No, this is actually falsifiable by Curtis staying at the team for a longer period of time. I do not trust Red Bull. I think they're liars, with warrant.
I had been wondering for a while about how he stacked up to Backe and I finally looked it up. He did have a better regular season PPG than Backe did, by .03 (1.6 vs 1.57). And he did win them their first piece of hardware in 2012. However, he only managed 2 more points in 2013 than Backe did in 2012 when the team finished tied for 3rd in the East and 4th overall. In terms of winning a play-off game at home, well he has Backe there. So if Backe wasn't deemed to be performing at an acceptable level, there is a chance that they viewed Petke as not doing as good of a job as the fans thought he was. Do I think he should have been fired? Nope. But I thought it was strange they let Backe go considering where he took the team compared to where it was for the years prior. Of course, it could just be that Henry carried both those coaches to such heights.
I would say the sale of the Astros is up there. The team was gutted and any players of value traded off. The farm teams were allowed to go fallow. They went in with the Rockets to create an RSN that was so jacked up in structure that they had to command a per subscriber fee that no carrier would ever pay. Then the commissioner would only allow a sale if the buyer agreed to allow the team to be moved to the AL. Then you get the new owner who would except no offers for carriage(other than Comcast, the partner, thus leaving less than 40% of the Houston metro without coverage) and who refuses to get any players worth a damn (actually said that if the fans wanted to give him a check for something like $130M he would go get some players). The team is so bad that last year Jim McIngvale, who owns local Gallery Furniture (a local institution), had a promo that if the Astros lost less than 100 games he would give people free furniture.
Petke was thrown into the head coaching role without being able to put his personnel stamp on the team that first season (point 1)....Thierry Henry was that much older when Petke had him than he was under Backe (point 2). Not to mention, I wonder if Petke was paid anything close to what Backe was? At every turn, Petke outperformed Backe, and likely for less money. Montreal was OK under Jesse Marsch, but the idea that he was so worth getting (even though no one else thought so--he wasn't even in coaching) that RBNY had to fire the most successful coach in its history and a team icon is just absurd. For Bruce Arena...sure. For Sigi Schmid....maybe. For Jesse "12-17-7" Marsch? It really is no wonder why no one takes what Ali Curtis says at face value.
I have no idea how credible this is, but Petke to TFC? http://soccerazo.com/toronto-fc-em-conversacoes-com-mike-petke/
http://www.seeingredny.com/2015/01/episode-196-live-call-in-with-mike-petke.html Seeing Red! covering Petkegate with a live call-in show... Coach Petke called but didn't feel comfortable discussing his firing yet...called mainly to thank the fans... Lot's of incensed callers... 15,000 listeners live and who knows how many more over the next few days... de Grandpre /Ali C / and Marsch will have an extremely high bar in front of 300 fans (and again who knows how many more will show up) on Friday night... This situation has legs...
Wasn't Mike Petke's old Metros jersey number 12? Seems ripe for an ongoing 12th minute observance/protest. Maybe silence. Maybe a specific song. Don't know. Just something ongoing to remind the Red Bull FO that they fcuked up, and fcuked up badly.
Odd, haven't seen this anywhere, looks like they just published it. The title says they are in talks with him, but the article itself only says he is "in their view / está na mira", though my Portuguese is elementary and maybe that phrase is stronger than it appears. They cite themselves, so I don't know...
If he wants to stay in coaching, Toronto would be a good place. I think they're gonna have more stability in the future than in the past. Other than that, I think he'd be a damn good color commentator on TV. Would glady take him over Shep, sight unseen.
There was a follow-up story from this on MLS... and I agree it does have legs. Former New York Red Bulls coach Mike Petke thanks fans during emotional podcast interview Not many former MLS coaches would go on a team podcast a week after being fired -- but Mike Petke is not like most coaches. The former New York Red Bulls' boss appeared to got emotional as he spoke on the Red Bulls' fan podcast "Seeing Red" on Monday, his first public comments since he was let go by the club last week. "I just wanted to call in to tell everybody thank you so much," Petke said, his voice momentarily wavering as he spoke. "You've been my heart and soul for a long time. And that's something that I'll never forget, no matter what happens." http://www.mlssoccer.com/news/artic...-mike-petke-thanks-fans-during-emotional-podc
Context is important. Backe wasn't fired, they just didn't give him a new contract. As a fan I am personally very appreciative of him. He took the team from a laughingstock back to (on-field) respectability immediately. However, I think it was pretty reasonable to evaluate that sitution, thank him for his work, and decide to go in a different direction. They team basically did the same thing for 4 years, and dropped multiple playoff series under Backe when being favorites. If you aspire to win trophies, it seems logical to replace him. Unfortunately Red Bull didn't really seem to have a plan for replacing him - and Petke ended up being thrown in at the last minute. The guy had no head coaching experience, and was probably making a lot less. Even still they won the Supporter's Shield in his first season, and made the playoffs again in his second (with the same aging rosters as the year before except for downgrades at a few positions). The expectations have to be different if you go cheap and inexperienced at coach. Even still, Petke exceeded any reasonable expectations for his tenure. He would have made sense to hang onto if the team was focusing on a youth movement or building more of an MLS core in the team. The fact that they now seem willing to spend money really angers me, because last off-season we could have made 2-3 relatively minor moves and greatly increased our chances of winning MLS Cup. Instead they decided to stand pat with an aging roster that was screaming for reinforcements. 2014 always had the "one last run at this thing (with Henry)" feel to it, yet the front office just sat on their hands. Ultimately I don't know what the hell the front office is up to. Their actions overall for the last few years are schizophrenic. I figured this was going to be the year they moved on without Henry and Cahill, cleared out all the dead weight, did their salary cap penance, and began slowly rebuilding for the long-term.
They're polar opposite kind of coaches. Backe was an X's and O's guy who had the team pinging the ball around for fun, but relied too heavily on old legs and couldn't get the team fired up when it mattered. Petke, even if he still catching up tactically, is a guy that his players will fight to the last second for. In MLS, I think the winning mentality matters more than the whiteboard. One big difference though is that Backe got to see out his full 3 year contract, and stagnated. Three straight conference semi-final exits and not even an attempt made at other competitions (he skipped the 2011 Open Cup game for no reason). Petke, while being strung along with short contract extensions, was still able to take a step forward as a coach and achieve something he hadn't the year before. At the end of last season I would have argued in favor of giving him a long term contract, I never thought he wouldn't even get one more year to prove himself.
It should be a fun one with the planned protest and shirt giveaway. http://www.redbullout.com/ #RedBullOut
http://www.bigapplesoccer.com/teams/redbulls2.php?article_id=39899 Now a billboard... Wondering if that Jason Ader guy is financing a lot of this... If so or even if not but just with what he's already done so far he's likely the last person MLS would let into its ownership group... And yes should be a hot time at the Arena tomorrow night...
http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/soccer/red-bulls-fans-calling-ownership-change-article-1.2080630 I think this is fascinating, and I am eager to see how far the Metro supporters go with this. Is every game going to be a massive protest against Red Bull? That'd be a hell of a thing. If they really pulled it off en masse, dominated the stadium atmosphere, and committed to it for the long term, I'd expect that Red Bull would be forced to sell the team. It would no longer make sense for their brand. And I say Metro supporters deliberately. I think they do -- and will -- too.
I actually saw the photo somewhere else and posted it here, so no sorry is necessary. I can't speak for whoever took it, but I'm sure they'd be happy to see it spread around. I'll certainly credit it too if I find out who took it.
As someone who also would love to see their ownership group "out", I fully support what RedBull fans are doing. But I'm interested in what their short-term and long-term goals are. Is it just to get RedBull to sell the team? Because that would be a very ambitious goal and I just don't see it happening. My next question is what if Marsch actually has success in year 1, given the roster and expectations I'd say getting past the first round of the playoffs pretty good. If Marsch, without someone of Henry's caliber, can make this a playoff team does that have any effect on the protest?