http://www.mlsnet.com/content/03/dal0915jeffries.html I agree on both counts. Funny they did this before our match against Chicago. Go figure. Probably getting drunk in Germany with Jefe. It's too bad they didn't do this earlier. Let the Colin Clarke era begin.
Perhaps this well-deserved sacking will open the door for other coaching replacements (preferably involving other teams owned by Lamar).
I never heard he was a friend of Bruce before. When he was in New Orleans he trained with the Burn for pre-season, then went to Chicago as assistant coach for Bob Bradley. I don't think he ever worked with or for Bruce. He had potential to be a good coach, but I don't think he was ready for the job. Good luck Mike.
Saving face and putting the team first is not your cup of tea is it jeffries. If you would have resigned at mid season so another coach could have tried to get them to the playoffs that would have showed some class. Goodbye jeffries and good riddance!
Maybe, just maybe, HSG got a whiff of some of the heat coming off these boards from hardcore, season ticket buying fans that wanted Jeffries gone. Now maybe, just maybe, they'll be open to suggestions for improving the "intimate experience' at Dragon Stadium next year: Yellow chalk on the field turf to complete the missing soccer lines. General Admission moved to the South stands, OR the entire South stands turned into GA like at the Cotton Bowl. Beer sales in a Club Tent with Unicard passes required for admittance. NO HIGH SCHOOL BANDS! Allowing home made banners to be hung off railings "Freedom of (verbal) Expression"
This is good for the team, but if we could have made a change 3 games ago and got some wins, capitailzing on KC and LA sucking, then we'd be in the playoff hunt. Oh well, lets just kick Shitcago's ass!
Oddly enough, having been through a Publis Imperitus coach sacking myself (Rongen, the poor sod), I think your message boards and public opinions really did have a role in Jeffries biting the bullet. Hope you're happy. Sadly, MLS is enormously tough to coach given the salary cap and vicious roster restrictions, etc. I don't think Jefferies was the sole extent of your problems, nor do I think your personal purgatory will end just yet. This year was a "perfect storm" (very apt that) of difficulties and Jefferies and Smith will be made to pay for that. Colin Clarke is a fine coach judging from what I saw of what he'd done in Richmond, but you better give him some slack (or the next new coach some slack, whatever) as you've got more than a small pit to dig out of. For me, I'm sad for MLS coaches as this league really tends to grind up good coaches mainly due to vicious restrictions on a coaches control over their "team". Good Luck to You all, Clarke, and Jeferies.
If Jeffries was not "the man" to coach this team in Frisco 2005 then any time he spent as Head Coach in 2004 would have been a waste of time for the Burn franchise. After the Bring a Paper Bag to the Game Night I offered that this team has only 2 wins left in them this season. I still stand by that. But I'm glad that HSG has realized they can tackle running Buck-A-Braut Night and are finally starting to make the changes necessary to turn this team into contendors. Win or lose, I'll actually have something to cheer about at a game on the 20th!
I guess we got what we wanted. It remains to be seen if it will actually make a difference. And as much as I wanted this to happen, I cannot help but feel a bit sad at the same time. This was the guy who was supposed to push us into MLS Cup and we all had high hopes when he got here. And up until game 24 or so last season, things looked pretty good. Part of my disappointment is that I am sure Mike Jefferies is a good guy and that HSG had as big a hand in his failing as he himself did. So, we got what we wanted...I just hope it makes us as happy as we thought it would.
You may be sad-happy now, but I have been sad-sad ever since the team renewed Jeffries contract last off-season. HSG did deal Jeffries a set circumstances that were less than ideal, but as I suspected back then, he did not have the capacity to rise to the challenge; just like he never was able to rise to the challenge of being the best last year. This was one of the steps that HSG had to take. Season ticket holders have been calling them saying that there is no way that they would buy season tickets in 04. HSG message about 05 in Frisco has been reciprocated by many fans with a polite "call me back and 05 and might consider it". HSG baby steps towards recapturing the fans. First of many, we hope. Next step is finding the next Andy Swift (not the GM version, the Latino liason version). And in the reaching for the stars category is "Back to the Bowl for 04".
This is a great post...but I gotta wonder why you think Nhleko will be seen as surplus. He's obviously a fine player who works hard, seems to have a good disposition and makes other players around him better. That's an asset to any team, and I'd think any MLS coach would like to keep this guy around.
Everyone seems to regard this as a good/necessary thing, but it seems to me that our players still suck. At some point my opinion of our players is going to change from "they are just low on confidence" to "they honestly suck". When does that happen? I think the guy who made the "perfect storm" comment was right on. Jefferies did his share of sucking and it is 100% just that he has to go. But there is a whole lot of sucking happening all over the field.
An e-mail from a friend of mine as we conversed about the "firing": "...but the whole organization did a piss poor job with everything this year. I am not getting season tickets for next season. Thank you, HSG." Nest season would have been his 4th year as a season ticket holder. Another guy who makes the drive from Austin.
About "you-know-what" time. Good luck Colin. Unfortunately, you aint the answer. We need something better to turn this puppy around. And does this mean we can get Swift back now? With no real marketing budget, he had doubled season tickets and sponsorship before HSG took the team to Sucklack. If Swift doesn't un-resign, then we need someone that can get the numbers back up and beyond what they were in Frisco. Then we'll be set. Ok HSG, get moving ....
Schellas Hyndman and Ramon with the #1 draft pick! Why, not 3rd? You often praise SMU's organization and ability when they scrimmage the Burn. Just don't think he can make the jump to the pro game? Wouldn't work well with pro players? So, does this mean that MJ sticks around and uses that Tulane MBA as the new GM? Can't see HSG springing for a new coach and a new GM at the same time. I guess they don't have much choice now, though.
A tribute to "Don't let the guy who hired me be my boss" is fulfilled at the strangest level where Jeffries is concerned. He brings in quality, interesting players... and then mismanages; or doesn't manage them at all. Take Davis, for instance. Jeffries was the main reason why Brad became Burn, but Jeffries then proceeded to take Brad out, the leading scorer and playmaker on the team, mind you - of every game that the Burn needed more scoring. Paradox 101 Look, some people are good at scouting and harnessing quality assets for an organization, but does that mean they're truly qualified to control and exact the most production from them? Seems to me there are certain responsibilities within multilevel organizations that must be separated.... Unless, of course, you want to be perceived as "cheap", or just plain ignorant of the needs of professionally run organizations. For this, I blame HSG, which was reportedly making these kinds of decisions when Jeffries was brought in. And, yeah, if you talk to some fans in other HSG markets, they might have similar stories to tell. But, whether this change can be attributed to the timing of the Chicago game and a quasi-committment to hardcore fans (hey, it may seem to HSG right now, that the only fans that are sticking with the team, are the hardcore fans), or they just said "enough is enough, already" - It does inspire some hope in fans that there may be something to latch on to during these hopeless days as non-contenders for the gold. Now, Burn fans have a chance to reignite the passion that previously existed prior to the league squashing (IMO) the fantastic rivalry between Chicago and Dallas. Will Burn fans reach an even deeper depth of despair if the Fire Scorch the Burn'ed team of today? Doubt it. After all, it might actually push the sword home on what has been the worst imageinable nighmare-of-a-season. Then it would just be ... Romantic.