You called? I promise not to scream. Let's do look at this. When Loathsome Lothar took over the team, they finished seventh (7th) in MLS in '99. We had a pair of forwards in Cerritos and Sequiera who were starting to click with each other, a quality offensive midfielder in Dario Brose, and some other good players. 1999, Coach Quinn Ronald Cerritos, Eddie Lewis (sold to EPL), Brose, Barrett, Sequiera, Wright, Cloutier, Doyle, Mulrooney, Solis, Jamie Clark, Bower, Conrad, Jair, Tinsley, Cannon, Frye, Krammer, Weaver (retired), Farias (back to USL), O'Brien, Rodriguez. So the Loathsome one ditched some of our better guys: Sequiera for Conteh, Wright for Calichman and Burns, Clark for I don't remember who, he might have been able to keep Cloutier but let him go, Rodriguez he traded, Solis he dumped, Brose he left on the bench. And Cerritos had the phantom injury most of the season. I think he was in Lothar's doghouse, or perhaps, the reverse. In any case, Ronald didn't play much. Also Barrett was injured nearly the whole season. Basically, he rebuilt a team that did not need rebuilding. Sure we should have made some changes, but not the wholesale trading of youth and speed for age and lack of speed. Lothar remade a team built to play a 3-5-2 into a team that played a 4-5-1 or 5-4-1. He could have tried playing Brose and Azizi together. He could have played Azizi up front with Conteh. He could have played Russell on the left wing instead of Karapetyan. He could have played Clark, Doyle, and Conrad on defense, still have traded Wright but for someone more exciting and gone with two d-mids. Lothar made a bad team worse. He took some parts that he could have done something with and made them completely dysfunctional. I attended some games where our guys looked defeated before they even took the pitch. Not that I think we should have stuck with Quinn mind you, but if we had gone with Jorge Espinosa as our head coach, we would probably have done better in 2000 than we did. In Loathsome Lothar's defense, he wanted some players that one of Meterparel, Copabianco, or Gulati refused to sign for him. And having that many people in the chain of command and in control of some aspect of the roster is just crap! The coach needs to have control over who is on the team. You cannot expect your coach to produce a quality side if you don't let him have the players he wants. (Within reason, and the salary cap, of course.) We can put some of the blame on the FO, but most of it lies with Lothar. He dismantled a team that did not need dismantling, and his replacement players were mostly terrible. And, he did not make the most of what he had. GO QUAAAAAKES!!!!! - Mark
Therefore, if the coach is not allowed to go after players he wants, who's fault is that? If anything I remember distinctly reading how Lothar criticzed both Azizzi and Conteh and he regretted ever having gotten them. I'm not so sure they were really his picks anyway as I have a feeling the league dealt him those guys. You could also blame Quinn for getting rid of Baicher and also blame the MLS for not letting Baicher back in San Jose in 2000, He opted to play for the Seals if I recall along with Dayak and he won player of the year. The MLS/Sunil or whomever wouldn't let Baicher back with the club becuase his rights were with KC. Talk about crap league. If anyone is to blame for San Jose's downfall not to mention their lack of fan interest from 1997-2000 as well as the balme for their eventual move , I put the blame directly on the MLS along with the whole Meterparel/Kraft/Sunil & AEG's organizations.
Falvo my friend! There was plenty of blame to go around, no doubt about it. Quinn trading Baicher for Jair was bad. Lothar trading Wright for Calichman and Burns was bad too. Azizi wanted to join the Quakes. So yeah, MLS gave him to us, but the guy's a World Class, World Cup player. Hell, after he played for us, he had a successful career in the Bundesliga. He's not a slouch. Conteh was Loathsome Lothar's pick. He could have kept Sequiera instead. Lothar played Karapetyan instead of Russell. Quinn yelled instructions at his players constantly, thus distracting them. Quinn played Joey Martinez, even started him! Yeuch! Lothar picked Travis Mulraine. One of the worst players and teammates ever to suit up in MLS. But yes, it is also true that the FO interfered with Lothar's personnel decisions. Sure we can put a lot of the blame on Gulati and Meterparel, but it was Lothar who coached them, and Lothar who failed to prepare them. But you know what? Our coach for '08 will be way better than either Quinn or Lothar! We're going to get to watch a team be constructed from the ground up. We might not be very good in '08, but it's going to be way, way better than '06 and '07. Say it with me now . . . GOOOOOO QUAAAAAAKES!!!!! - Mark
That goes for Calichman and Burns, too. I don't believe they were Lothar's picks. Where did they come from? That's right, the Revs. The same as that guy, Jair, who was traded for Baicher. Baicher was sent to New England and stayed there for about three minutes (if he ever physically relocated). I do not remember clearly, but I believe that Lothar played Dario Brose. It was Yallop who refused to play Brose because he had Ekelund (just ask spejic!!!). I can't remember the bit about Baicher's rights being with KC, but you could well be right. One thing that Lothar told me was that he was counting on having Eddie Lewis who he knew from before, to build the team around, but was steamed because Lewis was exported.
Well it was just a thought. I'm not saying Lothar did well in his past stint with the Quakes but now with new regime, maybe he could do better? Maybe he is past his prime and it he wouldn't work out, anyway. I'm just saying however, Lothar made both Dom and John into professional players when he coached Fremont Celtic. I can't remember what year but I want to say 1989 I believe, Lothar took an amateur team to the Concacaf Champions Cup round robin tournament and I remember the team playing against a Mexican team on the radio. I remember with Lothar at the helm he obtained some decent results and both John & Dom ( & I think Troy) played. Granted that was 20 years ago however, considering his short lived stay with the Quakes, and the way the team was in such disarray from Quinn & the Krafts, I can't believe he was the worst coach ever and that it was all his fault. Also, at least Quinn was given most of 3 seasons whereas Lothar was given just one.Whomever the coach will be I'm sure with the new management and more freedom, the coach will prove to be a lot better than 1997-2000.
Correction, I think Lothar was coaching the SF Greek -Americans in the Concacaf CL w/ Doyle & Kinnear. Fremont Celtic I believe was the name of their youth club, I think. Oh well we are talking about 18-19 years ago so I guess have a right to forget,
Mark, with all due respect, I believe you are mistaken. Khodadad Azizi did not go back to the Bundesliga after he played with the Quakes. As far as being World class, I never thought neither he nor Conteh were. After having lived in Italy and being an observer when Fiorentina dropped down to the C2 (4th division) in 2002, I did not think Azizi was anything even close to being a typical 2nd division player at best. As a world class strker , he should have dominated the MLS with no problem and he was far from it! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khodadad_Azizi