I was thinking this as well. Watching the video, I was appalled that it had come to this. Management must have had a feeling that things were spiraling out of control and they would have to take action before things got even worse.
I’m with you - Kuntz doesn’t seem like Presidential material to me. I’m hopeful that Beckerman is looking at a lot stronger resumes than this. I hope AEG opens their pocketbook and brings in an experienced CEO. The role of the President isn’t that soccer specific - it is much more about building a well run, efficient and forward-thinking organization; instilling an overarching winning philosophy from top to bottom.
Agree. A lot of people have talked about Kuntz taking over, but he didn't really have that role in LAFC and he's strictly a personnel guy; there are lots of other responsibilities a Pres has and it's time to stop running the FO like a start-up where everyone wears multiple hats. It would be ideal to have a great new President hire; someone that can modernize the FO. Hopefully that person would demote Vanney to just being a coach and hire a real GM and would fire Kirovski and hire a real TD.
Yep. This team needs an architect of championships. A person with a clear idea of what this team's history is about and what it needs to get back to that level. A general with a plan and the know-how to bring in the right people for each job. I just hope the right type of people don't get spooked by how AEG has been running Uncle Phill's hobby.
Let's see how many of the former BS posters come back. Maybe Barroldinho will make an appearance again.
Here's Baxter's commentary piece on the Klein ouster for the LA Times. Commentary: @LAGalaxy President Chris Klein’s dismissal was inevitable amid record poor stretch https://t.co/I4XRApmZSt— Kevin Baxter 🇺🇦🏳️🌈 (@kbaxter11) May 31, 2023
MLS loves to talk about and showcase supporter culture. I wonder how much of this they will walk about? What our SGs did over the last few months was incredible and a real representation of passion and love for a club. Any one can wave flags, throw smoke bombs, chant, but this boycott and the discourse on social media platforms and message boards like this one and Reddit proved to be influential. I hope they get their due and I hope people remember this the next time a franchise is stuck with terrible leadership. *I know the boycott isn’t the singular reason for Klein’s firing, but I think there’s a lot of credit to give.
Klein is out but also canning the coach could prove to be too cumbersome so I sort of understand Vanney still having a job but it will be but for a short time unless Jovan gets kicked up to prez. Any other guy worth his salt will be handing Greg his walking papers ASAP. Horrible record he has with Galaxy on the field, on the scoreboard and this year especially with our position in the standings. So until then prepare to blow ballast and come up to periscope depth. Medicate as necessary.
Meanwhile, in Jovan's Sent folder Subject: WE DID IT! To: Angel City Brigade Subject: Keep in touch, my man To: Address Not Found
So, So Happy! I didn't know until about 15 minutes ago that Klein had been ousted. Just hoping (along with everyone else) that, 1) At the very least, we hire a competent president. 2) Kirovski gets his pink slip too. Guys like him infest a lot of operations, and unfortunately, they're usually quite good at dodging any responsibility for the messes they helped create. Regardless:
In another promising development on the possible rebuild, From the "Day in Sports" section of LA Times also this morning: "A Brazilian court was seeking the arrest of Galaxy striker Douglas Costa for failing to pay child support" ......what a Douchebag and likely now the worst Galaxy DP.
Klein was an institutional, ambient problem which could be dealt with w/o real urgency, but bad coach is immediate, clear and present problem that supposed to be resolved quickly. No relegation worries is why incompetent Vanney still a head coach (and now a soccer czar or whatever). I can't see any possible effect of Klein's firing on team performance. SG bozos will be back in the stadium chanting words of support to shitty team full of shitty players? Will it improve the play? No, it won't. Vanney giving motivational speech, saying something along the lines "boys, now when we got rid of that rubbish prez, let's show the world what you are made of, let's kick the asses, let's run, kick, play, pass, think like motivated skillful professionals"? No, our bunch of hasbeens, neverbeens, wannabees, and almostmadeits physically and mentally are not capable of sudden bounce.
All true. The hope however is that our new President will find this unacceptable and bring his own people in, including a new coach. I don't see this particular season as salvageable but with the right hire we could see the start of a turnaround, harbingers of good things to come. (Lot of optimistic hope in these statements but why not? I've certainly been on the other end long enough already.)
All this stuff is interesting. Will it change the mindset of these guys and will we see a bump in their performance? I mean if they just fired the prez for horrible performance it follows the coach or czar (which I like better) is next and that in itself could buy you a bump. We the fans, know all about Klein and his decade of madness but most if not all of these players only know Vanney. We'll soon find out tho, I can hardly wait for the whistle.
I don't think anyone is expecting this to turn around immediately, this is just the first step toward rebuilding this club. Firing Vanney may be necessary but I sure as hell don't trust Klein to be the guy picking his replacement. We've been down that path too many times already. Kirovski obviously needs to go as well. Ten years of Klein can not be washed away in a single season.
I think we're two hires away from hiring a new coach so it wouldn't surprise me if we keep Vanney for the rest of the year. The way I think of a soccer organization is: President | Technical Director (or GM) | Coach Scouting Director Academy Director The President's job is to run the entire business from ticket pricing to social media. The only soccer role is to choose the Technical Director and to set the basic parameters: How much money is there to spend on DPs? Do we need to have DPs that are marketable? They answer to the owners (or the owner's representative in the case of AEG). The Technical Director's job is just about soccer. They (with the President) choose the coach. It's their job to handle trades, to make sure we have a strategy about how much we can spend on each position, to choose where the scouting staff focuses it's effort, to track MLS and world soccer markets. They (with the coach) decide on broad issues of how to build the team. How much do we need to rely on academy players? Do we try to build depth or spend more on starters? The Coach's job is to coach, which is a full-time job in itself. Obviously the TD's job and the Coach's job overlap. Historically I think, MLS teams tend to combine the two, or give more power to the Coach and make the TD more of an assistant's role, but I think there are reasons not to do that. One reason alone is that the organization should keep and track a list of potential coaches in case there is a need to fire the current coach. You can't give that job to the current coach and the President has other things to do.