When will they give this guy some props for helping put together this team and organization? http://web.mlsnet.com/news/mls_news.jsp?ymd=20090408&content_id=237112&vkey=news_mls&fext=.jsp And no mention of Hanauer in the whole article. I don't recall any other article giving props to him either. I know Schmid and Henderson deserve credit as well, but I think it is unfair to overlook the true mastermind of getting this organization up and running in MLS.
Brian Schmetzer has also been a big factor in our successful transition. If I remember correctly, he was with Chris Henderson on all the scouting trips before Sigi was hired. Chris was also around for most of the 2008 season, so I am sure he and Brian had forged a relationship. One thing I like about Adrian Hanauer is that he brings good people onto his team, and he doesn't seem to be a micro-manager.
A.H. is my hero. He would need to really screw the pooch over the next 3 years to get voted out of office based on the supreme job he has done so far.
Hanauer could probably take over the Mariners and do a better job than Howie! Guy deserves his props.
The great thing is besides being the GM he is also an owner. So another MLS team can't make him an offer he couldn't refuse to go make another team a juggernaut.
Two things here. First, to the post above yours Paul. I don't believe Adrian could run the Mariners successfully at all. He may be able to run a team "by the numbers" but he wouldn't have that personal touch to scouting which makes good GMs great ones (regardless of sport). He has this for football. It's the combination of an eye for talent and the ability to distill the numbers into something useful to him and the club. Second, even if Adrian is removed from his GM job and future GM will be be a bit of a puppet. Sigi has the ultimate control over who gets on the field so even if Hanauer were to theoretically bring the best talent to town and Sigi didn't want him... Well, said talent wouldn't play or would be cut.
I didn't say he could run the mariners successfully. I said he could run them better than Howie! To put a different spin on things: if Howie ran the Sounders and Sigi didn't want the talent Howie brought in, Sigi would be SOL. He'd be stuck with it because Howie would interfere. Then Sigi would leave in disgust, just like Lou did.