The most shocking thing was the note at the bottom saying Mathis is going have a week long trial with Rangers.
Well this is an excellent example of BS.com analysts shooting their mouths off and not adding in all of the facts. I am not saying that the team didnt have a mediocre draft, but i DO find it rather amusing that the experts around here failed to factor in who it was that actually trained these future MLS stars.
I'm sorry, Owen, but who was the HEAD coach? It wasn't Trask, it was Hudson. As far as I know, Trask works for Hudson, not the other way around.
Maybe they just wanted him to hang out with the hooligans. Interesting comment about Real Madrid's supposed plan for a team in Miami. Wonder if there's anything to that.
A two-year contract? I thought I read a while ago that he had a three-year contract. Either way, I think that with him not being there for the big signing shows he's gone.
Rangers don't have a lot of money right now. It shouldn't be suprising that they'd give a trial to a player like Mathis who's out of contract.
I've been unable to get on bigsoccer as often as i used to because of my computer, so i've missed what's happening to mathis. Is he not playing for the metros at all anymore?
First, There's this guy named Jerry Yeagley who did it for decades at Indiana. Trask was just one part of that equation. Secondly, Trask left Indiana in 2000. He was there for one year with Noonan, so I hardly think he had much to do with his success. And last, John Trask is a very good defensive coach. But without Eric Eichmann in the mix, the Hudson-Trask combo has been flaccid ofeensively. That's the issue. Trask shouldn't be given so much responsibility because that's when we became the most offensively inept team in the league. He had success when working in situations with other people. But since Trask's responsibilities grew in D.C., he's been a failure on the offensive side of the ball. The original stories said it was a three-year deal so it sounds like it was two with an option.
I agree to a point Mike, but what I was trying to get at (while admittedly a bit intoxicated last night ) is that many have bashed Hudson on his player development issue inside and out, but no one here (that I recall seeing) EVER even factored in Trask. This despite the fact that he may have just as much (or more since it appears that Hudson does nothing but cheerlead) to do with developing youngsters. On top of this, Trask's record apparently isnt so bad (sure it may not be great, but its certainly above average with the list of talent he has been involved with on some level) I was surpised to read that paragraph and felt that for all of the "expert" analysis on these boards regarding this issue someone should have mentioned this before. I am not particularly pro or con Hudson at this point, I just want people to be fair and it seems like not mentioning anything about Trask's youth record is being unfair to the coaches of this team.
Oh, I've said that they should get rid of Hudson, Trask and Kaspar on more than one occasion. I think the problems we have are the fault of the entire coaching staff, but with Hudson the guy in charge the immediate responsibility is his. And Trask hasn't shown me anything as far as youth development. If anything, I think our youthful players have gotten WORSE, not better, since he came on board. Quaranta, Convey, and Quintanilla, all seem to have regressed. And if he's such a great youth developer, why haven't we seen anything meaningful out of Eskandarian, Barclay, Stokes, and Carroll? We have a LOT of young players on our team. Unfortunately, not many of them are that effective anymore, if they ever were in the first place.
It occurs to me that the MLS SuperDraft takes place on Friday, January 16. If we're gonna get a new coach for next season then we ought to make the switch SOON.
To me, this is the most significant news about Hudson we've received all season. I agree with Haydon, if Hudson was staying, he'd have been there. At a minimum it means that Payne is seriously considering not renewing Hudson/Trask's contracts. But more likely, I think we'll see Ellinger continue his excellent tutalege of Freddy here in DC. As a side note, Ellinger has coached professionally in the area before ... even before MLS, and was very successful. And he was an Assistant Coach for the Crew for a bit as well. -Digital
Please God, no. An U-17 coach is just not equipped to handle this entire group of players in the coming season. We don't need someone who has experience "tutoring" Adu. We need someone who knows how to win in this league. There's no proof Ellinger can do that better than Hudson can - and I'm not saying keep Hudson for the sake of not hiring Ellinger - I'm just saying if you are going to hire a new coach, Ellinger ain't the answer. If anything, hiring someone with league experience is even more important now, given the incredibly odd but potentially dynamic this team will feature next season and years down the road. Ed
Actually, being an Assistant Coach with the Columbus Crew gives him direct MLS experience. In fact, he's already turned down the job as head coach for the Crew, because he's a local guy, and if he were to coach in MLS, he'd want it to be DC United. Prior to that he's had experience working (pre-MLS) with pro teams as well. He was quite successful at the professional level too. So it's not like he's actually a kid's coach ... he's a professional's coach who has spent the last few years working with the U-17's. I certainly don't give him all of the credit for their development, but he surely did something right with Donovan, DaMarcus, Convey, etc., and guys like Gaven, Szetela and Adu have all made dramatic progress under Ellinger's watch. So I definitely would give him some credit for their development. Don't jump to a conclusion about Ellinger, because I think you might be a little surprised. He's not clueless about anyone or anything concerning MLS. He's a very savvy tactician who has the ability to deal with players (yes even big egos) as well as organize them (which is Trask's forte) and develop them individually. His teams have a plan and they carry it out. People wanted Hudson when the Fusion folded, and I supported that too, but all the while I said clearly that we should hold out for Sarachan ... why? Because some coaches are just obviously good. I think Ellinger is one of these. -Digital
These were almost my exact thoughts when I read it, but in the article, Hudson says it was a league event, which may mean the league is either encouraging DC to hire a new coach (in an attempt at being subtle about it) or will force DC to hire a new coach. This all means the Payne may not be the one wanting to let Ray go.