No sh!t. This is what we all believed and had understood to be reported before this Hunter article. I hope to God that Andrulis is gone. If he isn't, I'll probably have to go to the games at Zak's house.
if it's popular enough I'd rent a couple of strippers for a show after each match. Christ I think if I did that I'd have more lads at my house than at the stadium.
They're always hounding me for season ticket purchases even though I live north of Detroit. I'll be glad to tell them hell no if Andrulis stays. Sh1t, I'll have to start doing what I do for the NFL season. Pick a backup team to root for.
Just out of curiosity, but was there this much outcry against Andrulis last year, when the Crew won the Open Cup and made it to the semifinals in the playoffs? If not, then maybe some should rethink the dumping of your club. You guys had a lot of injuries. if I remember a Connelly article correctly from mid-September, the Crew's record when they had the choice starting eleven was really very good. Sure, mistakes were made along the way. I have no actual attachment to Andrulis, so stay or go won't bother me as much as you Crew fans. But there do seem to be some other factors behind not making the playoffs then just Greg being a bad coach. If he does stay, chances are the management is looking at how well 2002 went and how the club did have injury or call-up problems. They'll give him a shot next year because of that (not many, if any, pro sports teams would fire a coach following a bad season if it was just one year after winning a title-say division title for other sports-and making it to just one game away from the title game). Be patient. If the Crew still suck come next April or May, he'll be gone. Right now, using American pro sports logic, he'll stay.
Injuries and callups cannot explain the poor play leading up to this weekend - our squad was for the most part at full health. We only had one bright spot in the middle of this disgraceful season - when we traded Dunseth up until Williams played his first game. Other teams have dealt with injuries and will be playing post season. Heck, even DC slithered into the playoffs with a bunch of near retirees, injuries, etc... No, the problems in the Crew organization can be weighted probably along these lines... 1. Terrible inconsistency from both marquee players and players that showed incredible talent one season before stinking up the next. Fault = players and management 2. Head coach has been outcoached numerous times since he took over, most notably in the playoffs in 2001. Style was "let the players run the show" but has since changed to, well is there any consistency to Greg? True he has injuries to deal and call-ups to deal with but that does not excuse the poor performance recently. Greg cannot manage the talent he has on/off the field and with the skill available it is embarrasing to see the Crew on the sidelines this season. 3. Injuries and call-ups. Martino has never been the same since his injury. Buddle was out for extended periods. McBride was called up. Cunningham also gone during that Buddle time. West had personal problems. Torres left for home. Garcia was tired/injured, something. Busch. 4. Poor officiating. Should never be a crutch and I hate to use it, but there are far too many instances this season compared to the previous seven where poor to inexcusable officiating directly affected the outcome of the match. 5. MLS. Refuses to enforce its own laws and standards of conduct in regards to some of the true disgraces in this sport. Heck, they can fine Jim Smith for losing his head but not even recognize abuse of officials, blantant diving and other infractions unless they break someones leg or cause some season ending injury. Heck they celebrated a dive in the penalty area as a successful return on their web page. MLS can suck my nutsack.
Let's see if you can follow this one Einstein Greg Andrulis = Tony Dungy Columbus Crew = Tampa Bay Bucaneers Dungy/Andrulis make playoffs, win division, lose playoffs. Dungy fired, following season Tampa Bay wins the Super Bowl... You see, it happens, teams do that sort of stuff when they know they have the players yet not the results. Besides, I wouldn't base any ideas solely off of the literary works of one Mark Connelly, leave it to the folks who actually follow the team. A year ago is not today, and should not reflect his job status. Bill Parcells won the Super Bowl with the Giants, but how many teams has he been with since? Yeah, thought so.
I don't even follow NFL, but I can match your example without even having to toss off a sarcastic slander at your intellect (remember, this is a message board and not the playground at MLS Daycare). Chicago Bears coach (not sure his name, but the current one): Team won the division couple of years back but squashed in first playoff game. Last year they finished dead last in division (I think, going by conversations I've heard at work since, again, I do not follow NFL) or very close to dead last. Far out of playoffs. This season, horrible start according to my in-laws, with team looking like playoffs are a miracle. Yet he's still there. Yeah, some coaches do get fired. My point was that overall, the majority of coaches who have a successful season followed by a bad one do not get canned immediately following the bad one. The ownership/GM takes the time to evaluate whether the poor season was simply the coach is no longer capable or whether there were several factors. If there are several factors (and judging by other postings on this topic, there were at least a few that don't directly reflect how Andrulis is as coach) then typically they will be given a grace period. Look at our soccer world. Two examples from England. Hoddle at Tottenham has had a few disappointing seasons, but they still let him start this year out to see if the new players could gel and he could get the best from the club. When it was apparent he couldn't, they tossed his ass. Roeder at West Ham. The team was relegated, but he was still allowed to come back this year and given a few games to prove his worth before the sack came. Rongen at United. From champs to no playoffs, but he still got another season. Zambrano at Metrostars: took them to semi-finals in 2000, less in 2001 but he came back in 2002. Look, I'm not saying Andrulis should stay. I'm just saying that the reality is he probably will stay, due to the fact that they have had recent success, and the GM will give him a slight break because of it. Like I said, if the Crew start out next year poor, he'll be gone by May. But, overall in American sports, I don't think the majority of teams would axe a coach one season removed from great success. I'd like to see a new coach come in. But the reality is, it most likely won't happen until 2004. I honestly don't think giving up on attending games will change that, unless attendance drops far down.
actually, JCunited, if you want to do a post search, I was calling for andrulis' head from the second he got hired and even after the open cup win said that he shouldn't come back this season. It was a case of the players win despite the coach. He's terrible, he doesn't know *#*#*#*# about coaching, and has made so many mistakes that only a *#*#*#*#ing idiot would want him as his head coach. There is no excuse for him coming back next season. none.
To use another NFL example -- I think Jimmy Johnson would agree with that. Also, don't forget that while the Bucs were winning their Superbowl, the new team of Tony Dungy were getting thumped in the playoffs. Everyone has their weakness, for Tony Dungy it is coaching in the playoffs. For Greg Andrulis, it is coaching.
JC you obviously don't follow the Crew. We didn't have recent success. We won the US Cup and we are thankful for that but we squeaked by and I think that had more to do with certain players on the team than Andrulis no matter how unfair that is to say. You obvioudly haven't seen the looks on the faces, the comments made away from the stadium. Not once have I read or heard about a player coming out and saying "We have faith that we can turn this around" All you hear is "I don't know' There is a total lack of leadership. But thanks for giving us your opinion based on little experience of the problem.
Eggy, No, I don't follow them as closely as you do. No, I do not hear what players say after the game, and don't see how they look except on TV. However, to call a US Open Cup 2002 championship and an appearance in the MLS Playoff semi-finals (not losing the series by much) in 2002 as not being successes is just silly. Yes, maybe Andrulis had nothing whatsover to do with it. But he's still the coach of those teams. Do you think the GM is going to look at those recent non-successes and say "Well, Greg had nothing to do with it whatsoever, so I'll can his ass."? Unless there are problems between management and coach, or there is a history of not being able to get the job done (aka Dir in Dallas getting close but never making it over the hump). Andrulis not making the playoffs in 2 of the last 3 years does hurt him, but like I said before, he'll be given a shot next year to show what he's got. If the Crew still underachieve in April and May, he'll be gone. You guys don't like the coach, and that's cool. I love to see that passion amongst MLS supporters. But you don't luck into winning a Open Cup title or getting to the semi-finals of the playoffs. Greg A. deserves some kind of credit for 2002. Maybe not much, but more then your dismissive post gives him, which is none.
I don't think you get it pal. The team is not happy. When players and fans are unhappy you must sort out the cause and that's the coach. Everyone here knows that. We don't need you to play Devil's advocate and your opinion means nothing to us.
Sure, he deserves some of the credit for 2002, but that also means he deserves blame for 2003. He can't have it both ways. It's 2003 now. His contact is gone unless MLS and the Crew renew. It boils down to this: 2002 - USOC champs, almost make finals to 2003 - no USOC success, no playoffs How anybody on this planet can argue as devil's advocate or otherwise that the coaching staff and majority of players deserve to keep their jobs is beyond me, especially when the team has yet to make MLS finals and has been and continues to be a below average team. Jeezus H on a popsickle stick, something went horrible wrong. We bombed. We ate cabbage and sliders'(tm) then sat in the board room meeting. We WUSA'ed. How anybody can stand back as say "don't overreact, a little make-up here and some transplants there, and some extensions there and we are as good as new" - is dressing up a pig.
Your argument has just been countered by the Boston Red Sox. They just fired their manager after he took them within 1 inning of the World Series. The speculation is that it had to do with the Game 7 collapse where he failed to manage and lost against the Yankees. Past successes didn't matter. Neither should the matter when deciding Greg's future. An 8th place finish is not acceptable WITH THE TALENT HE HAD AVAILABLE.
No, we're not. The Red Sox fired a successful manager who won over 90+ games each season, took them one inning from the World Series before having a brain-fart. We have a manager (coach) who took a very talented group nowhere while sucking the life out of them.
Is it common in American sports for what happened to the Red Sox manager to happen to others? If so, didn't the Cubs blow three in a row? I'm not trying to play devil's advocate here. Hell, my team made the playoffs and I'm still not sure about Hudson being the right man for that job. My original point is that it is common in our sporting society for a coach with past success to be given another shot after a bad season. You guys are pissed about the job Greg's done, and that's cool. I"m just saying that the Crew management are looking at what he did in 2002, and how they missed out on 2003 playoffs by a single point and probably give him another shot. I was bringing this up because some posters were talking of giving up on the team if they keep him around. I sat through two atrocious years of Rongen. That coming after his Revolution debacle. Considering that, I hope the Crew do what's best for them. I just have doubts that will happen before 2004.
It's just as common the other way around. The Vikings fired Green after an unsuccessful year (maybe two) without considering all the succes he had prior. The Yankees were notorious (pre-Torre) of firing managers for losing the World Series. Hargrove was fired in Cleveland after a bunch of titles in a row. Dungy in TB for not getting to the Super Bowl. There's quite a few to support either case. Therefore, a historical trend is not necessarily keeping Andrulis in his job. Smith's incompetence seems to be responsible for that (or maybe HSG's lack of responsiveness to the situation).