Yes, I am angry. Rooney is a waste of time. He is gone at the end of this season and we've hired our next manager to be an assistant. We are only bothering with the Rooney time simply to be able to use his name to attract players, which I can understand because our reputation is shit. We used to be a class organization and our owners have made us more of a joke that the original Metrodonkeys. Perhaps even worse than that.
They just hired Carl Robinson as asst. I assume the poster sees him as manager in waiting as he’s already had a head coaching gig in MLS. Rooney can leave after this season and many assume he will do exactly that.
Rooney is under contract for this season only. I think there may be an option for next season too, but I doubt it will be exercised. Our newly announced assistant coach was the former head coach of Vancouver (IIRC). My guess is the only reason he took the job was to be next in line for head coach when Rooney leaves.
But Robinson tore it up in Australia as a manager -- he's the Danny Allsop of DCU managers in waiting.
He wasn't terrible. 78W-72L-49D, 1 goal difference in nearly five seasons. This isn't terrible at all, particularly for Vancouver. If you squint DC and Vancouver look a lot alike, talent-wise. Yet Olsen gets rehired and his record makes Robinson look like Sir Alex.
I don't disagree that there is plenty to be angry about...since the very beginning of the Levien era. That said, I am far less certain than you and many others seem to be about Rooney bailing after just one season. I think it's quite unlikely, in fact. While we all know he wants to manage in the EPL at some point he doesn't exactly have a convincing record as a manager yet. While he did get some scrubs to punch above their weight at Derby County he was at the helm as they were relegated, and then he left after saying he'll "stay to rebuild". Then he came here midseason last year and not only did he not get a new manager bounce with DCU but they performed worse and "won" the Wooden Spoon. For number of reasons that's not mostly on him but it's still a fact. He's a massive name as a player but EPL owners aren't stupid; they know plenty of big names have failed as managers. I think they are going to have to see evidence that he can build a club into a winner, or at the very least change the trajectory in that direction. If he can't even get his team into the all-but-the-worst MLS playoffs is someone really going to hand him the keys to a club in the biggest league in the world? Also, having left Derby prematurely right after having left DCU prematurely as a player I'd think Rooney might feel some pressure to not be seen as a guy who will bail at the first sign of a new shiny object. Lastly, while I was a skeptic when he came as a player I ended up impressed by his competitive fire. I'd have to think he still has that and really wants to turn this team around. Whether or not he can is another question, but for all those reasons I'd be really surprised if he takes off after only one full season. I could be wrong, though. Wouldn't be the first time. And I reiterate, there are plenty of reasons to be angry about how this club has been run for a long time now.
Judging purely from his press conferences, Rooney certainly wants to do better and expects the club to do better. But when you don't have the talent of true difference makers, it will remain a challenge. My belief is that Rooney expects moments like Ku-Dipietro against Toronto and Durkin against Orlando to be turned into goals. These are great moments and it is fantastic to see the team fighting to create until the final whistle. However, this is not a sustainable strategy for doing well in MLS if you continue to leak goals at the other end. If we can shore that up, then we are getting late winners instead of late consolation goals, like in New York...
I don't think Rooney's results here will have much effect on his chances at a management job in England. With the strange MLS rules, the lack of respect about the league, and the celebrity he has, owners and fans won't care about his time here. Sure it doesn't look good ever to be bottom dwellers, but I'm sure he can chalk it up to lack of talent or the ability to acquire and keep talent.
I guarantee he will go back for a Championship level team. Doesn’t have to be an EPL team. And some fool will hire him.
Of course, the irony is that right now every time some job becomes available over there, Rooney gets mentioned as a possible replacement. But if DC gets a Spoon this year, those rumors are going to dry up fast.
Absolutely this. Imagine a team fighting relegation each year bringing in the guy who can't make the MLS playoffs when half of the league gets in. His "star" has faded over the years, and people want a real coach who can keep them in the EPL. If not the Championship he could very well coach in another country though. Also, if these are the "names" Rooney is attracting at the mere cost of 2-3 million dollars of salary, then good ********ing lord our reputation sucks. I mean we have been linked with stars, but that is incredible bullshit.
Also, lol at saying Robinson would be a bad choice for DC Coach because he did poorly at Vancouver. The guy was better than Olsen across every metric- GD, possession stats, Win%- in a tougher conference. He's light years better than Rooney.
I don't think anyone is saying that about Robinson that looked past the W/L. He's had success coaching and from what I understand his scouting connections are robust.
I might, actually. Vancouver never really looked good under him. If I could waive my wand and choose a Vancouver coach for DC, it would be Marc Dos Santos.
Vancouver has never been an aesthetically pleasing team to watch for me, so fair point. They basically had Camilo go off for a season and a half and that bumped their record, but at no point did I take them seriously as a contender though others did.
LOL @ The Wiz, taking pettiness to a DCU-FO-toward-their-fans level Sporting Kansas City’s front office threatened legal action towards St Louis soccer fans who have a podcast with the phrase “soccer capital”They claim it infringes “their trademark”- The Soccer Capital of AmericaColossal L @SportingKC https://t.co/qMWAau08gy— MLS Buzz (@MLS_Buzz) March 21, 2023 unfortunately, like much of corporate petty-ness, it was effective I hope they mock KC's use of this dumb "copyrighted phrase" at least once per episode - along with only ever referring to them as The Wiz, of course.