Garth Lagerwey Face-Face Chat with Fans 2/28/2008

Discussion in 'Real Salt Lake' started by Deuce, Feb 27, 2008.

  1. Deuce

    Deuce Member

    Nov 16, 2004
    Utah
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Garth's travel schedule allows him to spend 24 hours in Utah between England and Argentina, and we would like to make him accessible to the fans ...
    We will be @ the Applebees in Fort Union @
    7045 South 1300 East

    6:00 pm
    All ages welcome!

    As always... If you can't make it and have a question for Garth please forward them to me at AYL Soccer and i will make sure they get asked.

    The audio from the Q & A will be posted on AYL Soccer
     
  2. ajr_RSL

    ajr_RSL Member

    Sep 26, 2007
    Mesa, Az
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States



    They should of done it at Chilis. "Chili's is the new golf course. It's where business happens." Michael Scott
     
  3. kirsoccer

    kirsoccer BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 29, 2007
    I may have to choose between this and tomorrow's practice. Decisions, decisions.
     
  4. rslfanboy

    rslfanboy Member+

    Jul 24, 2007
    Section 26
    Let Deuce do the talking and go to practice. Do you want to carpool to practice? I'm in Sandy? You can pm me or respond here and i'll pm you to work out specifics. I'd like to save the $5 in gas.
     
  5. mr. slick

    mr. slick Member

    Oct 6, 2006
    Section 26
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I may actually get to make it this time. I'm working right near there tomorrow, and who would have thought the stars would align in my favor? Pretty excited to meet anyone, so say hi and introduce yourselves, please.
     
  6. RCB_Sparky

    RCB_Sparky New Member

    Jan 27, 2008
    SLC
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Is the practice tomorrow open to the public?
     
  7. neophyte

    neophyte Member

    Sep 15, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    A nice hour-plus chat with Garth tonight at Applebee's. Still not the ideal setting, with servers walking down the middle of the room constantly, and a little hard to hear in the back. A little more than a dozen in attendance, including Trey Fitzgerald and a few FO staff.
    A few highlights that stick out in my mind:
    -- Garth feels that they've filled most of the roster needs. Very excited about having Kenny D. as a back-to-goal big man.
    --Cordoba has not lived up to expectations yet, but they are hopeful he will settle in.
    --Indra found his groove at the end of the Florida camp and lost his mysterious jet-lag. His chances to make the team are good, if he retains the good form from last week.
    --They are happy with having some "veterans" such as Dema, Kenny D., Javier and Ian Joy to provide leadership and stability to the crop of very talented younger players.
    --Yura, Fabian and Robbie have been impressive this year and show lots of talent up front.
    --When asked what he brings as a player, Kenny D. looked puzzled and told Garth, "I just score goals". They had been tracking his form in the SPL as well as Gretna's precarious position in the table, so they could get him when the time was right. There was no transfer fee for him, and he was able to come because the MLS transfer window is still open, even though the European transfer window closed Jan 31.
    --The coaching staff all reviewed his tapes and were all in agreement to bring him on; Garth went over to handle the contract negotiations, which went much quicker than expected.
    --Roster was finalized today. Players will be notified in the next few days, before the team leaves for Rosario. They will be taking 24 players to Argentina (3 away to US U-23 camp, Besagno home injured) plus Indra as the only trialist.
    --RSL used up about 80% of its allocation money in buying players. This puts them "about 25% over the salary cap" and leaves room to buy one or two more players if needed.
    --RSL has submitted a formal request to have one of its international player spots restored, since they traded away YI spots that have since become basically SI spots; Garth not very hopeful that they will get a positive response.
    --RSL has submitted a request to the people in Scotland to license an official RSL tartan; no word on whether we'll have kilts with RSL shield, "Deuchar" or "Joy" on them ;)
    --Beckerman's injury is being taken very seriously so it has time to heal and won't be a nagging problem throughout the season; Talley's toe is bothering him some
    --Games will be played against both Rosario Central and Newell's Old Boys, as well as a second division Argentine team; Garth will be scouting in Buenos Aires, Argentina and possibly Porto Alegre, Brazil while the team is in Rosario.
    --Garth also asked for fan patience in the early season with so many new players trying to gel as a team; my response was that I thought the fans would be very happy as long as we see the team give their all on the pitch, win or lose.
    --Team strategies for this year include a high level of fitness to push the opponent in the final half hour, especially at home, and ball possession and control, especially in midfield.
    -- Garth was very positive about our defense and goalkeeper lineups, hopeful about our forwards now that Kenny D. is there to complement the smaller, faster guys with technical skills, and said the midfield is a little up in the air right now, with Talley and Beckerman injured, Cordoba under-performing, Dema new to the team, and Williams coming off a very strong preseason.

    Those who were also there, please fill in the gaps (or correct the mistakes).
    There are also rumors about some format changes on the AYL podcast to speed up the pace of the conversation... I will be checking it out tomorrow.
     
  8. USAHammerFan

    USAHammerFan Member

    Mar 20, 2007
    Sandy, UT
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Thanks for the recap Neophyte. Repped
     
  9. Deuce

    Deuce Member

    Nov 16, 2004
    Utah
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
  10. kirsoccer

    kirsoccer BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 29, 2007
    This was a pretty good event. However, many of the questions had been answered before. A few tidbits picked up.

    Group being sent to Argentina includes all of the rookies. The group is as follows:

    Garth indicated this group all have been offered contracts, except Indra who is still on trial.

    SALARY CAP
    Apparantly we had to report to the league how much of our allocation $$$ we will use to buy down the cap in order to get under this. It sounds like when we did this we left room in case we sign someone else. We have used a significant amount of the allocation $$.

    Matias Cordoba
    Garth reiterated that he is a very talented player, but has been a disappointment to this point in camp. Garth seemed optimistic that he would turn this around.

    Any further additions?
    It sounds like there is one potential move that could happen (I think this was outside of Indra). However, Garth was clear that we now need to give the team time to come together. This will be a major focus of the Argentina trip.

    Deuchar
    Garth thought this was a very important signing, and we had to rush to get this done because several European teams were vying for his services as his team gets closer to relegation. However, Garth said that he will need to adjust to our style, and we will likely need to adjust to him as well.

    Expectations
    Making the playoffs is an expectation, but if we don't it's not necessarily a sign that the season wasn't successful. With the huge turnover in our roster we need to be patient. What we do expect is improvement, and effort.
     
  11. neophyte

    neophyte Member

    Sep 15, 2004
    Salt Lake City
    One more thing that Garth mentioned was that Javier Morales, Matias Mantilla and Fabian Espindola have all worked hard on their English and are currently able to communicate well with the team and understand the coaching staff as they discuss tactics, etc. (Even though they might struggle over the phone, for example.) Olave and Cordoba do not speak English. Nunez is fully bilingual and can translate during practices for those who don't speak English. And Ian Joy can translate for Kenny Deuchar (or for the team when Kenny speaks). I thought Kenny was pretty clear on the podcast, but I've been practicing my Scottish by listening to Kenny Hassan on World Soccer Daily podcasts (and watching So I Married and Axe Murderer).
    Bring on the RSL tartan scarves and flags...
     
  12. RedDevil013

    RedDevil013 Member

    Aug 1, 2006
    Ogden
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    This kind of talk, this early, doesn't sound good to me. It almost sounds like this season will be another pre-season. Arn't a couple of our big signings only loans. So if we don't adjust soon, they will be gone next season and we will have to adjust again next year. I am hoping for the best... but I don't like them talking about if the results arn't there, its not a bad thing, already in the year.

    Also the Cordoba news seems bad to me too. At least we overloaded in the midfield some, so we might see be ok if he turns into an expensive bench warmer... From the recaps anyway, this honestly took a little bit of my optimism away...:(
     
  13. RSL Fortaleza Menina

    Jan 27, 2006
    global
    Zzzzz.....

    Culture Of Defeat v4.0

    What bullshit. :mad:

    Get ready for another 6 months of Kreis' perpetual pre-season.
     
  14. kirsoccer

    kirsoccer BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 29, 2007
    I think this is Garth being pretty savvy actually. I think the pressure is on Jason and on the players. I think they all feel it. The competition for starting spots = competition for your jobs. They have set up a culture of competition, and high expectations. But they have driven this down to a day-to-day, everything you do kind of expectation, instead of one that is out in the somewhat distant future (playoffs). A "playoffs or bust" directive is not needed, everyone in the organization knows that this is where we need to get to.

    To interpret this as a season of low expectations or a "culture of defeat" is a mistake in my mind.
     
  15. 4Foosball

    4Foosball Member

    Aug 16, 2006
    Dallas
    Club:
    Liverpool FC
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    1) I don't take the attitude of patience by Garth as a BAD thing. Let's put this in perspective...if Garth comes out with a "We're gonna kill everybody" he's hung himself before the season started AND everybody thinks he's an a**hole. Put a target on his and our back....see Mr. Lalas in L.A. Also, how often does Tiger say he's gonna destroy the field at this weekends PGA event....more often than not it's "I feel good, the competition is tough, we'll see how it goes". Cautious optimism is ALWAYS A GOOD IDEA.

    2) If we have officially recognized Scottish kilts, I'll be first in line!!! THIS WOULD BE UNBELIEVABLE!!!! - but doesn't it fly in the face of the Real Madrid partnership? Too bad we're not the Highlanders!

    3) Anyone going down to the meet & great for season ticket holders tomorrow?
     
  16. RSL Fortaleza Menina

    Jan 27, 2006
    global
    We'll see. But this club has not been well-served by the whole "take the pressure off ourselves" mantra. Mere "effort & improvement" might cut it in the orange-wedge youth leagues, but not at the top-flight professional level. You might not like to hear this, but those code words really are the very vocabulary of The Culture Of Defeat. I'm sorry to be blunt.

    The patience Garth/Jason need to be appealing for is from Mr. Checketts & Mr. Pace--not from the die-hard fans. At some point, even they will start demanding accountability.

    Enough with this insipid, self-serving "savvy" expectations management garbage. Let's quit mincing words...

    Win. Now. Or immediately bring in management that can.
     
  17. kirsoccer

    kirsoccer BigSoccer Supporter

    Jun 29, 2007
    Let's put it this way - I'm guessing that there are a set of expectations for public consumption and a set of internal expectations.
     
  18. jeito

    jeito Member

    Mar 24, 2005
    Salt Lake City
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I agree 100%. As fans, we need a team we can have some pride in. Being the bottom dwelling, league doormat can only be "joked" about for so long, at least for me. It's time to win now. Who cares if there are lots of new players, they APPEAR to be lots of better players than we previously had. Playoffs now.
     
  19. RedDevil013

    RedDevil013 Member

    Aug 1, 2006
    Ogden
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    For me, and this is coming from a person who has recently been on RSLFM's case for being negative, this is a bad sign... So far, they have been talking about how much we are improving. How we are bringing in all the right pieces. Now, they are giving them selves a way out which makes it seem like they are no longer confident. It almost sounds like they are telling us not to get pissed if the results are there yet again this year. Which I am sorry, but thats the same thing we have always heard. I try to be as positive as possible for the upcoming season. I can't wait to see all the new players. Maybe we are reading way too much into this, but I don't like the sudden attitude change from we are getting better and going to be good, to it may not happen this year.
     
  20. TapocoL

    TapocoL Member

    Feb 7, 2007
    Bay Area, CA
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    Big surprise that Garth would come out saying to give them time. I expect him to not make any mention of giving them time or crushing the opposition. The only thing I think should be focused on is making the playoffs. Not making sure the fans will give them time, if they don't play well early on. I think now it gives the fans something to worry about. Maybe RSL is looking to just knock out all this optimism, so as to not totally shock us when they come out of the gates with a 1 Point going in to May.
     
  21. stucknutah

    stucknutah Member+

    Feb 14, 2002
    In the Office
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    I agree that this was an unfortunate misstep on Garth's part...

    With one slip, he reintroduced the Culture of Defeatism that had begun to prevail at RSL.

    What he needed to say is what he has consistently said all pre-season..."we weren't good enough last year in any sense of the word...we will be better this year...our front office will be more responsive...our players will be more fit and focused...our talent wil be upgraded...our coaches will be better prepared. We will make it our 100% goal across this organization to make this a team and organization that will make our fans proud to be fans of RSL."

    Period...stop...no cop-out. No stupid comments like what Ellinger kept saying where he overpromised. No "we need to give our team time to mesh" crap. Manage the expectations that you can manage (effort and organization) and put those you can't control out of the picture.

    How's this Garth..."It has been suggested that 'Luck is where preparation meets effort'. If we continue to put 100% of our effort in to doing things the right way, the results will take care of themselves."
     
  22. Deuce

    Deuce Member

    Nov 16, 2004
    Utah
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    I am curious if people listened to the audio from last night? It is linked earlier in this thread.

    I was there and while I heard him say that fans need to be patient, I am wondering if people may just be looking for things to be overly critical about.

    Just a thought anyway... so flame away!
     
  23. mr. slick

    mr. slick Member

    Oct 6, 2006
    Section 26
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    I think I heard him say to be patient until May-ish… or did I just midunderstand? I think he was saying that we can, and should, expect the team to "be gelled" by then. I really don't think he was paving the way for excuses at all. Just asking us to test our patience for just a little so all the new faces can really get used to each other.

    On another note, only 29 days left! :D
     
  24. RealSandy

    RealSandy Member

    Aug 15, 2006
    Sandy
    Club:
    Real Salt Lake
    Nat'l Team:
    United States
    How long have we been patient for?
     
  25. Bobby Boucher

    Bobby Boucher New Member

    Jul 6, 2007
    The Garthmiester strikes again. C’mon guys, just because we don’t make the playoffs don’t mean the season wasn’t successful. Don't be so overly critical!

    I forget, someone please tell me why we play this game anyway.

    Deucie, what flavor was that Kool-aid?
     

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