I thought of that as I said it, but usually I think academy coaches are less transient than head coaches. In either case, the task is not impossible, I guess I was just questioning the idea that it'd be inconsequential or easy to lure the talent away from Boca's youth system, which is still pretty renowned and producing players of Pavon's caliber.
Let's start a go-fund-me and buy Galaxy or at least let the fans be part owners of the whole enchilada. But yeah, we can start with a thread.
No reason to think AEG has an interest in selling now - particularly where this year the value would be depressed by COVID-19. But Phil is getting old and who knows what happens when he passes.
AEG the company isn’t the problem as much as Klein and his friend/immediate boss being the problem. If we could somehow get a good President (where have I heard that before?) we could right this ship. AEG has deep pockets and a lot of great connections and assets in the sports/entertainment industry. We just need them to hire a smart ambitious FO and we could get back to crushing.
AEG supports Klein, they hired him and they trust him to run our shitshow. They are the problem, not Klein, he is just a hired hand.
There was a time when Uncle Phil was passionate about LAG. It was almost a vanity project. He gave it his attention - I remember him walking the grounds at HDC-as-was and instructing an aide "more roses here, more plantings there." Given how big his company was and what a relatively small potatoes enterprise LAG was, I was surprised that he was personally involved. For some reason he actually cared about the GaLAxy. I think the last time he showed up at the stadium was the last time LAG won MLS Cup. Everything since has been delegated to his non-soccer factotum who in turn hired Klein. As I mentioned, he is getting up in years, 80 years old now, and frankly I don't see any sign that at this point in his life he really cares any more. It's like with the Cup win, his work here was done and he had accomplished what he wanted to do, Certainly the way the club has been run suggests he doesn't care. After the NFL debacle and Tim's departure, it seems like LAG is just a line item in AEG's portfolio. If it is in the black, no one is going to ask what the product on the field looks like. And if it goes into the red this year, that will be written off to the pandemic. Or more likely, AEG will have so many bigger COVID-related problems to deal with that LAG will not come to anyone's attention
This might be a dumb question, but what’s the difference between what Beckerman does and Klein? I know what DtK does, but what do Klein and Beckerman do specifically?
Very nice post Cadaver. Just to add to it for what it's worth, I read or heard about a year ago that there was a religious connection between Kline and Uncle Phil. Nothing to do with their beliefs but it goes to the bond they share. Klein should have been relieved a while back but there is a bond there and that plus the fact Anszhutz may be past the point of caring for what his team is doing or not doing further supports the argument that new ownership who cares is now required for Galaxy to return to its competitive winning ways.
I know they (well Beckerman) hired Klein. I'm saying that AEG as a company is ideally positioned to own and promote an MLS team (because of their entertainment promotion expertise, stadium resources and deep pockets) if they would hire the right guy/gal to run the Galaxy. If they did that and then gave the person free rein and $$ there is no reason we couldn't be back at the tip-top of the heap.
No and yes. There are two sets of problems. AEG controls the budget and the signing of DP players, or at least the really big contract ones. As reported on COG and elsewhere, AEG forced the signing of Gerrard and Gio on Bruce. I am quite sure that they favored the signing of Chicharito over other possible candidates because of his presumptive attraction for Mexican fans. On the other hand, Klein and his buddies are responsible for a boatload of bad TAM and undercap signings. IMO, getting an ambitious winning oriented controlling force like Leiweke is what the Galaxy need. That type of executive can clean out the front office and oversee better DO signings.
I do think the real issue is the loss of Lieweke and lack of attention from Anschutz, who within AEG, were knowledgeable about and invested in the soccer side. All Beckerman cares about is the balance sheet and capturing the Mexican market at all costs. Beckerman recently renewed Klein's contract, so in his mind Klein is succeeding somehow.
Afraid so. He got a five-year extension after 2017, the worst season in Galaxy history where we finished in last place. I tried to find a official press release on it to see how they justified that -- but perhaps they didn't bother (or just wasn't able to find it in 5 minutes of half-hearted Googling). Renting to the Chargers happened under Klein, but otherwise it's hard to think of too many things to celebrate about him as a President circa 2017.
Oh. When you said "recently" I thought you meant in the last year. Extending him in 2017 was dumb but that bothers me less than if they were doubling down on him now. I just need a tiny ray of hope that they are waking up to the fact that he is not the right man for the job and that there has to be accountability for (non-)results.
In fairness, he has gotten results since then: oversaw the signing of Zlatan and Chicharito (AEG's Golden Goose). The team narrowly missed the playoffs the following year, and made it the year after. The biggest blunders have been letting the academy kids slip away, but I'm not sure AEG cares about that. In terms of bottom line, I'm betting 2018 and 2019 were great, which probably validated Klein's extension in their eyes. If we're still able to flip Pavon for a profit as well, that should also count in his favor. Our form is bad, but not dramatically worse than last year when we'd have 3-4 game losing streaks. As always, the real measuring stick is the playoffs and I don't think there's anyone at AEG paying attention to any of these humiliating defeats or the fact that we lack identity. If Klein has to fire GBS to ensure we make the playoffs (after having to payout Onalfo, Sigi and Gio) then there might be talks Edit: To be clear, I'm saying this is how AEG would see it, not me per se.
And that's the one thing with AEG. If there's any owner that can make a Messi or Ronaldo come to MLS....
Sad if what MP#9 is saying is close to the truth and it might be. It means that it's the bottom line that dictates actions alone. Not a combination of money and performance or competitiveness which bodes badly for the fans. If they still see FO performance as half-full then there is no hope. The shitshow is open-ended and the brand will continue to deteriorate.
I agree. It's been my experience that executive level management is seldom, if ever, held responsible for bad tactical or strategic decisions or bad personnel decisions. Meanwhile, mid level management is held responsible for failing to make a silk purse out of a pile of pig excrement. Consequently, it would not surprise me to see another GM and coaching staff after the 2021 season. Kind of like the announcement of a new Soviet 3 - 5 year plan.