The playoffs will go just like the regular season. The question is what will Sigi do in the offseason. If he's willing to go a different direction then he stays. If he stands by "his" guys much longer, Hamilton will pull the trigger.
Lets all get real. The guy coached the team to a bunch of cups. You are going to can him off one bad season? People with that mind set deserve to have Thomas Rongen coaching their team, just so they can restore their perspective.
You guys won the cup last year with the same horrible players as this year...and you think it's the coaches fault you suck this season? Sigi stays.
totally agree with cadaver here. pre-sigi (3.5 years) 1 supporters shield (retroactively awarded) 1 mls cup runner up 2 western conference titles post-sigi (4.5 years) 1 - us open cup (1 runner up) 1 - mls cup (runner up twice) 1 - supporters shield 4 - western conference titles 1 - champions cup ---
given the preseason expectations for LA, i guess i can see how some would want sigi out. but their record is no where close to dallas's. plus, they had a rough start to the season (8 road games in row i think would be tough on any club) and struggled to maintain a groove. i think their just having an off season; next season should really decide sigi's fate.
Sigi stays. Give him time to try and make things right. Give him another season, I'm sure he will pull it off, he's a great coach. Plus, like the comment above me, it was a very strange year for the galaxy at the start. I mean 8 road games in a row, that could put a damper on anyone's season.
I disagree with the most of you folks on this. I voted Fire Sigi. Why? Sigi has flat out failed to coach this team this season and make the necessary changes as the season began to slip away. Fear and uncertainty are the undoing of a coach. Sigi has shown plenty of both qualities this season. While his favored few underperformed in game after game, Sigi never showed the courage necessary to inject life into the team by giving some of his bench warmers significant minutes in consecutive games to really determine if they could break into the starting lineup. Would any of the subs as starters made a difference this season? Nobody knows. We're 3 games away from zero, let me repeat - zero - wins on the road during the season. This will be an MLS record. As the reigning MLS CHAMPION, this is completely unacceptable and deserving of itself as an automatic firing. That you folks can look this in the face and not be aghast by what you see shows how far we've fallen as Galaxy fans. Remember a year ago? The championship game? We were in it...really. Sigi has said on more than one occasion that the players, namely the veterans, have yet to get their head around the idea that they actually have to give everything they have to defend their championship. Why does he keep saying this? Bench the players that aren't putting out. Put in guys that want to play. Simon went to the bench for what, 2 games? Then it's business as usual. Feeble. The implosion of the Dallas Burn was the only reason the Galaxy did not sit at the bottom of the table in the West for most of this season. We were really that bad. Until mid-season, we were the lowest scoring team in the league. I'm paraphrasing Hartman here: "It's pretty obvious that we're going to be scored on at least once per game, so we have to score at least two." Unfortunately, Sigi ball is geared more around putting significant emphasis on keeping your opponent from scoring, and if by the grace of God, we get the first tally, fall back into a defensive shell and pray the clock runs out. Seen this many, many, many times this season. At some point in a lousy season, you just have to say to hell with it and take the game to your opponent, and not just in the dying minutes down 1-0, 2-0, 2-1. Saw that a lot too. The past is past. None of us get to go back and revisit the glory days listed. We do, however, have every possiblity of seeing the same tired team trotted out in 2004 with the same lackluster performances. This is my greatest fear, because I have no illusions about post season 2003.
Sigi stays. Besides, he knows that his future with the club totally depends on what he does in the offseason. Maybe he should do what Tommy Lasorda did about 15 years ago: take the SlimFast challenge, lose weight, win a championship.
There is a gross omission in your MLS Cup and the Supporters Shield stat. One Carlos Ruiz. We would not have won the Cup, the Shield, or last years conference title without him. Would anyone argue against that premise? Could we have won the Cup with Ruiz and a different coach? I think it is very likely that we would have. Ruiz came into the league guns blazing and carried the team last year. Most goals scored in MLS in 2002, was on fire in the playoffs (didn't he set a record for goals scored post season or something like that?) and the game winning and only goal of MLS Cup 2002. Take away Ruiz's massive contributions last year and we don't win the MLS Cup or the Supporter's Shield...probably number one and two highest honors in MLS. Sigi's distinction was that he was the coach of the team that had Carlos Ruiz.
One poor season is not enough of a reason in my opinion to remove Sigi. Yes, expectations were high this year and the team should have done better, but they haven't so far. However, my biggest reason for keeping him is who would we get to replace him? LO and OZ were really crap as boss man at the Rose Bowl. A couple of Western Conference titles and a Supporters Shield doesn't really cut it for this team. Face it, Sigi's the best coach LA have had. I doubt anyone brought in would be as prepared for the limits MLS puts on teams. Sigi deserves to start next season. If things don't start well, then we can think about replacing him. Wouldn't all the "Fire Sigi" guys be hating life if the G's got hot for the next 2 months?
OK, true, but what's the point? Can you name ONE coach who could have won the cup last year without Carlos on the roster? And, don't you think Sigi had ANYTHING to do with acquiring Carlos?
sigi is not getting fired. IF ANYONE should be tossed, it's the FO. 1) bringing in HMB (Hong Myung Bo for the Chicagoon Trolls Not Hot Male Bodies, which we know you like) disrupted the team shape and, consequently, chemistry. Bo was brought in by the FO to generate supporters from the Korean community. While it has worked to an extent, the 17,000 Koreans that showed up at Staples for the 3rd place game versus Turkey in last summer's World Cup are not coming to see Bo. MISTAKE NUMBER 1 - quit pandering. 2) attempting to "revamp" the team in mid-stride by shuffling a future player and a midfield stalwart off to Dallas for another two defenders and a potentially strong attacking forward. Let me be the second or third to say that EZ could be in place of the injured Victorine right now. . . Suarez does not have a spot on the roster. . .Califf is there for 2 more years. Broome? BROOME? MISTAKE NUMBER 2 - quit 'finessing' the team. 3) The FO does not "coach" the team. In fact, the FO just ensures guys are getting paychecks. Since the Galaxy (and the rest of the MLS) garnered a player's union, vis a vis, a "collective bargaining agreement" the FO has the power to push their weight around. "You want to make how much money???? well, good luck finding yourself a job somewhere else." Collective bargaining agreements ALWAYS lead to disparging disagreements. MISTAKE NUMBER 3 - get out of the players way. 4) Free Lexi. Need I say more? This isn't Sigi's fault. His hands are tied. Let the man play, or let the man go. He looks tired and sad of the FO's BS. MISTAKE NUMBER 4 - Lexi is a defensive role model for the MLS, not a pine rider. Get it in your pinhead DH. 5) Last but not least. Sigi does not need to be fired b/c Sigi CAN still win games. The Galaxy, while having suffered the pain of some road woes, does still have the ability to win, on the road. Albeit, against an A-League team. . . and A-League team that beat an MLS team just a few weeks before. SO. .. . just because our team may not make it through the playoffs, doesn't mean Sigi should be fired. Your anger should be directed at Doug Hamilton, Gadzidis, Garber, and Anshutz for putting a player on our field that doesn't belong there.
The money used to buy HMB, a defender, from Pohang rather than a midfielder or a striker has nothing to do with poor goal production?
Bo isn't responsible for our poor goal production this year. Bo is a by-product of poor management. Management failed to bring in the Korean fans by bringing in Bo, failed to understand their shortcomings from previous pandering, failed to compliment Fishy's attacking threat by bringing in an equally or almost equally threatening attacker. Bo is not at fault. The FO is at fault for not sticking with our awesome defense from last year and bringing in a "Serna" earlier. A "Serna" no one has ever seen, i.e., Guevara, Ralph, Borchers, and all the american rookies: gaven, mcgee, memo
we have taken away ruiz's massive contributions this year. one of the major reasons we ain't doing better is ruiz is a ghost of his former self (admitedly he has come on over the last month or so). take away his penalties and the kid is on a very average scoring run this season.
WHAT? Have you seen the midfield attempting to supply Ruiz with scoring chances? Neither has anyone else!!!
if the team does not bring a bunch more fire power for next season and sigi cant get them to the top of the heap again then i think he will be out the door buts thats a discussion for this time next year they will be in great need of fresh blood and i dont mean more old guys or more albrights
If it's all right with the rest of you, I'll wait until the season is over to evaluate this season. The teams in this league are soooooooo even, it's scary. Other than Dallas, any team in MLS is capable of getting hot for next two months and winning the Cup? Colorado was dead, now they're smoking. Colombus was dead and seems to be coming on. Chicago and San Jose have played well all season, but could easily run out of gas.... My gut thinks the G's will probably flame out in the first round, but one never knows.... Hell, even if they were playing well, they could clank in the first round and go home. At least they have a shot to get to the final! Besides..........isn't it already a foregone conclusion that the league "wants" LA in the Cup?
nope, and i didn't see em do it last year either, yet ruiz managed to score a load of goals. i don't know if he's gunshy, or trying to impress someone, but more often than not this season, ruiz gets a ball, tries to dribble around defenders, do some cutesy totally unecessary turn, dribble some more, another turn and usually ends up a) flopping because he realizes he's lost his chance, b) tripping over his own feet. i said it in another thread, and it's less relevent now that ruiz is playing better, but a few weeks ago, ruz had 2 more goals, from the run of play, than chris albright.
PZ - you must really, really, really like Sigi. You waste no opportunity to defend him. Why? My 2 cents. As as a season ticket holder that's what it amounts to 2 cents: 1 - I agree, one bad season is not enough to remove a coach. But a couple of things: we are having a horrible season, not a bad season. Second, Sigi has shown no desire to mix up his line up in spite all the problems (favoritism? ineptitude?). 2 - I would never want LO, I'd take a chance again with Zambrano. However I seriously doubt that Hamilton knows anyone other than the people he dealt with in Miami (can we say Chacon and Serna?). This would one would a toss up. 3 - Does Sacharan ring any bells? He who lost many impact players, he who plays on a crappy plastic field. 4 - I disagree. He should be let go at the end of this season. and finally let me get to the one question I really wanted to answer: Wouldn't all the "Fire Sigi" guys be hating life if the G's got hot for the next 2 months? I wouldn't hate life, I would be really really p!ssed off, since I bought seasons tickets and I'd feel ripped off (which I do by now anyway). So maybe next year, I'll just wait for them to get hot and buy tickets then.