From The Disgrace this morning: Forward Andy Herron, for whom the Crew traded its No. 1 draft pick in hopes he would be its top scoring threat, did not dress. Injuries and suspension had previously limited his playing time, but he said that when he learned some teammates questioned coach Sigi Schmid's decision to play him off the bench against Colorado, he was upset. "I'm always going to wish my team well, but that's disrespectful," he said. "I would never do that." So now we're down to inter-team backstabbing, griping and second-guessing. Wonderful. That's always been the sign of a team on the rise, right? (Note that it does NOT say that Herron is injured. It says he was injured "had previously limited his playing time".) I'm guessing this means he is, in fact, in Sigi's world-famous doghouse. It just gets better and better.
Very strange quote. In essence, he's upset at his team-mates because they're questioning Sigi's tactics, yet HE'S the one in Sigi's doghouse. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.
Also... Fire goalkeeper Jon Busch said his first visit to Crew Stadium since being waived by Columbus was "weird." In the tunnel before the game, Busch greeted some Crew players and staff warmly. Busch, who owns a home in Powell, said he would never rule out finishing his career with the Crew. He also has vowed never to play for Schmid. I was in the Huntington corner and watched the Chits warm up. There were a couple of times where Busch looked around the stadium and looked like he was going to choke up a couple of times. re: Herron quote I can take that a couple of ways. Either players were upset he was used at all, sub or otherwise (seems like the case); or upset because Herron should be starting, not subbing (doesn't make sense). I look at this as a positive. This forces procedural events into the open and also puts the spotlight on coach Schmid; who if he has any control left should be pulling each and every player involved out of bed down to the office at Velma for a nice, long discussion on how things work. If nothing happens this week, then the front office and coaches need to be accountable.
It seems to me that Sigi is not the only person who thinks Herron just isn't getting it done. It is, of course, unfortunate - I was one of the people who was enthusiastic about bringing Herron in, because I hoped he could display his 2005 form here. It hasn't happened. You roll the dice, and sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. I think we lost on this one. I don't expect Herron to be with the team next season
Wow, I was almost certain Herron had just been traded for Pete Vagenas. It sounds like to me that the players didn't think Herron should even dress, and Sigi apparently agreed (although according to Archer, it is because Herron talked to McCullers). Perhaps it is McCullers who talked to Herron. Were the players upset because some house rules were broken, and Herron wasn't penalized by not playing, or because he has been training poorly, or what. Maybe it's time to talk to Duncan again. I read the article above as that Herron was not motivated to train this week (we already know he abruptly ended practice early last week), and this along with the fact that some of the players don't want to see him play is probably why he did not dress. Herron is not in Sigi's doghouse as far as I can tell, in fact the players apparently think he is a favorite son. "QUOTE OF THE DAY -- JON BUSCH UNCUT "I will never work for Sigi [Schmid] again. I will never play for him, never join his coaching staff. He is a very good tactics coach. He knows the game like very few do. But I question his management skills and the way he handles professional players. I think they are poor." Waived Columbus goalkeeper Jon Busch, not bitter at all (quoted in The Columbus Dispatch). " http://www.ussoccerplayers.com/exclusives/index.html?article_id=160 I wonder if he still feels this way, or if he was just upset at the surprise announcement. He has looked very good the few times I have seen him this year.
Ugh. Gouging my eyes out with a rusty spork would be less painful than watching what this team is degenerating into.
How prophetic. It does explain the whole mess. Didn't LA say they fired Sigi because he lost the team in the locker room. I hear it's nice in southern California in October.
Well with our yellow card suspensions, injuries, etc.. we will need someone to play this week. I wonder if Herron will dress then?
The players that could possibly be upset about this (ie...the attacking players left on the bench when Herron went in against Colorado): Jason Garey Robbie Rogers Ricardo Virtuoso 1 G, 2 Assists in 996 minutes combined. This isn't grade school. Either perform, or shut the ******** up. I really really really don't give a shit about whether or not Herron's put in enough effort in practice to justify getting minutes ahead of any of you. You got minutes in games....and did ******** all with them.
As the Crew let alone three points slip away on Saturday night, I was thinking that the only thing that might salvage this season would be some airing of dirty laundry or public complaining. Thank goodness my prayers were answered so quickly!
I will preach this until the Crew wise up and hire a former player who has played professional somewhere. Sigi can't lead this bunch any further than where he's been in his career, and what professional career has he been involved in? ******** yeah they don't respect him at this level, maybe because he's never experienced the locker room as a professional player. If he were wise he'd use his B.S. in economics and M.A in Business Administration somewhere else.
How exactly is that such a good thing? Well, we have like what, until Sept. 15th to make a trade? Is that when the rosters get locked? Herron is apparently going to be our trade bait... so I hope whatever we get is worth our 2007 #2 overall draft pick. This is just depressing.
Rogers started 3 games didn't he and got one goal and one assist before he went off to World Cup and has pretty much been benched since. That was decent production considering the team production and wing play in general. I suspect Herron was really fussing about comments Sigi made after the game about Herron. Herron did look like a dead fish when he came on against Colorado-no spark at all. Maybe Herron and Rogers did not make the bench against the Fire because they are both being traded somewhere. Rogers is only paid $40-$50,000 a year and there are several teams that would want him for sure for that price. Herron-he is probably a tough sell.
Ok, I finally got to a computer with some time so here is what I took away from the coaches forum before Saturday's soggy mess. Herron is in Sigi's doghouse and this comes directly from Sigi. As he put it they are "butting heads right now." His main complaint about Herron seems to be work rate or lack thereof. He insinuated that Andy might just be getting too old and his legs are going. Sigi also said that he understands when players say "just give me three straight starts and I will show you" but what do you then do with other players who say that. To me it boiled down to no effort in practice and no production on the field, in Sigi's mind. Sigi started by pointing out that the goal of the team was to be in the playoff race late in the season and that is where they are now. So it would seem that to Sigi we are still on course. According to Sigi we were playing a 4-3-3 Saturday to generate more offense. It didn't look like a 4-3-3 to me but what do I know. Anyway, he went on to say that part of the problem was when Herron was on the field in the 4-3-3 that he just stood out wide by the touchline and then complained that he wasn't a winger. He also announced that he Herron wouldn't be dressing for the game. Bottom line it would seem that we have seen the last of Andy Herron in a Crew uniform. MM was actually more interesting and stated clearly that he wasn't happy with just contending for the playoffs but wanted to be further along by now. So it would seem that there is a schism between the two but that is definetly me reading into it. MM made a point of stating that he was in the last year of his contract and that if he didn't return he wouldn't leave the person who followed him with the same salary cap mess that he faced coming in. So it would seem that we will not be seeing anyone new before the end of the season but MM did say that discussions are always in the works. He also said that they would continue to challenge the Hunt group to cough up the money for a DP. So it would seem to me that the problem with our DP does lay with the Hunts to a point. It did seem that MM didn't feel that his job was on solid ground. Personally, I think this is a shame but that's me. MM did say that a lot of the deals we have had fall through did so because we are Columbus and we are the "smallest" market in the league. He addressed the article in the paper and his thinking was exactly what was explained by someone on the board. What he meant was that one major signing wasn't going to change things and get us into the playoffs (saying that if that were the case that he would do it in a heartbeat). MM stated that what he thought he said was that kind of thinking was a "fantasy soccer fan" mentality not a "fantasy fan" mentality. From what I have gotten to know of the guy and his approach over his time here that sounds more likely a statement or thought than the "fantasy fan" statement. It would seem that they are hoping to use Guille as a diplomat to Boca to establish a partnership with them. He also said that the Boca America franchise isn't as far fetched as might be thought. Those were the highlights that I recall two days later if anyone else was there and can add please feel free.
Am I the only one who thinks Herron remains our best scoring threat and should be starting whether or not he has a bad attitude? Rev'd after Tim's post: OK he's gone...so now we have Moreno and Gaven. woopee. at least I have my browns and the stellar beginning to their season.
I think (from what little I've talked to him) that if MM was part of HSG, and had to review MM the Crew General Manager, I don't think the former would retain the latter. I believe that IF we miss out on the playoffs again, there will be a housecleaning from top to bottom on the staff and FO side of things. I also believe that the day we should become mathematically eliminated from contention, Sigi resigns. That may be another "duh" moment on my part, but I don't think it's been expressed outright that I've seen. MM would finish the season, but all his personal effects in his office would be packed for sure. With 4 of 6 on the road, and us on the outside looking in right now, I'm not feeling too positively right now.
Man....I must not have been following the Crew closely enough. We're so loaded at forward that we have no use for someone with 18 goals in 40 MLS starts. Or perhaps it is that our system is so magical that someone with 18 goals in 40 MLS starts doesn't justify changing our system to fit the talent available. Good thing we're banging in goals left and right and sitting at the top of the table.
Hope i'm not seen as trolling by commenting here, but this is something that I figured would happen when he was hired at Columbus. It goes back to when he was coaching the u-20's at the WC back in 2005. I witnessed how Sigi essentially threw (by name) a few of his players under the bus during/after that tournament. I just didn't see what he thought could be gained by publicly bashing his players, while not taking a single shred of responsbility himself. Seeing that, I knew that I wouldn't have hired the guy to work the register at the local gas station ......... not because he doesn't have knowledge of the game, but because a guy like that can't possible be trusted to get the best out of the professional player.
Re: TimD's masterful summary. Much was made clearer. Unfortunately, the thing that was made MOST clear is that this is a team in turmoil. Very disheartening but we've been getting inklings of it for the past few weeks. I can only add this: if in fact the biggest roadblock to bringing in the quality of players that we need is that we are in Columbus, Ohio, then maybe we're all done here. Now in fact there ARE guys around - plenty of them, although Ihaven't seent eh main guy around here lately - who claim that the REAL problem is that players don't want to play for Sigi. I don't want to judge that one way or the other, but we'd all better hope that that is the case. (I would add that it then becomes critical to draft well. If you can't draft talent and you can't sign talent, then you simply cannot contend. Ever.) The one thing that isn't going to change is the location. If players won't come here then the team will never be any good and will eventually HAVE to be moved, stadium or no stadium, because it won't draw fans. Hard cold truth?
I think the first line of the coach's contact needs to be: This is not 4th grade summer camp. You do not play or not play someone based on if they hurt "little johnny's" feelings or b/c someone wants a try. You play them because they are the best possible player you can put on the field! And why does Sigi care what the other players are saying. Who cares what they think the lineup should be, when they become the coach then they can make the decisions. Season after season I feel like our worst enemy is ourselves. We need to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.