Hard to believe, after all that has happened, that Jay will get the CEO position. If he was going to get it, it would have happened. I doubt Jay will stay if he is not promoted. So, Gregg will probably outlast his brother and be the only Berhalter for awhile. Jay will probably become President of the Colorado Rapids or something and hire Gregg when his USMNT gig is done.
Those decisions are usually made by multiple people...a committee of some sort. Anu USMNT employees here who can speak on the committee? Who comprises it...which persons make recommendations and then who it is that makes the approval? I'm nearly 100% certain that the USMNT head coach is approved by the President, who in this case is Cordiero. Post-interview recommendations would be made by McBride, Stewart, and potentially others associated with the professional administrative wing (Professional Council) and maybe even a players association. I'm not sure what their internal controls are, but these things are generally decided by committees as a best practice.
What is clear to me is that there's The head coach contract is approved by the Board -- I think the money is simply too big to be anything else. There was a sub-committee -- I think Earnie, someone from the players (Bocanegra?) and another person that did the legwork.
Trying to pass on some of the things I have learned over the years ⚽️⚽️⚽️ pic.twitter.com/ShrChXT7Jo— @FreddyAdu (@FreddyAdu) November 18, 2019
what essentially will be McBride's job? Will he be a company man or actually redo everything that's failed to this point?
Keeping in touch with dual nationals---so hopefully, we avoid JoGo and Efrain situations. In the case of JoGo, that would have meant getting in Arena's grilll to tell him to go ahead and cap the kid. In the case of Efra and his parents, that would have meant having someone high up in USSF to complain to, if the family truly thought Efra had been mistreated. Building relationships with clubs on the player fitness side---so hopefully, we avoid Sargent and Miles Robinson situations. Building relationships on the player availability side. Advising GGG on any needed course corrections. Acting as a bridge between Earnie and Gregg. Acting as a bridge between the players and Gregg. Acting as a bridge between the players and the successful traditions of the past.
There's an old saying in Spanish: "el papel aguanta todo" (= you can put anything on paper). Until I don't see any actual change, I'm sticking to my theory: they're just increasing layers to spread out the blame when things come crashing down. It's the same in corporations: a sign they're about to go belly up is when they multiply the middle-management roles. The further removed you are from the bottom-rung monkeys, the less likely you'll get scrutinized and your name on the press once the whole thing collapses.
If a Bridge is needed between Earnie and General Egg, then the situation is more crapalaciously cocked up than we have imagined. If a Bridge is needed between the players and General Egg, then the situation is more crapalaciously cocked up than we could possibly imagine. What we may be facing here is another beautiful example of a Bridge to Nowhere.
It also brings to my mind another old Spanish saying: "el último mono es el que se ahoga" (the monkey at the bottom is the one who drowns). Which, of course, means when a big company fails and the board of directors escape with all the money, the ones who end up in jail are the janitors. Some things never change.
Or, you know, like in most corporations, when you need resourcing to accomplish key tasks, you go get it. We used to try and shoehorn coach and technical director into one job. The person barely did one of those jobs. People like Gulati and Jay Berhalter weighed in on soccer stuff. New management comes in with the promise of soccer people running soccer. Soccer guys come in, realize there's a ton of work, hire an extra guy. Guy has complementary skills. Not everything in this world is sinister. Earnie was a competent technical director (actually quite successful) in the Netherlands, and he built a strong development system in Philly with a cheap owner.
Sure, all that you write is valid. My point is that I won't believe it until I see some actual changes. Because anything can be put to paper. And the last monkey is the one who drowns.
An even more optimistic take, depending on how you view Jay and his ilk, is that: Earnie came in but realized that he reported directly to Flynn/Jay. With the GM reporting directly to the CEO, and the coach reporting to him, there was easy access to soccer decisions by the business staff. Earnie proposes to the board to put another layer in, so the GMs report to a TD. Honestly, I don't know if the TD reports to the CEO or the board. It might even be another layer called the technical committee. In the new scenario, the TD would have a budget and make independent decisions on soccer matters as long as the budget will not be exceeded. I don't know if Earnie currently has this. Tab did not have a budget and had to get authorization, infamously from Jay for a GK coach, which allowed the business guys to be involved in soccer decisions. This scenario is better if the TD has an independent annual budget. If every expense has to be approved by the CEO or another "suit", then nothing is really independent and all the soccer people in the org chart matters little.
Before the press conference, I was 1000% unimpressed, and I really like McBride and completely came around on him a few decades ago after being one of those idiots that used to gloss him McHead, and always felt he was overhyped. It took '02-'06 for me to clue into the fact that he was a classic, "do all the little things and always do them well" guys. Not a lot of flash, not a lot highlight reel goals, just rarely ever screwing up and nearly always adding something needed while punching in goals at a rate that was guaranteed to keep him as one of our top 5 goal scorers ever for a decade or two after he retired for sure. Anyway, my concern with this is the same as yours: zero qualifications to be a GM in any sense of the term in modern sports. Zero. So it feels like a fluff position that you can fire and lay blame on if things go wrong, since what the heck is the difference between a technical director and a gm and whatever the hell amalgam Ernie is. The one thing I liked hearing was that he clearly is engaged in the idea of fighting for our dual nationals, and in flipping the idiotic script we've been using for the past decade. So I like that. Beyond that, I flat out don't understand it, beyond the idea that it's just more bureaucracy, maybe it takes some things off Stewart's desk while also adding another layer he can fire and blame if things continue to go sideways.
A national team GM isn't really a GM in any traditional sense, since the primary role of most general managers is player acquisition. And that doesn't exist here. His version of player acquisition is working with the clubs, the young players, making sure players are available. Perhaps some scouting. Convincing dual nationals. His job description seems to have a lot of things that people consider fluff - media relations, club relations, culture. But it's important fluff. I think it's weird that US Soccer has this reputation of putting bureaucracy in place to protect their jobs .. when have we really seen that? For years, the coach has reported to either the CEO or basically directly to the president/board. Is there something in the history here I'm missing?
Comparing this position to the GM of a pro sports team is off, imo. McBride doesn't have to: - Acquire players by trading money or other players - Acquire free agents - Negotiate contracts Consider Lagerway, or Earnie previously, the main parts of their jobs is the above three. McBride has to: - Maintain communication with players - Maintain communication with players' clubs - Oversee the coach That is not a GM job like GM of the Yankees. There is very little parallel. He suggested the parallel of team captain in England. That very well could be closer to the job than an actual GM job. Hiring a coach is the only overlap, but that seems like something anyone with soccer expertise and people skills should be able to do. Markgraff did it with even more limited experience. What i think is good is that I don't think Earnie was particularly good at the communication part. Gregg seemed also not very good at the club communication part. So, someone was needed.
Monterrey is pretty good. I don't know how you evaluate so many teams from different leagues. https://www.fifa.com/clubworldcup/matches/match/400089364/#match-summary They have Atlanta United higher ranked than Leicester City, which is absurd.
I'm just trying to say that I think he's going to try and do what he was hired to do. It's possible those who hired him did so as a smoke screen and will ignore him but he doesn't know anything about that if that's what happened. For now, until I see evidence to the contrary, I'll take them at their word. McBride's work ethic and character will have him doing all the small but important stuff that has been on the back burner. he will try and impart how important it is to give it all on the field etc.
Honestly, I think they're just trying to put in place a modern administrative structure. I do wish the hires had less of a 'good ol boys club' vibe to them, though.
I do not think their motivation for this move was to put in place a "modern administrative structure". Unless their model is the Mandarin Class in DC,