Davidson 2 Duke 0 http://goduke.ocsn.com/sports/m-soccer/recaps/100103aaa.html Rennie should go. If you can't win at Duke, you can't win anywhere.
Ouch, that's bad. Complete speculation, but if I had to guess, the players have just given up on the season. They really can't be this bad.
Yes, but why have they given up? They way Rennie benches players and puts talented players in the dog house and keeps them there - that's got to get frustrating. And, when it doesn't work, the players are likely to stop trying as they don't have the vision to see the point of busting their ass for a coach who punishes them when they play well. It's funny, this is actually a pretty down year for a lot of ACC teams becuase they are so young and Duke should have been in place to take advantage as they returned a lot of players from an NCAA Tournament team (albeit one that went out in the first round). Instead, they look like the team most likely to finish last. Presuming they don't turn things around, this will the second time in three years and fourth time in eight that Duke has missed the NCAAs. For a program of this stature, that is inexcusable. Hell, since beating Bruce Arena in his final college game in the 95 national semi finals, Duke has won only two NCAA Tournament games. If the basketball team did this poorly, the coach -even one with a lot of good will built up like Coach K - would lose his job. And, it's not like there aren't a LOT of talented Duke alums out there who could step in and replace Rennie. Mike Jeffries and Tom Stone are both out of work right now. Both have had coaching success and were great Duke players. Bob Jenkins could likely be coaxed out of his Thoreau-ian life in Vermont. And, John Kerr and Ken Lolla would likely leave Harvard and Akron in a heartbeat to coach Duke. Rennie did great things for Duke and college soccer but the longer he stays, all he does his taint his legacy. It's time for him to go.
snoots v. braniacs.... you guys are assuming that davidson is not a worthy opponent when in actuality they are a fairly decent side. this even though they lost their center mid and assist machine to an injury early in the year. perhaps if duke started using cheerleaders at games things would be better. then the boys would have something to play for. comparing b'ball to soccer in terms of importance to this univ makes no sense. duke can improve over the years under the same coach, as many other acc teams will need to do. uva has the same problem with experimental lineups and quirky substitutions. perhaps they're trying to just find something that works.
Davidson is not a bad team, and they are smart kids who know how to take advantage of an opportunity. They cherish the opportunity to knock off one of the "big boys", as they beat UNC last year also.
Rennie I have to agree with PB04, there is no way Duke can be mediocre for so long. With that school you should be a perennial NCAA team and as for player management, he is clueless! Does him being an alcoholic, letting his assitants coach all the time and leaving players like Perea on the bench for 4 years qualify him as being a bad coach? If I was a Duke fan I would be pissed but Clemson beat them so that's all that matters.
Re: snoots v. braniacs.... Duke is 2-7-1 this year. Should I assume that Campbell (a 1-1 tie) was also a worthy opponent? BTW which Center Mid / "assist machine" did they lose to injury? Carey, Camp, Bodiva, Kramer and Loftus all played. Maybe Rennie just lost track of him on the bench? Or was he looking down the bench for Trevor Perea.
I'm not jumping to the replace Rennie conclusion because if this loss. The team is 0-7-1 after starting 2-0. It's only wins are over Liberty and Georgia Southern. It's been tied by Campbell and lost to Harvard, UC Santa Barbara, William & Mary, Clemson and now Davidson. None of those are bad teams but none are great though UCSB is currently undefeated. And, I'm not basing my conclusion on just this year. As I said, this will likely be the second time in three years and fourth time in eight that Duke doesn't make the NCAA tournament. And, the four times they've made the NCAA's, they've gone out in the first round twice and the second round twice. That's a 2-4 postseason record over an 8 year span. That just ain't cutting it. I'm also well aware of Davidson's soccer pedigree. Last year, they had several upsets of top players only to ironically lose too many games to lesser opponents that cost them an NCAA bid. I also wasn't comparing soccer to basketball. I was saying that if the basketball coach got the results Rennie did, he'd be replaced. And, Rennie hasn't won nearly as many titles as Coach K. Look, I didn't go to Duke and am a fourth generation Cavalier so I don't really care what happens to the program except that if Rennie was fired or stepped down, it would be a statement by a prominent athletic department that results DO matter, even in college soccer. Too often, college soccer coaches get a free pass when it comes to results because the athletic department doesn't care. I'd like to see that change and the Rennie situation is a good place to start.
Re: Re: snoots v. braniacs.... I think Kinley was referring to Davidson when saying they had lost a top midfielder...but the question remains, Kinley, which player were you talking about? Sartorio?
I'm no Rennie fan or Duke fan for that matter but they have had some tough breaks. 5 of their seven losses have been by 1 goal, one in OT: 2-1 W&M 2-1 Santa Barbara 2-1 Clemson 3-2 UNC (OT) 3-2 Harvard Not the season they should be having esp considering how many they returned but they're not getting blown away either.
assist machine... yes, i was referring to davidson's loss of their midfielder sartorio. regarding rennie, i agree there are many frustrations with him, as i have also expressed frustrations with sgg at uva, but that doesn't necessarily mean a replacement will make the program better in either case. they just need to listen more to us experts about who they should be playing, when and why. 8^}
Re: Rennie whether true or not, i can't comment, but certainly not a reasonable criteria for measuring whether a coach can be successful as there have been many before and still now that breed success at all levels. in fact, at the professional level it might be a requisite attribute !!!