It's one thing to burn down this dumpster of a team, it'll be quite another to rebuild it into something that doesn't smell.
So long and thanks for your service. The timing is kinda fücked up, what with the contract options list being due any day now. But there's not really ever a good time for this stuff. I hope all parties land on their feet. Here's my thoughts, for whatever it's worth (which ain't much). A strong front office should consist of three elements. One should be the owner and executives whose primary interest is the financial health and security of the club. Another should be the coaching staff and players, whose primary interest is winning in the short term. The last should be the club legends and supporters, whose primary interest is the long term prosperity of the club, even if it means short term success receives less priority. Those three elements should get in a room for a goddamned day or two and figure out what the point of the club is. Are they a buying team? Are they a selling team? Are they a team made up of scrappy veterans with razor blades in their cleats? Once they've figured out what they want to be, then they need to figure out how they're going to do it philosophically. A pressing team? A low block team? A possession-first or a countering team? Once they've figured out how they're going to do it, then they need to think about how long they're willing to give to execute the philosophy. That way the staff have reasonable expectations on what success (and failure) looks like. If, for whatever reason, things aren't working, all shareholders will know the problem and know how to fix it. Me? I can deal with losing. But I need to see something, anything, that gives me a reason to not just fücking walk away. It's been 16 years since this team had the slightest ounce of relevance. There's plenty of better options if I want to watch good soccer. There's plenty of better options if I want to watch local soccer. So give me a reason to watch THIS team. Do it now.
And still Dave Kasper survives. Isn't he the guy who oversaw the descent to three Wooden Spoons in a decade (other than ownership). To this 96er it just feels like deck chairs on the Titanic until Kasper goes AND Levien sells.
After the nuclear and/or climate holocaust, the only things that will survive are cockroaches...and Dave Kasper, and Chad Ashton.
When you read the DCU official announcement, Rushton's replacement will really be both Rushton and Kasper's duties. The GM will report directly to management and will be responsible for the roster creation. While he's not fired, Kasper clearly is put out to pasture and will be left with his calculator to figure out salary rule compliance. This is a useful step, now go get Lagerway.
Goff: Kasper will remain in his position, said people familiar with the situation who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter. The club has hired a search firm to identify a replacement for Rushton. Her successor would work alongside Kasper rather than under him, those people said.
It is incredible that Kasper is still will the club after consisently actually for many years not providing quality talent for the club. A lot of blame has been laid at the ownership and based on MLS Salaries from the Players Union DC spent $16.3 Million on salaries which was ranked No 12 of of 28 teams which ranged from a high of $32.2 M for Toronto to $9.6 M for RBNY. Note Philly was second from the bottom ranking 27 of 28 teams with $10.4 M yet both RBNY and Philly made the playoffs. Kasper and the coaching staff have been given resources but they are squandering the money they have been given. See the attached graph.
I've been looking at the money given the so called soccer experts like Kasper in running soccer operations by the ownership and I have to say I was surprise by the resources ownership provided. The players Union salary info for 22 showed that DCU ranked 12th out of 28 teams in salary cap spending. DC spent a little less than double what Philly or RBNY spent on their teams and they both made the playoffs.
True. I think Levien is a crap owner who does not know how to lead a winning organization but we can't fairly argue that he and Kaplan won't provide the financial resources to at least routinely be an MLS playoff team. But why the hell does Kasper still have a job? Hasn't he, at the end of the day, been the one deciding how to spend the money on talent (or, in the last two years, approving Rushton's decisions on that)?
Kasper seems to have a Chad Ashton-esque sticking power. He came on during the KP years and I had more than one direct run in with him about how I felt our team was inadequate. Back in those days DK and KP were willing to have conversations with fans in bars after matches or on pre-season road trips... I questioned his judgment then about what our team needs were but then we went on to win MLS Cup 2004 and several supporter shields. Then they tried to overhaul the team with Gallardo in 2008 and we've basically been in a downward spiral ever since...
There was a point in time when the fans were trying to vote(?) him out of the GM job. There's some kind of retention vote for his job. Weird?
Unless he renewed he is out of contract at the end of the year. https://www.sounderatheart.com/soun...179/garth-lagerwey-transfer-window-interrview