"I took on Earnie in hope," Hudson said. "I was told he would score goals in [Major League Soccer], but that was wishful thinking." OUCH!!!!!!!
Instead of standing by the phone with Trask, he should be looking up Eric Eichmann's number. Good luck, Ray. But please stick to the booth in the future.
it's not just that he was wishing and hoping though. Stewart was a national teamer for the US. are you telling me that Ray didn't know for himself what Stewart could and could not do???? he says that he was "told" that Stewart would score goals. who told him that? and why wasn't he making that decision for himself? and in the entire context, it DOES seem like he's bitter with Stewart's performance. one could say that he almost sounds as if he blames Stewart in part for him not being able to keep his job.
Interesting to note that the line about Stewart is virtually identical to the line he gave in November. http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/w...&node=&contentId=A5638-2003Nov5¬Found=true
Could this mean: Basically management decided to bring Stewart in and it's not fair to me or to Earnie that these expectations were made. I think Hudson's remarks throughout the article are vaild. Let's put it this way. I don't think he's lying with anything he says.
Good article (I had been waiting to hear from Ray Hudson himself since he was not retained). Good luck to Ray.
Good to hear Ray finally have a say about things. Wonder what he actually said where there are [ ]s in the story?! ((Presumably NancyB has no interest in this thread or this story))
I think Hudson is putting a spin on some of his decisions. If there is one thing you should be able to say about Hudson, after all the overseas trips, all the foreign trialists, all the roster shuffling...it's that he got the people he wanted to get. Instead, he makes it sound like he's an Andrulis--who doesn't go overseas that much and management made the personnel decisions and he's going "Earnie Stewart--I think I recall that name, who's he? What's he done?" Ray looked at plenty of foreign (and even domestic) strikers. Razov was on the trading block. We could have signed Dante Washington after he was cut by Columbus. But he passed on them. Sometimes you sign a player and it doesn't work out. Stoichkov (and Ray's comments about that) are an example. I wouldn't have made that deal but we got a player with great pedigree and some magic for a pittance. It's rare to pay $50K and have a player who can decide games on your roster. But ultimately, DCU went into the season knowing it needed a goal scorer and a D-mid. And for most of the season, we ended up with Ali Curtis as our target guy and we played Nelsen at D-mid for the start of the season. That tells me that even though we all knew what the team needed, he failed to find those pieces in the offseason (despite all the moves) or he wrongly though people had improved enough in the offseason for them to do stuff (Curtis) they hadn't been able to do the year before. I wish Ray luck and a job in broadcasting.
Everyone knows that I backed- and still back- Ray and John, but I 'll keep this short. Good to hear from you Ray. Keep your chin up. Hope to be hearing more from you and John in the near future.
For me, this article really brings out the contrast between Nowak and our last two coaches. Rongen blasted the players in the press. Hudson made every excuse under the sun and constantly complained about "pressures." Nowak makes no complaints or excuses and expects the same of players (even in practice). If he has to comment on a player (Tino & Reyes) he says glowing things or (Chino) he says nothing at all. I expect this trend to continue. Take, for example, this quote: "When Nicky went down in New York, I turned to John [Trask] and said that we were [finished]," Hudson said. Way to persevere Ray. My guess is that the players can sense this attitude in their coach. If such an injury were to happen under Nowak, I can't even imagine a similar reaction. Nowak expects the same committment from the last player on the bench as the team's "star" player. I fully believe that Nowak expects to win (and expects the players to expect to win) whether we're starting the first choice GK or the third. Just a world of frickin' difference.
What has he had to complain about? He hasn't lost or won a game! From what I have heard Nowak was never THAT mild a player, so I see no reason why we couldn't expect blow ups and excuses from him just like any other coach. We already have had a foreshadowing of things to come... Nowak isn't concerned about the lack of goals. (A nice way of avoiding saying we havent scored even ONE) We eare after all just "learning a new system" While this is true, its still an excuse. We can mark that little one down as Nowak's first... I don't care who the coach is, if we start losing there will be a lot more where that came from too. Maybe Nowak will not be as prolific, but the way this team has been playing I wouldn't count on that either.
It is good to hear that Ray appears to be doing well. As many have noted before, he lived and died for this team and no one ever doubted the intensity of his commitment. A couple of thoughts: I don’t put much into the comment about thinking we were [finished] when Nick went down, providing great insights into Ray as a coach--I suppose that many of us felt the same way. In terms of where best for Earnie—it just underscores an ongoing interesting story line for the new season. Does Nowak get success out of Earnie up front or withdraw him a bit? Overall, I am not surprised by Ray’s collegial tone. Ray was and is a class act and when you admit to be waiting by the phone—and what ex-coach in a 10-team league is not?—you realize that you are not likely to get a call if you are quoted trashing you ex-employers and players. Finally, nice to hear is being honored for contributions.
Fine McOwen. I just hope you're prepared to eat crow and admit that you were completely wrong and that your darling Ray Hudson was a crap coach if Nowak turns this team around and doesn't shirk blame when the team faces adversity.
Excellent point DCU, if Ray really felt this way, that was a much bigger turning point to last season than we ever knew. And combined with his tendancy to go for ties on the road, I wonder whether he knew how to convince the team that they could win. No matter the strength of a team, you've got to have a plan or desire to win and you've got to convince the players it can work, or what's the point in playing (oh sht, they get paid for it don't they). Well, they still should want to win, don't they? Ray, I sure liked your personality, but maybe you're a better cheerleader than a team leader.
"I took on Earnie in hope," Hudson said. "I was told he would score goals in [Major League Soccer], but that was wishful thinking." Shouldn't any MLS head coach have his own opinion about anyone who plays regularly for the US National Team? "When Nicky went down in New York, I turned to John [Trask] and said that we were [finished]," Hudson said. I'm pretty sure that particular motivational approach won't work any level.
I've always followed the DCU boards, just because I always had tremendous respect for the team, even though you are our rivals. I do feel though that Ray was shafted. It seems to me that Ray was handed a lot of stuff, and at times was not given full control. The Earnie thing is an example of that. Earnie was basically given the choice of DC or Dallas. To me it seemed like he was forced into DC. I know everyone here talks about the need for a "system". If you guys had a scorer over the past two seasons, Ray would be here (the response will be he didn't pick him up, well maybe however he had huge cap constraint with many players on the team that weren't and couldn't produce, Moreno...). Same with this year, even if Nowak instills the most discipline, I doubt you can win without a proven goalscorer up top.
I took my little girl to a "Kid's Expo" here in Richmond today. One of the exhibits was the Richmond Kickers' tour bus. She's been to a couple of their games with me, so we climbed in for a look-see. It was cramped and narrow, with three-tiered sleeping cubicles. On the way out, I paused to read a 3x5 card taped to one of the front top bunks, "DC United Coach Ray Hudson slept here." I honestly didn't know whether to laugh or cry... For what it's worth.
Yeah that's it... but I fixed your post. Add about 5 more big IF's and you have DC United 2004. The rest of the league trembles at our approach... p.s. I'll glady eat a lot worse then crow if this team improves on the first round of the playoffs.