Not for balls when they are VERY FU(KING CLEARLY out of bounds. Those in the know seemed to think it would make its way to MLS in 2 years.
I see what you're getting at, but I think you're taking each point a bit too far. He didn't say he was complacent. Hard to say a guy was complacent when we added 6 guys (Ola, Ashe, Saravia, Casey, Larsen, and Tarek). He said he wished he signed more guys to strengthen 3 spots. Not sure what those 3 spots are, but if I had to guess it would be GK, attacking midfield (#10), and maybe a CM? Not sure. I highly doubt Gregg said "fvck this season" in May. I'm not going over the Kei thing for the millionth time, its pointless. Gregg thought it needed to be done for team chemistry, and this was the best deal. We weren't winning with him anyway. Shit situation all around. That is 100% spot on. As good as wins? That's laughable. Not even they are that delusional. That being said though, the guy in front of me just kept nodding his head vigorously and agreeing with everything Gregg was saying, so maybe it's true for some, it's not for me and I'd guess everyone on this board.
Did anyone ask how much we had left? Transactions stated we used some for Naess and for Jahn. Tom Reed's article at The Dispatch made it seem like like we spent a bit more than expected on Naess. Nice signature, shitlord.
It scares the crap out of me to think there are no players out there that could improve The Massive. I mean, wtf, we've won 3 games this season but we should judge ourselves that we are only 3 games out of the last playoff spot in an extremely weak Eastern conference?
Apparently, we also got 50k in GAM from Chicago when they signed that Thiam guy, because we had discovery rights to him.
Yeah props to the teams that did a 2 team around four years ago. Unless you have a Minnesota or Railhawks down the road an affiliate is a bit of a waste. Even in that situation, you can only control everything with your own JV squad. I worked for Dayton, even I knew that would be a train wreck and no match at all. Could've told the Crew that for free. More than anything hurt the development perhaps of HGPs. Swanson, Bars on, even Trapp.