The Official Ian Russell Thread

Dude just led us to a W against Chivas in front of 45k chivas fans... howay wor Ian!!!

 

Chivas suck they start Cade Cowell!

 

I like what Ian is doing with our team. Imagine if he had a few roster upgrades?

We need a better, and less expensive #6, or a real DP quality #6.

We should keep either Jebo or Bouda, but not both. Definitely ditch Judd. Then we get two new strikers and hope that one of them turns good. We can’t count on getting one forward and having him be good.

Ian needs some guys he can count on. I think he can get more out of our cheap roster than other coaches.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

Let's wait until the end of the season and see how it looks. We've had a decent run of form since Leagues Cup. I mean not great but decent on balance. I'm cautiously optimistic but want to see how the remaining games look.

 

Here are my thoughts.

1. Ian is less expensive than other coaches, which will stretch our miserly budget.
2. Ian can get more out of our poor roster. Probably more than other coaches.
3. Ian has the guys playing a more organized style. Under Luchi, our guys often seemed confused about their assignments. Not so under Ian. I think his system is simpler. Also, Ian is using the guys that he has taking advantage of their abilities and trying to shield their weaknesses. Rather than hoping that medium good guys can play like DP's.

Now you don't have to agree with me. This is just my take on the situation. Given that our budget is tight, Ian is good value for the money. (I'm assuming that he does not command a high salary, yet.)

Also, the players seem to respect Ian. They doing what he tells them, and it looks like it's working.

He's got the same players playing better, more organized soccer.

Your mileage may vary.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

It looks somewhat promising so far. Not a home run but let’s say a base hit. And I want to see a little more. But yeah my instinct would be (if I were CL) to give him a full year and see how it goes. As you say he’s probably a cheap hire and that means a little more budget for players but it’s also a bird in hand kind of thing, and do we want to risk another Stahre fiasco.

 

I agree that compared to Almeyda , who I believe was making $1.5 million, Ian Russell will probably make $300-$400k as a coach .

Fisher I'm sure is fine with paying him that salary.

 

How much was Luchi getting paid?

 

Too much?

 

It’s not even “was”. I assume he’s still getting paid (to not coach the team). On a personal level I feel bad for him. He’s a good guy and he did his best. Hope he can land on his feet somewhere.

 

Nicaraguan National Team.

 

Maybe? FWIW Luchi's father is Peruvian and mother is American.

 

I was joking. Nicaragua don’t do much to promote their national soccer teams. It’s both lack of money and interest. Baseball is the big sport in Nicaragua, not soccer.

As far as National team manager gigs go, Nicaragua is pretty close to the bottom of the barrel.

Go Quakesfans!!

 

I know you were joking. But it got me thinking about what Latin American / Central American country Luchi has a connection to. I think I’d probably read Peru at one point but forgot.

 

In his last press conference, Luchi spoke Spanish with a pretty good accent.

What I am curious to know though is, how much longer is his Quakes contract?

Is it until the end of the year or does he have another year to go on it?

 

Got to give him a year in which he has roster input. The team was an absolute train wreck that was shipping goals at an historic rate. Not only did he tweak the defense, but he’s had a couple of multiple goal victories already, something that was extremely rare for Luchi. It’s very clear that Ian is getting all the talent he can get out of this group, but they lack quality finishers. The team has nothing to play for except pride but they are playing their best
soccer of the season now.

Russell could be our equivalent of Bill Walsh. Bill was an assistant coach from 60-76 before finally getting hired to be the head coach at Stanford. Two good years at Stanford and Walsh got his chance at the highest level. The 49er franchise struggled to be relevant until Walsh arrived. Give Russell a real shot. This team now is not built to play Russell’s preferred tactics, but he’s still got them to a competitive level. Imagine how much better they can be if they are built for his style of soccer.

 

Marv Levy will never forget the first time he met Bill Walsh. Levy was so impressed interviewing this bright and enthusiastic high school coach he gave Walsh his first college job.

It was 1960, after Levy took over at California, when he was looking to fill out his staff and happened upon Walsh by accident.

"I called and asked the San Jose State coach for a recommendation on somebody, and he told me the guy had just taken a job elsewhere," Levy recalled. "But he said, `There's a high school coach over in Fremont. I'd recommend you interview him.' And that was Bill." . . .

https://www.nfl.com/news/levy-recal...llege-coaching-start-at-cali-09000d5d800895c7

 

Yes, I agree, he's got a fairly weak roster, with some key missing pieces, playing pretty well. A few key pieces and things could get much better:

1) A quality striker who can create his own shot and finish credibly with either foot
2) Move Gruezo (if possible) and acquire a better ball-winning 6 and also hopefully acquire a DP slot for #1
3) A ball-playing left winger who can drive at defenders. Like Salinas but with better end product.

 

At Reno he ended up coaching 5 strikers that had career years playing for him. His offensive schemes create opportunities for players to score but they have got to finish those chances.

 

There’s only one Andy Rios, after all.

 

I always thought Dane Kelly would have been a good signing for the Quakes but he ended up in DC and only played one game.

 

The only Dane for the Quakes:

 

Happy Birthday to Interim Head Coach, 2-time MLS Cup champion and one of the 50 Greatest Quakes of all time, Ian Russell!