Trump Arena? Trump FC and their new GM pictured below. Trump Cheerleaders known as the "Trumpettes"? They would have something in common with Soler. Neither knows a thing about US soccer.
Anyone want to bet on how long it will take before Soler starts complaining about MLS rules? 1 week? 60-90 days? 6 months?
About as long as it took for our fans to start complaining about his appointment. So I imagine he's been bitching about it for two solid weeks.
I'm at work and can't hear the interview...does he say anything interesting at all or is he just rambling about his past jobs and what he feels are his best attributes?
past jobs, he knows a lot about the game, admitted that besides an agent he had in USA during his time as an agency, doesn't know that much about american soccer, he wants to bring a winning culture, etc... it's a press conference for his hiring, so i wasn't expecting anything revealing about his plans. ugh... fingers crossed...
It's difficult to say whether what he says is what he's thinking. Soler's words were perfectly reasonable, sounded like his concern was to put a winning team on the field and that it would take time. Fine. Of course if his real mandate is to fill Red Bull Arena and run the business end of the club, leaving the team itself to Agoos and whomever he picks as coach, be it Williams or someone else, then we're in trouble (again). Let's see what Soler does.
Derek Jeter - Kalamazoo, Michigan (though born in Jersey) Babe Ruth - Baltimore Maryland Mark Messier - Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Willis Reed - Hico, Louisiana Walt Clyde Frazier - Atlanta, Georgia Joe Namath - Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania Phil Simms - Lebanon, Kentucky Lawrence Taylor - Williamsburg Virginia Juan Pablo Angel - Medellin, Columbia I'm sure you can name a whole bunch of players that were born in NY and are praised by NYers (here's one to start with, Lou Gehrig), but the bottom line is EVERY city loves homegrown talent. What New Yorkers love are winners and more importantly IMO, bonafide competitors, players who leave it all on the pitch, field, rink, court, whatever. Players that give it their all in the name of the team, in the name of the city.
I agree with you here lol, what on earth was he thinking saying that New Yorkers don't like foreigners... New York's biggest heroes come from nowhere near NYC.
this idea that agoos will remain with any power is troubling and can't be true. We'll see in the coming weeks. I do like Soler, hopefully he's smart enough to surround himself with good MLS/US Soccer people. He seems to preach team and utilizing staff.
I feel pretty confident Agoos is staying; if they wanted to fire him they would have done it already. Again, just my opinion, but I can't think of a case where someone who is going to be fired is kept around and given meaningful things to do just before the axe falls. If Soler consigns Agoos to a role in which he doesn't have any input in player personnel decisions then I will consider it an excellent start for our new SD and hold out some hope he'll be successful. Otherwise it will be clear that Soler's main function is other than to insure a winning team on the pitch.
LOL... I won't even touch the part about NYC athletes since that has been busted already and shows your complete lack of knowledge, but this part is funny! So since he wasn't born with the knowledge it's means he can't learn it? The guy seems pretty smart and seems like he's a quick study I would hope that he's been studying all the rules and regulations of MLS and will soon start on other things like fan relations and the NY/NY soccer communities. If not that, I hope he hires some people that do know to help him. Anyways we all know RBNY should have hired 1 of the hundreds of soccer knowing NY'ers who don't have a job with another team... because coaches with MLS experience and that are proven are falling out of the trees
Soler's been on the job 15 minutes, if he has total control then Agoos' future will be decided now. Agoos/Ritchie have been mere caretakers. Its too bad our club is kind of asleep at the wheel while others make moves in Nov/Dec but here's hoping Soler puts the right staff in place and gets things rolling.
I would assume we are last in the MLS Hot Stove League since we haven't even had a functioning sporting division until just know...if you call this functioning.
Finally home from work to check out the "breaking" news. From my first impression, I like that he seems to be a leader, rather than a dictator. His background in "organizational psychology" hopefully means he can identify things that are f-ed up and find solutions, and create an organizational structure that works. All the while, he'll have to be filling that structure with the right people. The troubles with this organization are such that this could take a while--at least he acknowledges that. If he can pull all, or even most, of that off, he may very well be a good choice. The things that give me concern are the same things that are raising everyone else's eyebrows, and ire, here. The lack of MLS knowledge, and the apparent decision to keep Agoos on-board. If his relationship with Agoos becomes something like, "OK, tell me again how this works? Great, got it--now go away, kid, you're bothering me." Fine. But at least until we get a head coach, Agoos seems to have more influence than I care for. Brian Lewis sums up his impression on his blog: That mirrors my feelings. He's not some arrogant soda salesman who believes he can do no wrong. He seems smart and has a long resume from a lifetime of being in soccer, as a player and a businessman. He *claims* to recognize the need to surround himself with good people to make this work. I choose to remain tentatively optimistic. Soon we'll see if he can put his money where his mouth is.
That they can't see Agoos needs to be jettisoned posthaste makes me believe they have no clue what they are doing. It's like Isaiah Thomas all over again.
First of all, I never said New Yorkers don't like foreigners. Don't misquote me. Second of all, I was not talking about the players on the field. I was talking about ownership and management. In my opinion, it is vitally important for a soccer club to have local ownership. If players get the feeling that the operation is a fly-by-night, and the coaches are just mercenaries, then we will have....well....a whole lot more of what we've already had. The Seattle Sounders are going gangbusters right now largely because they have local ownership that "gets" the market. They "get" the Sounders tradition. They "get" the 21st Century fanbase. The Red Bulls do not have owners that understand this market. They've disposed of all soccer tradition that has been built for decades here. And they still haven't figured out how to market to the New York/New Jersey fanbase (are we drunk yuppie entertainment or kiddie/family entertainment?). And it will take them a long time to learn the ropes here, because they have put absolutely no effort into learning what this town is all about. As to player selection.... It is my opinion that club teams have an obligation -- a duty -- to their fans to go out and buy the best players they can afford -- from anywhere on planet earth. That is currently the way international club soccer works. However, it is nice to have some hometown heroes in the mix. Juan Pablo Angel is great, but hearing Mike Petke's accent reminds me that I'm home and not in Salzburg. That said, I wouldn't mind getting Ronaldinho, Beckham, Zidane, Van Nistelrooy, and Thierry Henry on this team (or some combination of those players). New Yorkers want the BEST! We won't settle for anything less, and that is why this franchise has been invisible for the past 14 years.
I wish Soler well, but I have a feeling (to paraphrase Frank Sinatra) that this is the best Soler is ever going to look to us (and the media). It's almost as if he's been brought in to manage the whole organization and has just started to think about who he'll hire to organize ticket sales, manage the team, fetch stuff from the vendors (oops, that's JA), etc. As someone pointed out elsewhere, if we are anxious to see how they'll address Red Bull the team then we may have a long wait.
Oh yeah! That explains all the championships won by all the New York teams not named the Yankees. Yes the Yankees. That great NEW YORK team owned by a family from Cleveland but chooses to live in Tampa Bay. The Dolans from Manhattan have made the Knicks a joke and couldn't get the Rangers a title despite having the highest payroll for years. The worst team in the NBA is owned by Bruce Ratner from Brooklyn. The bumbling Mets are owned by a Brooklyn guy who decorates his new stadium with anything but Mets stuff. The Jets have had two owners since the early eighties from New Jersey. No SB titles. The Islanders and their losing ways are owned by a Long Islander. The Devils local owners have never been able to figure out how to attract fans.