http://www.mlsnet.com/MLS/news/mls_events_news.jsp?ymd=20041108&content_id=18531&vkey=mlscup2004&fext=.jsp I hope they do the right thing and pick Nowak.
Me too, but it's hard to get by Gansler's record this year. I suspect the C'bus boards will offer a very entertaining read fairly soon. Those guys are going to go ballistic.
Well Andrulis stands no chance whatsoever if the voting overlapped with the first round of the playoffs. Otherwise it's a tossup.
Gansler's record is amazing, but if you want to talk about a coach who completely turned his team around from last season, I don't think there's anyone in the league who comes close. I don't think Andrulis will get it, but just imagine how the sCrew fans will react if he does.
Yeah, not to revel in someone else's misery (Except those scumsuckers to the North) but some of the posts on the Columbus boards are pure comedy gold. GOLD I TELL YA [Kenny Banya ]
I'm not sure if Gansler (unless they knock us out of the Cup, but even still) should be in that list. Sure he ended up with the best record in the West, but the only thing he "overcame" this season was not having one player for half the year and another for the whole year. I also agree with a post someone else made somewhere that I can't remember right now, the Open Cup isn't an MLS event so shouldn't have any bearing on an MLS award. If you look at Greg on the other hand, he took the worst team in the East (I can't remember exactly how badly Dallas sucked last year) from last year and won the Supporters shield. That is quite an accomplishment, but he did tarnish it with a woeful playoff appearance. He also (until said playoff performance) earned back some respect from the Cow fans, which given their usual preparedness to lynch him is a BIG accomplishment. Nowak I think (without being a Homer) is a good candidate since he has: 1) Dealt with far more injuries than Bob and Greg put together. 2) Had to deal with all the media pressure surrounding playing Freddy. 3) Did a damn good job making his rookies/inexperienced players a force to be reckoned with (Gros, Carroll, Freddy, Eski). 4) Took a team that barely made the playoffs ahead of the Cows (which were summarily humiliated) all the way to the Cup. 5) And it's his first year as a coach. All that being said, I think either Piotr or Greg would be good choices. -dave
Yeah what's up w/the b!tching and wh!ning over at the Screw board? They've got a new stadium, and the best record in MLS. You can't really blame Coach Andrulis for 2 missed PKs. As for Coach of the Year, it's simple. DC wins, Nowak, KC wins, Gansler.
You couldn't possibly be more wrong: 1. Missed MLS Reigning (and only two time) MVP for all but parts of two games - Preki 2. Missed teams leading scorer for 2/3rds of season, player still not able to go 90 minutes - Igor Simutenkov 3. Upon #2s return, best midfield player on team goes down for remainder of the season - Chris Klein 4. Best goalie in MLS history, who finished third in 2004 MLS goalkeeping stats, hasn't played an MLS game since early August - Tony Meola.
If they voted on COY before the playoffs, that's just plain dumb, ain't it? Doesn't the playoffs have something to do with COY??????? Unbelievable. Way to go
Is that right? I just don't see how you can have a legit award w/out taking into account the entire year, including the most important time of the year. Since it's just on the regular season I wouldn't be surprised if Andrulis gets it, which would be hilarious given the whining over on the Crew board
While this is true...you can blame him for... 1. Starting Dante Washington at forward in the final game. 2. Playing Tony Sanneh as an AM in the final game. 2 PKs should have never decided that series, the more talented team should have won but they didn't because they were not given the opportunity to win. When you sit your two leading scorers for 50% of a game you HAVE to win you need to re-examine your head.
I happen to agree with Andy on this one. KC and NE to me had the biggest injury problems throughout the year. If you had asked me at the beginning of the year to name the 4 most important Wizards it would have been Preki, Meola, Wolff, and Klein. They lost 3 of 4 for extended periods of time. I'm a staunch DC supporter, and believe Nowak deserves a TON of credit. If the voting occured prior to the playoffs, however, the award will probably go to Gansler. Andrulis is a boob. I pray every night he stays at Columbus so DC has one less opponent to worry about come playoff time.
KC lost Preki, the MVP from last season, before the season started and Chris Klein and Tony Meola in the middle of the season.
You can. But where's the CREDIT he should get for tying for the best record in the league after starting out so poorly? We're all human we make mistakes. He f'ed up but like I said they hit those PKs (which they should have) and the whole thing's moot. It's probably just killing him to lose that game-he was speechless afterwards.
Tough call. I would vote Nowak simply from a standpoint that he has taken a bottom-feeder and made them into a contender... ALL while (a) dealing with Freddy Adu mania, and (b) during his first season has a head coach in the MLS. Nowak has stamped his hard-disciplined approach to the game in DC and after its initial growing pains, has come out a winner all around in the situation. Lastly, he is in the Ring of Fire... so come on already!
Congratulations to Perter Nowak on his nomination, it is well deserved. I know he will not win it, but I am very happy he and not Gansler nor Andrulis is DC United's coach. Peter Nowak for President!
Still I think Gansler did more with less this year. He had no Preki or Simutakov at the start of the season and managed to win the most games in MLS and have the most points, and have perhaps the most balanced team. Then they lost Klein. Bob Gansler turned a mediocre side into a very good side. Nowak did really well too but no one was talking Nowak until a few weeks ago. He is certianly better and more deserving than the Drooler on the other hand.
I included his loss, but he is still only one person. I thought he came back closer to the 1/2 point. I stand corrected on that point. At least you had a leading scorer to get injured, we were begging for that I honestly was not aware of that. Nowak didn't have Nicky for longer (including his subpar play while still injured early on), but he made due with a rookie that was working two jobs. The Revs also had to deal without their starting keeper for most (all?) of the season. And Zach left for "greener" pastures. All three of these goalies can easily give Tony a run for his money when all are on form. Bob was also able to use Bo (who I believe you have actually had for some time, kinda like the Fire and Ring) who I think can give Tony a run for the starting position next year. So to total this up, you had Tony, Chris, Igor, and Preki out due to injuries. We had Nicky, Tino (not that I don't prefer him on the bench), Eliso, Martins, and Nelson missing good chunks of time due to injury. So I will admit I overstated the "Bob and Greg put together" part, but when you then add that we had a few roster spots open due to upper management issues as well as the Convey fiasco part 2, Piotr had a much smaller bench than most. Piotr also had to deal with a team that had little or no chemistry coming out of last season, I think Dallas and the Cows are the only other ones that had that issue going into the season. I'm not saying Bob is a bad coach, i'm just saying I don't think he has done anything beyond what should be expected of a coach with his experience. -dave
I seem to remember (quite to the chagrin of the Cows) that it was Nowak and Sigi the Hut on the sidelines for the All-Star game. Which at that point was supposed to represent the coaches with the best record up to two(?) weeks before the game. -dave
Not to take anything away from Peter, but Gansler deserves it. Andrulis was 1 game away from being canned.