DALLAS BURN MEDIA ADVISORY DALLAS - The Dallas Burn will hold a press conference at the team's office on Friday, September 19 at 2:30 p.m. to announce the appointment of the new President and General Manager of the Burn. WHAT: Press conference to announce and introduce the new President and General Manager of the Dallas Burn. WHEN: Friday, September 19 at 2:30 p.m. WHERE: Dallas Burn office 14800 Quorum Drive, Suite 300 Dallas, TX 75254 WHO: Lamar Hunt, Hunt Sports Group Clark Hunt, Hunt Sports Group Hunt Sports Group President John Wagner Hunt Sports Group Vice-President Dan Hunt Outgoing Burn President and General Manager Andy Swift
Andy wouldn't say this 'exactly', but then again, he's very good at not giving anything away. He let me know about the 'situation' and gave me a timeline. Let's just say it's not who I want it to be.
According to Chris Berman, "Reports are that Greg Elliott (former SVS&E San Jose) is the new Dallas GM. And they got rid of Andy Swift. I give up." http://216.198.206.182/USsoccerUK_Forum/thread-view.asp?threadid=253&start=255&posts=259 Now that makes sense -- hire one of the folks responsible for screwing things up in San Jose. Brilliant! I wonder what's next for the Burn. Maybe they could hire, say, Fernando Clavijo to be our new coach?
Hey uh dude, that link goes to Chris BERGIN, not Chris Berman. How the heck would some limey have a clue (not to mention care) who gets the Burn GM job?
From MLS Confidential 1. DALLAS DOINGS, PART II: The search for a new Dallas Burn coach may have just begun, but the process of selecting a replacement for President and General Manager Andy Swift is over. Greg Elliott, Silicon Valley Sports & Entertainment vice president and overseer of the Quakes operations when the team was run by that organization, has been picked to replace Swift, who has announced he is stepping down at the end of the season. Phone messages left for Elliott at his SVS&E office were not returned. Hunt Sports Group president John Wagner, who announced the dismissal of Coach Mike Jeffries Monday, declined to comment. The team has scheduled a press conference for Friday to introduce Elliott, who served as de facto GM for the Quakes in 2001 when they won the league title. At the time he worked with Director of Soccer Chris Chamides, who left the organization at the end of the season. With the hiring of Johnny Moore as general manager prior to the 2002 season and a joint partnership having been formed by SVS&E and Anschutz Entertainment Group to jointly run the team, Elliott became a liaison between the two entities and MLS. SVS&E pulled out of the partnership last December, leaving AEG to foot losses that could total more than $1.5 million this season. Most of Elliott's experience is in sponsorship and marketing, although he's a fan of the English Premier League as well as Bayern Munich. He was vice president of corporate partnerships at SVS&E.
Sorry for the brain dump, dude. I think Alzeimer's may be settling in. That's the 2nd time in the past few weeks that I've mangled up the last name of a friend/colleague.
Before I put my head in my hands and wonder if HSG selected this guy as a lowest bid from a long line of folks responsible for destroying the San Jose franchise - what has this dude actually accomplished? Someone give me a reason to be positive about this? Did he have a hand in their improved uniform look? Was he the deciding influence in getting Landon Donovan to MLS? Besides working for a hockey company that dabbled then bailed on MLS - why in the f==k is this guy good for the Dallas Burn? And damn HSG moved fast on this. Where the hell were they backin July when the wheels came off. Standing around with their thumbs up their but at Dragon going "where'd everybody go?"
Now you can see that Jago would've been the MUCH more preferable option. But, this is HSG... they have their own reasons, and they're not going to impart all the details, even if it sounds reasonable. Don't get me wrong, I love what they've done for the Burn where Frisco is concerned. But, as most know, they canned a GREAT representative of Dallas soccer, latino fans, and just-as-important, kept the passion alive where hardcore fans are concerned. Andy Swift. HSG might bring us to American soccer in-the-long-run (thank you and spank you miss soccer mom), but it SURE HAS BEEN PAINFUL IN THE PROCESS!!!
hsg might be taking necessary steps to put the appropriate marketing machine in place to cater to soccer mom, but they'll fall short because of their 'minimalist' way of doing business. they cost cutting measures they put in place cut the throat of american soccer and elliot will constantly bump heads with them. dragon's hell just got hotter.
Surely it has got to be because "he's a fan of the English Premier League as well as Bayern Munich." It is not too much to ask that he have some interest in MLS is it?
I wonder if this decision immediately makes the Quake assistant coach the front-runner in the Burn coaching sweepstakes.
Just got back from the press conference. My first impression is that Greg Elliott will be a very different kind of general manager than Billy Hicks or Andy Swift. Both of those guys were general managers of a league-run team that were tenants of a run-down municipal stadium who were focused primarily on selling tickets, selling sponsorships, and making the Burn a more attractive buy for a prospective owner. Elliott will be different. He's a guy that will be taking over a team with an owner, eight years of experience under its belt, eight years of tradition, and its very own stadium in 18 months. However, he's not just a corporate beancounter. The guy is a lifelong soccer fan. He started off by talking about how running a pro soccer team in the US is a lifelong dream of his and that he considered this position as one of the premier administrative jobs in US soccer because of this team's history and because of what's right around the corner for this team. He also talked a great deal about bringing the Burn back to where it was before -- a perennial contender -- and taking it that one step beyond. He talked about his time with the Quakes and the thinking that went into the hiring of Frank Yallop. And you get the impression that he wants to do the same thing with the Burn: Worst to first, and all that. I also got the impression when he was answering some coaching-related questions that he and HSG are not going to content to simply remove the "interim" tag from Colin Clarke's title if the Burn do well in the next six games. It's not simply his job to lose. Tobias Lopez asked if there was a standard for the results that the Burn would have under Clarke in order for him to get the permanent job. Elliott replied that it had less to do with results and more to do with how the players responded to him, how he handled the tactical game situations, how he ran his practices, and so on. He also said that he feels that a big part of turning around the Burn's business side is to turn the team around on the field. This provoked a question from me, asking in essense if that was the case, how did he explain the fact that the Quakes, despite having one of the best teams in the league and the most recognizable American soccer player, still struggled at the gate? His response was two-fold: He pointed out that during SVS&E's tenure as the operator of the Quakes, they increase paid attendance and sponsorship by 50%, but that was not publicly apparent because the previous operators, the Krafts, had apparently cooked the numbers a bit. He said that SVS&E backed away from operating the Quakes because it was a big cost to them, but pointed out that if AEG were putting the same kind of marketing dollars that SVS&E were putting in, that they'd be doing much better. And while he answered a question about turning around the Latino attendance by stating the he still needed to meet with the front office and getting the lay of the land, he did point out that he wasn't going to use ethnic signings as a substitute for marketing to that fanbase. He said that a saying that they had during his time at the Quakes was "Our ethnicity is 'winning.'"
Thanks for the report, Jefe. Has there been any indication when the Burn might announce more info on the Frisco SSS? Does it look like they might be able to start constuction later this fall?
I don't know when they're going to announce more info, but everyone that I've talked to (including Andy Swift and John Wagner) says that they're still on target for a groundbreaking this fall. I'm trying to set up a sit-down interview with Wagner for next week. Hopefully, he'll spill some beans about it.
I have one hope that might keep any *business dealings*, for-the-better, or for worse - away from team performance; and that's that Clarke can keep the attention and efforts of the players harnessed enough to elude them from any backlashes. My prediction is that Elliot will not last long with HSG's minimizing marketing campaigns. Elliot will want to 'go big' for the Frisco opening, and HSG will pull the reins in. I'm not often a pessimist, but this is not the guy I want for HSG ownership. But I would want Elliot under a Cuban-esque breakout of capital. I hope he doesn't go completely sour on American soccer after his dealings with HSG. He could possibly benefit MLS in-the-long-run, even if he's not solely 'with' the Burn organization for his tenure. Good luck, to all of us.
I'm not convinced that John, Clark and Dan are going to run the Frisco ramp-up like we expect them to. Smoke signals and tea leaves tell me that they may actually crack the piggy, at least for the first season, or at a minimum the first 3 months of the first season. They DID NOT hire Jago, which to me would have been the natural move in step with the Barneyization of the franchise. The mere fact that you think Elliott will butt heads with HSG is an indicator that he may not be a "Yes Man". And to hire someone who is actually aware of the International Soccer Economy is not something I expected Wagner to do. Elliot may not have European experience on his paper. But he already sounds like night and day in comparison with Jim Smith. There is one other tea leave of note that I promised to hold offline, see me tomorrow at the game. It helps further explain why the Frisco rampup may not be the frugal trudge one might expect from having exposure to "HSG Standard Operating Procedure". The bottom line is sounds like we got ourselves a Soccer Guy. And if it took Andy falling on his sword to wake up Wagner and Clark, then we owe him a debt of gratitude. Now, the next item of import is.... where is Swift going? =bs
I am still skeptical, as any good person should be, but he said the one thing we, the core, wanted to know. Is the product on the field the number one means of creating a successful franchise? At a press conference where he need not have showed his cards, he did.
Thanks for the report, Jefe. It sounds like Elliot may be a good man for the job. Can you tell me more of what he said about hiring Frank Yallop? I'd always wondered who had hired him, and how (if) they recognized that he'd be a good coach even though he had no professional coaching experience (IIRC). Thanks in advance. alansl
No one involved with San Jose should have the cajones to take credit for the Yallop hiring. It was common knowledge he was going to coach when he hung up his cleats. But NO ONE had any idea how good he would become. There is a very very small club of elite-echelon coaches who have come up through MLS in the past 8 years. Arena. Bradley. The list is very very short. I'd put Yallop in that very small group. It's only a matter of time before Frank fulfills his destiny and takes over the reins for Canada. It is his destiny. But no one knew how good he was before he took over in San Jose. And thus, IMHO no one should even think of taking credit for the way in which Yallop blossomed. Maybe Colin Clarke is the next Frank Yallop waiting to happen. Maybe not. But either way, and in both cases, Elliot can not and should not take any credit. -bs