AMEN!!!! I'd also like to add that the original deal for the stadium's naming rights were F..ed up bigtime and also like to point out how many people in the area wasn't aware of Toyota Park that first season. I've given Guppy his props in the past when I think he's done well - sent emails and have received the responses but I'll be damn if I start singing high praises to him when we barely made the playoffs this season and when there's still so much more to do considering that we have our own stadium. We 're still without local English Radio coverage and or a Weekly Show Radio/TV show and please don't talk about the college radio station that people in the Front Office can barely pick up. The place wasn't sold out for the Celtic match which should have been an easy one coupled with the fact that it was Blanco's first match at Toyota Park. People continue to complain about services at the stadium (I haven't experienced those problems) and I can go on and on. Hopefully in the future what was said at the beginning of this thread can be up for serious debate but he's got some work to do before he can be compared to PW. PW did hell of alot more with alot less money. Nowak, Kubik came under PW's call, I don't have that faith in Guppy to assume he could have done the same his first season. You may not like PW but don't let that cloud your judgement when looking at the facts. Why is this even a discussion thread? Shakes his head Fonsos
Alexei Lalas was in the way? Up here in civilization, we call them women. fyp Bradley/Wilt League Record: 82-54-15 273gf, 200ga Postseason: 13-9-2 37gf, 25ga. 2 Finals, 1 Championship Open Cup: 12-3-0 31gf, 14ga. 2 finals, 2 championships CONCACAF: 4-2-1 10gf, 6ga. Bradley/Sakiewietz League Record: 32-31-26 134gf, 135ga. Postseason: 0-3-1 1gf, 7ga. no finals. Open Cup: 4-3-0 14gf, 11ga. one final (lost to Wilt/Sarachan) CONCACAF: did not qualify looks like Bradley did a bit better with Wilt, doesn't it? nice argument though, braintrust.
How has Wilt done without Bradley? What is Peter's soccer background? It's not in on field soccer. He's been a publicity guy and front office guy. He doesn't scout. He wouldn't recognize a talented soccer player if the guy bounced a ball into his cujones! He's just a beer swilling front office hack popular with a bunch of drunken euro-wannabees 'cause he drinks with them.
So the Fire barely get into the play offs and we are suppsoed to say sorry to Guppy? Never. Wilt for President
karlheinz, you are a worthless troll. PW's record is about as good as any GM could ever hope to have, so I won't bother defending him since his track record is phenomenally better then Guppy's. My question is, apologize for what? The only difference between what Alexai Lalas and Guppy accomplished this year is that Guppy's team managed to win on Sunday. Why is Guppy getting a free pass for the awful team we had for the first months of the season? We barely scraped into the playoffs, but we would have been a top seed if not for the truly awful months following the "best start in team history". Congrats to Guppy for getting Blanco and for making the right move with Osorio who got us Conde. Still I have no doubts that if PW had the same funds available to Guppy this year he would have done better then 8th place. Just my hunch seeing that when Guppy was ruining a franchise in NY, PW was creating an MLS Cup contender here. Guppy may have saved his ass from being fired, but what exactly should anyone apologize to him for?
Wilt never struck me as a great team builder, i think since he was the GM in 98 on he deserves some credit, but others had a great deal of input in crafting those good Fire sides form 98-03. He also had his fair share of stinkers too that he gets part of the credit for. What he was very good at was forstering the right culture within the organization for success, much like Payne did in DC. That is his great legacy, IMO. That probably had as much to do with the team's success as the other things that Bradley was point man for. Unfortunatly his grass roots style isnt what most these big pocket investor/owners are looking for and in some respects it was his cavalier persona that was loved by the fans that probably ended up being his undoing. I'm not sure if i was staring a new team if i would want him as a GM, but i definatly would want his as president of fan services or vice-general manager if such a position exists. EDIT: Oh yeah and as a NY fan Guppy would be the last guy i would want in charge of my team. He wasn't two faced like Nick, but man that guy had some really stupid ideas and programs he tried to implement here.
How did Guppy do at filling Toyota Park before he threw $2.75 million at the problem and how will he likely do after the novelty wears off, as it invariably has in this league?
At least Guppy threw almost $3 million to make our club a great team. So far Guppy has made the smartest decision in MLS history, a player who has helped the team tremendously on and off the field. By the way it is not a novelty. I see more and more Blanco fans every game. And those fans keep coming back. The Fire were close to becoming a Colorado, Columbus, or KC before the Celtic game. A team who was playing god awful and a team that were losing a lot of fans. Now the Fire are very exciting to watch, at least when Blanco has the ball. And the stadium atmosphere has been great for every game since Celtic.
Let's see he blow the stadium sponsorship deal, got only 750,000 a year. We have NO jersey sponsor yet. Why did it take him so long to can Dave, he should have been canned long before he was. As for the Blanco signing, I bet my pay check he would have been on this team if Guppy was here or not. Shity attendance before Blanco arrived (what were we averaging 11,500), I thought he was brought here for his marketing and sales skills. So if you consider all the good things and the bad things he's done, I think he has more bad things than good things. Let's see what he does next year, by bringing in replacement players (We need a forward that could score, we need a rightsided midfielder, and he needs to start looking for somebody to replace "BLANCO" because I think next year might be his last year.
euro-wannabees!!! euro-wannabees!!! Peter Wilt is the greatest GM in the history of the league. A true man of the people, for the people, by the people...he created an atmosphere of inclusion...he had great people working with him...and they were a reflection of his leadership...it was a family. Sir John Guppy is more corporate...and not good corporate like amazon.either... The coaching staff should choose the team, scouting is best left to the man who works with the team in practice...the head coach. Bringing people together and putting the customer first, Peter Wilt was the dude. The best GM overall. And don't forget...March 30th is 'Peter Wilt Day' ...
There were NO cops or parking attendants directing traffic after the game. The exit went from 8 lanes down to 2 in no order whatsoever. It was a complete jungle********.
As well as proof that sampling the product isn't the wisest of moves. Now we got a Burn fan coming to the defense of a guy with ties to the Fire? What is this crazy world coming to? When those Blanco fans become Fire fans and continue to cheer the team once Blanco is gone, then there will be proof it isn't/wasn't a novelty. Last I checked the man didn't play 11 positions. The Fire have been exciting to watch since Blanco arrived...and Osorio took the reigns...and brought in Conde...and the team started to believe in itself.
Atleast once you got out of the parking lot they had all four lanes open on west bound on 71st. I left about 15 minutes after the game ended and got out in 10 minutes, not as bad as it looked. Still they need more people directing traffic in the parking lot, not just on 71st and Harlem Ave.
we saw one cop, sitting on his bike, near the north exit. he was just watching the jungle*******. we yelled at him "thanks for the traffic help". He yelled back laughing, "no problem."
You say "Denilson," I say "Wanchope"... let's call the whole thing off. Thank God we've got an out after this season. It is hard to deny that Wilt did better when he was in charge... for most thinking people, that is. Indeed. Maybe he'll be different from the other dog and pony shows that have come through the league, like Jorge Campos and Carlos Hermosillio and Luis Hernandez and Freddy Adu, but I doubt it. Good for the Fire that he's playing well and drawing the fans, but the fact that both things happened after Blanco arrived doesn't make Guppy any more of a genius than the Galaxy's improved form and improved attendance after Beckham's arrival makes Alexi Lalas a genius. If he were able to sell 20,000 a game with the Fire's starting 11 guys named Joe and getting hammered every week, then all apologies to Guppy would be deserved.
Thankfully for us, Chope isn't costing nearly a million dollars and a DP spot. Although NY apparently offered him that position. Lucky for Dallas that it was only a one year deal with options.
I'm sorry, but which one are you again? Both will be known for what they did, let's leave it at that.