The great thing about the scientific method is that you can discern a lot when you remove a variable. If Stahre's "idiocy" in holding post-game midfield meetings (and other idiosyncratic behavior) was the source of strife on the team, we should have expected to see an immediate improvement in the results when Stahre was removed. Yet Ralston's interim record was worse. Not saying you're wrong about Stahre, but there are obviously other variables at play.
I don't think Stahre's post-game midfield lectures were hurting the team's performance, but they were stupid, pointless, bush league, and embarrassing, so in any case I'm glad they're gone even if that didn't change the results.
We're only going to have to revive it when Stahre becomes FIFA president or Secretary General of the UN.
Of course not! I had a long and meaningful conversation with Neal, and he never made me feel like I didn't know what I was talking about. At the time, he was the assistant GM under Lynne Metaperel. I - naturally enough - was advocating that the team fire Loathesome Lothar. It worked out OK in the long run. Stahre has been a good coach in Sweden, I expect that he will be again. He badly underestimated the level of quality in MLS. He failed to understand that most teams play high pressure all over the field. He never caught on to the need for foot speed in our league. He played Eriksson at every opportunity, even though Eriksson was manifestly crap. We could go on at length about the myriad mistakes that Dim Stahre made, but screw that. Let's have a much freaking better 2019!!!! Go Quakes!! - Mark
For what reason, and why would I or anyone else for that matter, want to possibly revive this thread? Who cares about Stahre?
After the first game, I was sort of surprised his wife didn't bring a tupperware full of orange wedges for the team at halftime...
Thanks Gman! I feared that I was misspelling his name, but it was late and I didn't feel like looking it up. Yes, Tom Neale was great. Go Quakes!! - Mark
So did Ralston and he had to know that his career was in the balance. Yet Raston continued to play Magnus. Why? And why were better players, performing at a higher level, subbed before him? I can't get my head wrapped around this. There HAS to be some financial incentive in his contract, such that the Quakes were forced to play him a certain number of minutes. If that's true, culpability draws way further than Stahre.
I have considered this theory, as well. But I believe the pre-Matias brain-trust valued him much more highly than the fans. Eriksson does have certain high level skills such as his shot and his long-range passing, but we fans recognize that his lack of speed and utter inability to win one-on-one encounters, not to mention his cynical flopping as a way of compensating, are such serious deficiencies that they significantly outweigh what he brings to the table. They may have been too dazzled by what he does really well to fully appreciate that, on balance, he's terrible.
I don't understand how the team would have any financial incentive to play him? Other than that we paid a bundle for him, but he was clearly not good enough. Also, I don't think Ralston was calling the shots entirely when he was "in charge." Or maybe he was, and like Stahre before him, was poleaxed by Magnus's long range bomb. (So I agree with @don gagliardi more than you on this, but who really knows?) Go Quakes!! - Mark
It's probably the amount of money they spent. Usually when players continue to play despite not producing results, it's because there's enough money wrapped up in it that they can't admit as an organization that they made a huge mistake. Or there are just no other options. The Quakes had some options, so I'd bet it's the former. I think Eriksson did just enough to make it look reasonable to keep him out there (despite it obviously being a major problem). A lot of poor decisions being made each week last year. Hopefully that kind of stuff will be curbed by Almeyda's staff.
So many assume it was Stahre who had a say in who played ... it was Jesse, and he sucks at it! He pulled all the strings for both Stahre AND Ralston. Jesse is the one who thought (thinks?) Tarbell is the best. Magnus was Jesse's man! They were going to do great and were given EVERY chance to prove it. Sadly, they both disappointed. Ask any player. Jesse needs to let the new coach do his job, which we can only hope Matias will do.
Yep, the proof was Ralston still played mag and Vako. Ralston's been around the block, he knows what works and what stinks on ice. He saw a whole season of that bullshit...should never happen, but I absolutely believe there was pressure from Fioranelli to play the big money lemons. I can't imagine Fioranelli will be dumb enough to try that with Almeyda...he's his freakin life line.
Hyka ($540,000) could barely get minutes all season long, Flo ($566.000) found the bench on a few occasions, Ockford ($67,000) often played ahead of Quintana ($341,000) or Cummings ($300,000), and Partida ($54,000) found the field ahead of Qwiberg ($167,000). So, there were many occasions where Jesse's signings, (or higher paid players) sat while others found the field.
I know this is the Stahre thread, but I’m not convinced that Ralston was any better than Stahre. If the information that Leitch gave Ralston set piece responsibilities last year when Kinnear was let go is true, then that convinces me that Ralston is a poor coach. As a matter of fact, I’ve often wondered if Leitch could have ended up getting to coach last year if he would have insisted on letting Ralston go with Kinnear and bringing in someone like Troy Dayak as assistant coach to work on Quakes set pieces and defensive responsibilities. Last year’s team was SO SOFT in dead ball situations and if they had been just average they would have had more points and MUCH better goal differential.
The only reason Magnus played late in the season was to see if he could catch fire and entice another team to pick him up. No way he gets picked up by sitting on the bench and I'm sure the Quakes FO realized he was not cutting it in MLS. There was very little intention by any of the coaching staff to play him, it was all on the FO.
This is incoherent. The FO realized Magnus couldn't cut it in MLS but insisted on playing him, anyway? I understand the supposed rationale was that he would "catch fire" and therefore be marketable to other MLS teams, but the rationale is equally incoherent. If he couldn't cut it in MLS, he couldn't catch fire. And, of course, he didn't. The more plausible theory is that the FO and/or the coaches thought much more highly of Eriksson than the fans. Someone was deluded in the Quakes organization. We just don't know who or how many or if they're still around.
I agree with your more plausible theory but it does seem they are trying to deal him out to another club. At what point did they finally realize he's not what the team needs? Or maybe it's Magnus who realized he's not thriving here and asked to get out?
The rumors are Eriksson is going back to Sweden, where it seems the competition is less stiff. I doubt any other MLS team would have interest.