Can't say I'm stunned. In fairness we are .500 record though it hasn't looked great at times. The new players didn't match Dom's style. But I still feel he was a competent coach. I wish Leitch the best of luck. https://www.sjearthquakes.com/post/...oach-dominic-kinnear-and-assistant-coach-john
Seems like a real re-boot of styles given the concurrent change in assistants too. Wondo is at loss of some playing time now with Vako coming in?
Well that's nice of you. =) I think the empty seats told a story. People just didn't want what Dom was offering.
As I was just saying in the post-game thread: It would be nice to really beat up on opposing teams once in a while, 1) fans like to watch their team crush the opposition and 2) fans like to see lots of goals. That matters when the Quakes haven't made the playoffs since 2012 and Avaya Stadium looks half empty at most games. The Quakes still only have one multi-goal win in the last calendar year (3-0 over Portland on May 6, their previous one was 3-1 over Houston on May 11, 2016).
There were a lot of empty seats last night. Personally I don't think Leitch will sell tickets. Season ticket renewals were just sent out so maybe they needed a refresh for that. We are only a couple points out of 2nd place. Situation hardly screamed for prompt sacking.
Hopefully it's an interim thing (like when Leitch was GM) until they bring in someone from outside the organization.
Hey Chris, now can the playing field (corner-flag to corner-flag) be widened to the proper 75 yards width as it was to great effect for both the USWNT's and USMNT's first visits to Avaya Stadium? GO SAN JOSE EARTHQUAKES!!! -G
Leitch doesn't have to sell tickets. Leitch needs to have a winning team, that plays attractive, and sometimes cavalier, football. I think most people who are vested in the club believe we can do that with the players that we have and were continually disappointed when it didn't happen. Great point about the timings of the STH renewals.
Only if Chris wants to play a 5-3-2. Quakes defense is not mobile enough to cover wider space. I would be on board with 3 centerbacks and Lima and Colvey outside on a wide field.
Oh, stop it. He truly is a nice guy, a very different personality from Dom, and he may be way more effective in the job. I hope he is. But the timing on this is so odd -- no international search, more like a "we have to get rid of this guy TODAY!" that it's hard to believe that this was a reasoned decision. I do think we will get a honeymoon boost from this transition, so the Seattle and LA games may actually have a better outcome than they would have otherwise. Longer term, well, we'll see.
Wow, that went south quickly...after all the happy talk of bringing in a DP. There must have been a massive blow up regarding the direction of team tactics and possibly player selection. When they brought in Covelo a change seemed inevitable. Poor Dom, he got the Sigi treatment... fired weeks from getting the benefit of Valeri at Seattle.
I'm guessing it's a big part of it. The fact they fired Spencer after only half a season and that Kinnear's replacement comes from inside the organization indicates that this move was determined only very recently, probably last week after ticket reps received a blizzard of non-renewal communiques.
I don't feel sorry for Dom in the slightest. Kip, Jackson and TT have been getting the "Dom treatment" for far too long.
It certainly was disrespectful the way it was handled, the morning after a win and the team in playoff position while awaiting a midsummer DP reinforcement. Kinnear should have been let go in the offseason when he might have hooked on with another MLS club. Not handled well, at all.
Donald Trump's firing of Jim Comey was handled more professionally and with greater fore-thought. This was plainly a reaction to a fan insurrection over the season ticket renewal emails. So the fan base should be congratulated. No plane-with-a-banner buzzing the stadium required.
This is intended to be funny not serious but is there a bit of irony that our replacement is a journeyman fullback taking over for a 2-way centermidfielder who played for the national team?
Dom may have known the writing was on the wall, so it might not have been as precipitous as it looks to us. Getting fired is rarely a complete surprise to anyone. My guess, based on nothing but idle speculation, is that Jesse was fed up with Dom's intractability and stubborn attitude and said "enough." Especially if they've got 20,000 unsold Clasico tickets.
We are all guessing but to me the lack of ticket sales or renewals or empty seats is the likely scenario. On the field we were projected to be at the bottom of MLS and are midtable. I spdon't think this is results driven though we have looked crappy at times. Heck we are in playoff position.
I guess not, from the article on the MLS site: According to multiple reports, Leitch will not have an interim tag, but has been hired as the full-time head coach.