I would think Ben is on shaky ground now. He was Baldwin's and Best's hire, if they go, why would Kang -- who wasn't in the loop on Olsen's hiring in the first place -- want to keep him on?
Yep. Hopefully he's got a contract and if they want to can him they'll have to buy him out. No one will blame him for any of that mess.
The only proof I have of it is the shittiness of the Spirit. You know that balance in the Force thing,
"Club President Ben Olsen will have full authority over all club operations." I wonder if that was the implicit promise given Ben when Steve Baldwin hired him. Baldwin must have realized he was on shifting ground and wanted a Baldwin hire as backup in case he had to retire from active management. But Ben probably won't have full authority until and unless Baldwin sells his shares.
I'm waiting for Ben, in desperation, to name himself Head Coach How would the ladies take to Bennyball?
Every time the NWSL executives seem to have peak performance in this shitshow, they dig deep and one up themselves. At this point, burning the whole effing thing down is probably the simplest fix. What other league has had 3 coaches canned recently for improper behavior and the commissioner fired to failing to fix it. Meanwhile, all the execs "thank" the shameless assholes they fired for their services and wish them well.
If the NWSL executives had been at Nuremburg, would their response have been, "thank you for your service Mr. Eichmann, best wishes on your new opportunity in Argentina." Sheesh.
So now Lee Nguyen has joined the Spirit coaching staff "through at least the end of the season." Well, he certainly knows how to play the game but will he be able to coach women and refrain from being a sexist pig?
Not that I know of, except in the present atmosphere I would expect all male coaches to be guilty until proven innocent.
Was he the yank who came back home and was cut by Vancouver real quick due to homophobic comments? I can’t remember the specifics but I’m pretty sure Vancouver cut him because of something he said.
I stand corrected. He tweeted something. Deleted it, got caught. Vancouver said they cut him not because of the tweet. https://www.mlssoccer.com/news/vancouvers-rennie-explains-why-caps-cut-nguyen Thx, Jay!
FYI: Washington Spirit owner Steve Baldwin says he plans to sell stake in club as NWSL fallout continues https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2021/10/14/steve-baldwin-washington-spirit-sale-michelle-kang/ It'll be interesting to see if Ben survives this. Hope he does (assuming he wants to).
Despite the Sprit winning the league, I think Olsen has gone into witness protection. I believe I heard more from him in the months after his firing as manager than this period where he is Washington Spirit president.
Well, I have heard absolutely nothing from Ben, either before Baldwin stepped away or after, and not even a word from him after his team won the title. It's all very strange. I have been hoping Steve Goff would look into this, but it's not the kind of journalism he practices.
Speaking of other FO types in trouble that used to be DC United players, I think that I saw that Ali Curtis is on shaky ground at Toronto despite signing an extension this year.