Since Clarke will be in place till end of season, let us talk about who might be GM. Certainly one would think the new GM will have something to say about the new coach. My candidate list for new GM has one name on it. Gordon Jago 1. Soccer guy 2. Knows Dallas market 3. International connections 4. Youth and local connection (Dallas cup at new facility and Burn youth academy?) 5. Smart sports business man (kept Kicks afloat) all of which give you a GM a great resume and the ability to back up his ideas.
This is what I wrote on the burn-fans e-mail list: Gordon Jago is from a different era in American soccer -- the era where American players weren't worth a damn, where American fans (it was thought) wouldn't enjoy soccer on its own terms, where "good promotions" usually meant "papering the house with free tickets," and where the future of soccer (kids) was more important than the present (adults). In other words, he is the anti-Andy Swift, the anti-Billy Hicks. In fact, I would say that he's the anti-every-single-general-manager-in-MLS to one degree or another. Those guys have been working their asses off for seven years plus to develop MLS as a legitimate American professional sports league that regular people and sponsors far and wide would respect and support financially. They don't have any illusions about being the next NFL or NBA, but that isn't going to keep them from doing it the "right way," the way the NFL or NBA does. And the Sidekicks? Yeah, they were once the toast of Dallas -- 15 years ago. Now, they're a joke. Nobody takes them seriously. How many tickets do they actually sell? What sort of game atmosphere do they have? What sort of players do they have? In every respect, the Burn -- even in the hell that is Dragon Stadium -- outdo them. The Dallas Sidekicks still approach the game of soccer in the US as if this were still 1985. And they were built by Gordon Jago -- a man who still sells soccer in America as if it were still 1985. Kids, foreigners, and indoor players. That's it. American men playing outdoor soccer? Forget it. His half-hearted concession about the performance American men in Korea last summer was only because you can't ignore the scoreboard. But I would never hire Gordon Jago to sell American outdoor soccer, because honestly, he never has and I don't really think that he can. He's sold the NASL (and we know how American that was) and he's sold the alphabet soup of indoor leagues and he's sold the Dallas Cup and he's sold international friendlies. But American outdoor soccer has passed him by. It's a sad requiem for someone who did so much to keep soccer alive in this area, but so it goes.
Whatever list there is - it is no doubt short. What is Billy Hicks doing these days? Maybe John Alper? Who else from within the orgainization?
Jago would be right in line with HSG's way of thinking - soccer moms above everything else. Also, he has publicly said MLS is second rate (on the ticket in an interview), and who knows if he gives a flip about the latino market.
How about Dave Dir as a GM. He was involved in Dallas with Billy from very early on, he has worked in media, and run soccer clubs.
The ideal MLS GM is a smart guy with a good eye for talent, business acumen, playing background and familiarity with the league and, ideally, has some exposure to the local market, say, at least three years. Buzz, can you name anyone who fills that criteria?
Jago has always put down the American player. His Sidekick teams always had by far the most foreign players than the other teams in the league.
This is another reason why HSG will go with Jago. Considering the 'fallout' of losing a legitimate 'latino marketing guy' like Swift, they cover their bases by bringing in someone that has already been established as a manager who does not discriminate in favor of 'all American soccer'. HSG can save some face by having good latino relations supported by Jago that were lost when Andy left. Sorry, but whether I like it or not, Jago is just too good of a 'fit' for HSG to ignore.
You're fairly new to the area, so I'll forgive you for not being familiar with Gordon Jago. But putting "Gordon Jago" and "latino relations" in the same sentence is somewhat of an oxymoron.
Token Brazilian. In fact, if you look at the Sidekicks' foreign players over the years, the vast majority have come from two places: Europe and Brazil. Very, very few came from Mexico or Central America.
And you're fairly new to my 'implying-by-association'... HSG may see Jago MUCH different than you and I. On the surface, it looks like he's VERY experienced with latinos. It's MUCH more important what HSG believes, hence Swift's departure. You and I are passionate, soccer fanatics. HSG wants soccer mom. It doesn't matter what you and I 'want'.
But that's the thing. He's NOT very experienced with Latinos. The Sidekicks and Dallas Cup (to name two things with which he's been involved) market themselves almost exclusively toward the Anglo market. In fact, the Sidekicks did pretty much no promotion in the Latino community until the Burn started making headway in '97 and '98. His involvement with the international friendly at the State Fair is pretty much the exception that proves the rule. I have no idea if he even speaks Spanish, but I'm not going to make any assumptions about that. After all, how much Spanish would you think that a guy named Billy Hicks (who speaks decent Spanish) or a guy named Andy Swift (who speaks fluent Spanish) would speak? All I can go on is what the guy's done in his 20 years here in Dallas, and when it comes to cultivating a Latino fanbase, the answer is "almost nothing." Honestly, I would rank many of the current Burn staffers higher in that respect.