The lads have hit the links, the supporters are hitting the bottle and the leaves are turning. Once again DCU meekly ends the season outside the generous playoff line. Time for all gripes, suggestions and suitable punishments for Kasper, Rushton, Mairs, Levien and Kaplan to be concentrated here. First order of business: Fire Kasper, Rushton and Mairs Second order of business: find some legal loophole that permits the deportation of Levien and Kaplan Third order of business: rinse and repeat #1 and 2. Fourth order of business: fix and complete the damn roof
The DC FO should be forced to start threads here on BS.com and answer every post within one hour... Moderation would not be allowed...
Much as Shammy likes to beat the Rooney dead horse, I think Griffin hit the nail on the head with #1 and #2. I wouldn’t object to Wayne being shown the door by a new management team, but that’s got to be the first step, or we’re stuck in Spoonland for good.
No doubt. I'm as left wing as any but even I can admit that DC United's best years were when they were owned by a right wing Colorado plutocrat.
I have to disagree. George Soros was the owner when United won 3 of its 4 MLS Cups, 2 Supporters Shields, 1 US Open Cup, and both International trophies, not Philip Anschutz.
We're not going to fire Rooney. I am just making a point that Rooney is not some bright spot in an otherwise disgraceful history of bad decisions. He's shown absolutely no indication that he is highly motivated here or even competent and he absolutely will not be given resources to succeed. He's a distraction and it's worked to some degree. Meanwhile Columbus fired Caleb Porter because he only got them more than double our points on the season, lol.
Columbus is a better run organization. They fire coaches because of results. We fire coaches to cover for decades long FO ineptitude. If you have a good organization you can be taken seriously when you fire coaches for underperforming. When you are shit and your FO is shit you have to distract with the new shiny.
Ruh, Roh. Will the team respond to Rooney the same as Losada... “I hope you’re fit when you come back for preseason,” he said. “We can’t afford to waste time getting them fit. … If they do the work, they will be ready to go straight into football. If they don’t, it will be difficult for them.”
Questions the Manager and FO won't answer but would be relevant to how we move forward: - Mr. Rooney, how would you assess your performance since you came in? - Mr. Ronney, would you say the issues of lack of success are related to not being able to communicate and understand the game plan or the players' inability to implement the game plan or the challenge of playing your style in MLS? - Mr. Rooney, what is your role for in game management? - Mr. Rooney, given the restrictions in MLS regarding salaries, transfers, trades, drafts, academies, and reserve teams, where do you believe the team can secure players that are better than the current group? - Mr. Rooney, what do you expect to accomplish next season? - FO, how would you assess. Mr. Rooney's performance as manager? - FO, what do you hope to get out of him with only one season in his contract? - FO, what are the biggest challenges to developing long-term success at DC United?
Holding a mirror in front of the Front Office while asking this question is a must. The mirror should have a picture of the ownership group on it too!
So far radio silence from the FO and no rumors floated by Goff or Maurer. Meanwhile, C-bus fired Porter who had a winning record during his time at the club. Today, Paulson "fired" himself as CEO of the Timbers and Thorns (as well he should given the criminal handling of both the Riley and Polo affairs). At least in some corners of the league there is accountability for results or lack of leadership. Instead we have the Director of Soccer Operations for Life who, apparently, is omniscient and omnipotent. What a shitshow.
I think our FO made clear that the issue was not with our Soccer Operations. They gave us all the players and tools we needed to be successful. They said so. Why would we not believe them.
I think the emphasis here is in entirely the wrong place. For the record, Shammy and I do not disagree on his assessment of Wayne’s performance as manager. The numbers speak for themselves. Shammy thinks that literally any schmuck off the street would have done better. His entire beef seems to be that Wayne Rooney was the worst manager on the worst team in the worst league in the history of the world. For a variety of reasons, I think that’s slightly overstated. Slightly. Certainly within easy spitting distance, but still. The question in my mind was: could we turn this thing around, put in some good performances, and dodge the Spoon? That question’s been answered firmly in the negative. My point, and I defy anyone to point to a scintilla of evidence otherwise, is not that any schmuck could have done better, rather it’s that Pep ********ing Guardiola couldn’t win with this team, and more importantly, he’s too smart to try. NO ONE — and I mean exactly that — no one wins with this front office in place. The question to the front office should be: Why do any of you have a job? Why are you here? Why haven’t you taken yourself to the nearest available volcano and sacrificed yourself to the football gods in expiation of your blatant sins against all that is right and proper? You can question Wayne’s sanity in taking this job — and you should — but don’t deny that the deck was stacked against him from the start. He may well indeed be the worst manager on the worst team in the worst league since time began. But his results would — and will — be indistinguishable from anybody else. Yes, Chad had us on a trajectory to earn more points. We were still winning the Spoon. Worse than rock bottom isn’t indicative of anything. It’s just piling on.
I see your point but those aren't questions you could expect a reasonable journalist to ask and no one would answer. I wanted to put together questions that should be asked of the team.
Ok. But since you’re not expecting your own questions to be answered, I thought I’d put forward some of the questions I’d like to ask. Since our expectations for answers aren’t high, why not?
I had the same thought as I wrote my response... Mostly, I didn't want to come off as an unhinged Internet Nut...