Pia's primary weakness would have been knowledge of the college game and contacts with sources in the college game. She covered this in a single brilliant move. Smart woman... Now Krikorian needs to address the international talent angle, and perhaps Pia has recommended some one for the Charge. I guess we need to be looking for some coaching annoucements from the Charge.
The assumption Paul is they're NOT already cracking?? I have no doubt Krikorian is already scouting college talent, and probably has a must see list of talent. Probably Natale was privy to that list, so the interesting question is whether the Wagner, Welsh, then Orlandos to Boston draft order gets altered due to any "new" talent discovered by Kirk, who Natale knows about?? Probably not, but I'm sure there could be some names on Kirk's go to see list, which might aid Pia a bit. Back to the international coverage angle, I wonder how names of interest to pursue by the Charge are NOW determined. In the past, as Pichon acquistion indicated, the Charge can be firecely independent. What names are there out there.. personally, I'd give Hope Powell a call, and see what her interest may be.. of course, it's not till the middle of November until you'll know for sure if she's really available.. still, I hope Pia left a couple names with Krikorian to pursue..
Thing is... This isn't an elevation for Natale, just a lateral move from one assistant coaching job to another...isn't it? He did work at U of Hartford, didn't he? Maybe it's just closer to home for him... Paul
For some reason.... ...the phrase "Et tu, Natale?" comes to mind. Pia is one thing, she was destined to be a head coach in the league sooner than later. But Natale vamoosing as well? The more I think about it, he was the last person anybody thought would bolt, at least IMO. Plus the Charge website still hasn't announced his exit which is curious, since they hustled to get the word out on Benny's award luncheon yesterday at the Ritz-Carlton vis-a-vis David Akers' charitable foundation, and that they did announce Pia's leaving in short order after she accepted the Breakers' job. The priority now is obviously to get coaching assistants, and everything else is secondary. Paul
Re: Thing is... how would it not be a promotion? he wasn't offered the first assistant position in philly, or did i miss that announcement? everybody's gotta do what's best for themselves. good for him. the charge will be fine.
Cachundo, if I can get off Friday afternoon, I'll had over there to watch the match. It'll be fairly obvious who is there. Weather is supposed to be all rain Friday due to a tripical storm projected to affect the east coast, so I don't know how the pitch would hold up. Natale was behind Pia here, now he's still behind her, but ONE slot up. The only matter about Natale is if the Oliver rumor has any truth, that's the question puzzling me. Still the 1st assistant job would pay more than #2, and Natale gets more authority, basically being in charge of college talent, and moves him up one more step towards head coaching. I say Demko becomes #3. And without much of a leap in logic, I'd say a person KNOWLEDGEAGBLE about foreign talent would become #2. Elisabeth Loisel and Hope Powell, head coaches of France and England respectively, would be people I'd speak with, either about interest or about others would be interested in WUSA. Loisel, Pichon could speak with, and Smith and talk with Powell. And Fitschen might want to get into coaching instead of promotion. Also, Pia probably would have recommended any number of others to replace her. The area needing coverage is the international scene, and some one with contacts and knowledge of personel is the person I think comes here. Right now, Krikorian is working the college scene, and Murphy should be working the international scene. And the matter with the Chinese, are they or aren't they needs to be known. I believe the last area is known, just NOT made public.
Re: Re: Thing is... We don't know who got offered what, and may not know anytime soon, unfortunately. But why would Fitschen take an immense pay cut to return to a foreign country? She doesn't seem like a true defensive coordinator. A player, hall of fame caliber, yes. Paul
But she's not going to do a now-rival team any favors, though; maybe we better prep for a major talent raid attempt (Tietjen, Monroe, Iverson). And the Charge still, as this is posted, have not said anything about Natale on their site, which fuels my belief that the parting was somewhat less than amicable. Paul
that's silly paul. you have no justification for making personnel assumption based on what is/is not posted on a website. why bother to speculate? why make trouble where there doesn't need to be any? just accept that people come and go from employment positions all the time for a variety of reasons. employers understand this. i left a very good position last year for a variety of reasons. the president of my company was not happy about it, but he took me to lunch, wished me good luck, told me to come back if i changed my mind. no hard feelings. so, good luck to pia and john in boston. hopefully, they can make the breakers a more competitive team.
I have to say that I agree with Paul on the Natale thing. I think that Mark was more than nice to bring him along from Hartford to the pros. This is that way he rewards him? To take his(Mark's) knowledge to another team? I could understand it if it was a head position. Coach K has to have at least some hurt feelings.
First, in business, NEVER let your feelings influence anything. And I agree with judymd, Paul, you're reading far too much into the presence or absence of information. How long have Krikorian and Natale been together?? I'm sure they are a solid friendship. Krikorian needs a coach with INTERNATIONAL flavor and a #2 is that job. Natale didn't fit the bill. And if Pia wants to raid the Charge, it's the waiver list, and NY and SD get first pick, so she's gotta hope NY and SD bypass anyone. Pausl, thr names you mention won't be on ANY waiver list. As to Fitschen, some people don't base decisions on money. So people base it upon happiness or the challenge presented. Fitschen's name was raised because we all know her. I doubt she is the person. NAmes like Powell or Loisel are mentioned because of their connections with Smith and Pichon. I say speak with these women. But I believe Pia would have given Kirk names to international sources to contact. And Tim Murphy isn't a dummy either. They'll select the right people. I still say Demko is #3...and the #2 will have a non-usa passport. Might be someone like Linda Medalen or Gro Espeseth from Norway, just to throw out a couple names of players some may know.
A couple names for assistants... Lauren Gregg for one; she's got the credentials. Or if she can be pried away from the UEFA champs, Monica Staab of FFC Frankfurt. Would either even be interested? And what's the game Friday that Adam and Cachundo are talking about? Paul
Lauren Gregg is more qualified than several of the Head Coaches. She would be coaching if she wanted to be. I don't think she needs to be an assistant.
I believe Poet Song has pointed out Lauren Gregg is in an administrative position with WUSA. The names like Gregg and Dicicco and Dorrance and Pelerud and Smith could ONLY be HEAD coaches, if they deemed they wished to coach in WUSA. As to the Charge foreign talent, everything is driven by the availability of Zhao. If Zhao plays next year, then I believe the replacement for Liu is Chinese. If Zhao is out, then TWO allocation slots need to be filled, and these acquisitions would be significant. The fundamental question is whether Krikorian or Murphy are up to the task, or whether Sundhage's absence creates a foreign talent evaluation void. Who knows for sure. Friday at 3:30 at Rhodes field, Cal is playing Penn, and there'll be a player in that match who could be the #6 or #7 draft pick for the Charge. If work permits, I'll take in the match...
my theory is that kirk has someone lined up who will be announced shortly and that person wasnt john natale, so he left to be the #1 assistant under pia... id only panic if there is no announcement in the next 2 weeks. i would not worry about players bolting, however since pia was so popular, we could dump players for higher than their market value, if minert retires i can see pia giving up the 3 for clemens and the 6 or 7 only plucking i could otherwise see is where the charge get a 4th rounder and in return permit speedy E to come back as a breaker, since itd be her old coach in her hometown...then again that would be speedy E comeback rumor #4737927645 i believe espseth had a child and doesnt wanna coach in the WUSA, i believe the power had some head coaching eyes on her before going with sermanni. Aarones may work. you cant outbid the chinese so coach liu is out of the question since the same amount of USD would be worth 10x as much in china. Even with fitchten id be leery of too many former players behind the bench, you dont want a faction to delevop behind the scenes where the players work for the assistants and not kirk. ill say this if we get a former charge player in one assistants spot...would it be wise to have another charge player in the other? i do however think coach demko would be a sound choice for the 2nd assistant. i would not want any of the 3 former WUSA coaches, however diluccli, maybe, he was a good assistant who was put in a tough spot as the head coach of the power, not only having to coach such a poor club but having the stigma of being college coach of one of the main reasons the team is failing. i think hes a better assistant than head coach, worth a shot if no one else could be found.
The only thing for sure is one of the assistant coaches needs access to the international game, knowing what talents are hot and has reliable sources. I wouldn't really worry about the next 2 weeks, what if the new #1 is Powell or Loisel, which I doubt, you wouldn't know until the end of November. Murphy and Krikorian just aren't saying. Big thing now is college scouting, seeing as many players as possible for the #6 and #7 slots. Losing Natale takes away a body, hopefully an other body is doing some traveling, and I'm sure Demko could more than easily handle that task. The critical question is the Chinese. are they or aren't they. if not, then getting 2 foreign slots filled is the more difficult task... I'm sure Krikorian and Murphy have their contacts in Europe, perhaps Fitschen is an intermediary, but ultimately a decision on talent level and fit into the Charge's needs will occur... I say October 10 is a magic date, nice to show off new faces at the dinner.
yes, someone needs to be hired by the 10th, otherwise ppl will wonder...id expect demko to be formally announced by then if they really are gonna hire her.
There's a whole issue about decisions being reached and decisions being announced. Just because something isn't announced, doesn't mean a process isn't on-going. The #1 assistant might have an other job, being it in college or elsewhere which requires the annoucement at a later date. What are Murphy and Krikorian doing? I assume they're doing their jobs, and this doesn't mean telling us neither. I think we were surprised by the Natale move. So was it: 1) done because a bigtime #1 is in the works, and Natale was going somewhere to be a #1... 2) or is there something else going on, which we could only speculate??
I'd agree, the whole history of the Charge has them being very competent with their moves. Krikorian distances himself from the players, so I'd think Demko could assume Pia's role of friend of the players . And that way a new face can step in and not need to fill that role. I think the name will be a name we recognize, but who it is, is total guesswork. Any recently retired Euro players doing any national coaching with u-21's?? DennisM, you have any guesses here?
The (Kix)x-factor... :crosses fingers: Tim is also in the driver's seat, front-office wise for the Kixx, and they have their season opener Saturday, and the home opener (and MISL championship banner-raising) next weekend at the Spectrum...so he's got a full plate, and Comcast may tell him to stick to the Kixx for now and the Charge come behind it. Or maybe not... Paul