Haven't heard too much discussion about this. If anyone has heard any rumors, please post em here. If the position is restricted to Technical Director (the position they offered to Todd Smith) you wonder if they need it filled at all. If the Patriots are handling the front office stuff and if Nicol, Sunil and John Murphy all have a say in personnel, why do we need to add one more person? It's hard to know which decisions were Todd's, which were Sunil's and which were Nicol's, but any way you slice it this is the first year we've had any success in finding players and utilizing them effectively. Under the current regime we've come a long way from the days of trading draft picks for Ramos and Harkes, so I wouldn't be inclined to take any power away from them.
I know this sounds silly but I will ask it anyway. When the Krafts hired Sunil to run Kraft Soccer, they were a small empire in the making and it made sense to have a head honcho. Now with the Kraft's divestiture of SJ and their regretable choice to not join SUM, why not just have Sunil pull on the GM cap since the Revs are one of his few major responsibilities left? Andy
"...since the Revs are one of his few major responsibilities left?" O.k., where's the punch-line Andy? I agree, the Technical Director position would seem his for the taking, but first I'd like to get a better sense of how this position is/will be defined. What can he bring to the table in terms of player acquisitions. That being said, once Nicol's contract is agreed to, how much of an influence will he be in any off-season signings? The Magpie
It would seem to me that this "director of soccer" is really just a question of contacts and their quality. Nicol, I would think, has a lot of such associations. Gulati has always been advertised as something of a player on the world scene. However, with Nicol in charge, does this really matter? I have no idea. If they are going to spend the money then I would say they should get some value for it. JIM DOW
I would think they would want someone who would add prospects to the coach's list and do the tedious work of negotiating with MLS to acquire and sign prospects. They probably also want this person to handle the logistics of the pre-season trips and scheduling. In the current situation, it should be clear that the D.O.S. should be a facilitator for Nicol, not his supervisor.
Exactly, especially since Nicol has shown that he won't play players who don't fit into his system. With that in mind you practically have to give him a good deal of say in trades and signings.
Do people with some inside experience with this team think Nicol and Gulati can coexist? From what little I've seen they seem to have a different concept of how the game is played and what represents a useful player. If so it is hard to imagine a constructive relationship lasting for long. What do others think?
Who was the Bulldogs' GM to Nicol's coach? Would whoever that is be worth hiring (especially since the Bulldogs are still on hiatus)?
That would be Joe Bradley, and even though the Bulldogs are on hiatus I'm guessing Joe still has plenty to do with the Bulldogs Academy and the two national championship teams he helps run under the auspices of Mass Pro Soccer. At this point, I'm not sure what the Revs could offer Joe to take on the job. I think he's pretty well settled where he is, and they've taken a long time to get the organization to a point of fiscal stability. I'm thinking he's a no go.
Didn't Danizinho suggest that Dave Sarachan (sp) from the USMNT was a candidate? I wonder if the opening in Chicago takes him out of the running.
I can't imagine that either of the Bradley's (Joe or Peter) would leave the relative security of the burgeoning Bulldog's empire to go to the rough and tumble of the Revs. Not that either of them couldn't do it, they run an excellent operation and are extremely knowledgeable. It is just that I belive they have other irons in the fire at this point and long term plans. I do recall a kind of heart-warming story that one of the brothers told me about Stevie Nicks. It seems that they were taking an "A" license coaching course with Nicol down in Florida when the ex Tampa Bay coach (whose name I forget) gave a talk about tactics. The jist of his remarks was that everyone showed up on the day of the match and checked how Valderamma was feeling and planned and played accordingingly. During the presentation it became obvious that Stevie was very uncomfortable with this approach and simply couldn't understand anyone basing an entire team's play on one person. After a while the moderator asked Stevie to make a few remarks as a sort of "guest student of honor" and while he was polite, defferential and witty he ran through the ENTIRE Liverpool lineup, player by player, assessing their strengths, weaknesses and tendencies and outlined a series of game strategies depending on form, injuries, opponent and conditions. It was a clear demonstration of his insight and experience. Whoever becomes GM better be able to relate to that in a positive, productive manner. JIM DOW
Another figure from that organization was my fellow Oneonta State teammate and alumnus (along with Don Garber), Farrukh Quraishi. I believe Farrukh was president of the oranization that owned the Bulldogs, Renegades and Crusaders. Farrukh was the original President and GM of Tampa when MLS started. He was made the scapegoat for low attendance down there and because of that shabby treatment, Rongen resigned and fell into our laps (how lucky we felt back then!). He was a three-time all-american at Oneonta (twice on the first team), the Hermann award winner for best college player in the country, the 1st pick in the NASL draft for the Tampa Bay Rowdies and then Rookie of the Year in the NASL. A broken ankle, and other injuries subsequently cut short his pro career. I, hereby, nominate Farrukh Quraishi for the job!
Excellent, excellent, excellent choice! Seconded. Also, he is one hell of a nice guy and definitely a "soccer guy." The problem I see is that his family lives in Tampa and he commuted a lot when doing the Bulldogs. That puts a lot of strain of families. Still, he would be great for the REV's.
Wasn't Farrukh or one of his employees involved in some kind in money problem while in Tampa? I don't remember what happened, but something fishy happened down there in year one. RC
I remember that incident; somebody down there was skimming off the top of Mutiny funds (though I recall it being year two, not year one). It wasn't Farrukh, though, it was someone with a more traditional Anglo-type name. Or perhaps you could be thinking of the law finally catching up with Roy 'Larceny' Lassiter for stealing a TV. They finally caught him (but gave him probation, fortunately) when he turned up as the MLS scoring leader!
It was one of his employee's, that, if memeory serves me, embezzled some serious funds. That was definitely a factor in the demise of the TB franchise IMHO. Was he involved? No. Was he the GM ? Yes. Did it happen while he was in charge of the operations? Yes. was he charged or guilty of anything? No.
I wasn't accusing him. My brain had some kind of fuzzy recollection . I've seen him do A-League games on TV. He seems like a sharp guy. RC