Indeed he is. His basic philosophy is that he doesn't pay the coaches to think, he pays them to do what he instructs them to. He is only interested in good foot soldiers who carry out his orders. As for Alaves, they face a critical stretch upcoming in March. After traveling down to the Canary Islands to take on Tenerife, always a tough trip, their next three matches are against teams in the top five in the standings. I think the upcoming four games will make or break their fading hopes of promotion.
Maybe Alaves' players are playing so great lately, because they are afraid to be sent to San Francisco, thus disappearing from European coaches' radars
Couple of news snippets from The Guardian out of The UK: * An investigating judge has recommended a two-month ban for Alaves president Dimitry Piterman after the outspoken Ukraine-born American entrepreneur insulted the Spanish second division club's defender Lluis Carreras. Piterman admitted he had gone too far with his criticisms of the former Barcelona and Atletico Madrid player last November. *Alaves are hunting for their fourth coach of the season after Fabri Gonzalez resigned on Wednesday, blaming club president Dimitry Piterman's interference. You've got to think that this guy's act gets old pretty quick. Not good timing as the club faces their toughest stretch of the year, next three games versus 3 of the top 4 teams in the standings.
Bad for the Victory if he gets banned in Spain. He'll probably come over and start screwing with the Victory. This guy sounds like soccer's version of Al Davis.
Last 3 matches Alavés 1 - 1 Murcia Almeria 2 - 2 Alavés Alavés 1 - 1 Cádiz They sit nearly in the dead center of the table at 12th
Alaves lost 2-0 to a team in the relegation zone last weekend and now find themselves in 13th place, only five points clear of relegation. And now they are 15 points short of promotion so I think their focus is now on maintaining their place in the 2nd division.
Wow, Alaves have gone into a serious nose dive. They just lost back to back home games and are winless in their last 6 matches. They are now only two points clear of relegation and now have zero chance of promotion. They better get things figured out pretty quickly or they could find themselves pushed further down the ranks of Spanish futbol. What was the over/under on coaching changes for them this year? I'm pretty sure the overs will win.
Another week without a win, 7 in a row. Still only 3 points clear of relegation. Coach number five has taken the reins. Did Steinbrenner ever go through that many in one season? http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6549060,00.html And Dmitry gets fined by the Spanish courts for a disgraceful display at a press conference earlier this year. * Dimitry Piterman, president of Spanish second division club Alaves, has been ordered to pay defender Lluis Carreras compensation of 5,500 euros ($7,382) for making insulting comments about his player earlier this season. A judge in Vitoria ordered Piterman to pay for the "minor humiliation and damage" caused by his remarks.
An interesting little Alaves related tidbit from the Boston paper related to the Revs DP situation: The Revolution have been offered a Brazilian player from Deportivo Alaves in the Basque region of Spain, according to a source close to the negotiations. Alaves is owned by Dmitri Piterman, a Russian-American businessman and former US Olympian who also has established a lower-division team in San Francisco. Wonder if Piterman will be selling off players since Alaves won't be returning to La Liga in the fall and will therefore have significantly lower revenues again next season.
I wouldn't say never... but it is pretty unlikely, given that if he was gonna leave Europe the A-league would have dibs.
Hi Yosmikael: I saw that you are located in Vitoria and was interested in hearing your thoughts on Piterman. We've been reading all the press clippings about how he is pretty much a tyrant. "Dmitry Kanpora" Just wanted to get an Alaves fan's perspective on him and what the current sentiments might be towards him.
Another week 'sin vitoria', if you will. A draw at home stretches their winless run to 8 games and now they are only one point clear of relegation. Even more significant, the local media is reporting that Piterman is entertaining offers to buy his share of the team. This could have HUGE significance for the California Victory. The team is backed by Alaves and it was Piterman's decision, and his alone, to start the USL franchise. If he sells out and is no longer the President of Alaves, who knows where that will leave The Victory. Would Alaves' new owners squash the deal? Would Piterman buy the rights and run the franchise on his own? As usual, when Piterman is involved there is lots of drama.
I posted this Bay Area expansion forum, but it also relates to your question. (another reason we need our own sub forum). "I was thinking about that, but with the rumor that Piterman might be selling his stake in Alaves, I'm not sure if that includes The Vics as well. I don't think it does, (I'm just guessing here) I think 'he' owns the Victory, and the association with Alaves is a only based on shared ownership. If it were the case that him selling his shares would mean that the new owners of Alaves would get the Vics, then the prospects don't look good. I remember posting a while back in a Alaves forum, about their specific greviances with Piterman, and the respose I got was lukewarm. They answered my questions, but didn't sound to thrilled with the idea of having a US affiliate (draining their resources). If the Vics did change hands with the sale of Alaves, then as I see it there are three possible outcomes; 1. The new owners realize the potential of the US/Bay Area market, and decide to keep the Vics around. B. Upon acquiring the Vics they sell the club to new owners. 3. They disband the team, and wash their hands of the whole affair. Of course these are based on to "ifs" 'if' Piterman sells, and 'if' said sale includes the Vics as well. He can always keep the team, or sell the other team and keep the Vics. Which considering the alternatives isn't so bad. By all accounts he's a bastard, so high off his money, he is no longer grounded. But as I have said before, beggars can't be choosers."
The Victory is seperate entity from Alaves. And if DP sold Alaves, he would just end up buying another club later. It's a "circle of life" in LIGA BBVA.
That's strange because the team is named after Alaves' home town and wears the same uniforms as Alaves and will supposedly be supplied with players from Alaves. Even the Victory website makes the claim that it is 'the first USL franchise owned by a European team'. I can see how Piterman might have set up the US entity under his own name, but if he does sell Alaves it will have an impact on the team in SF (no player sharing, possible name and uni changes, and heaven forbid he'll be more involved in all facets of the organization). You would think at some point this guy will get blacklisted and larger clubs will simply ignore his offers to buy.
I highly doubt he would ever be blacklisted. Lets face it his money is as green as everybody else's and he has plenty of it. As for a name change I wouldn't mind that now. They play in San Francisco so I would much rather be the San Francisco Victory, now I know he probably did it because he is unsure if San Francisco will work out so its easy to move the California Victory to lets say Sac. But its like the Golden State Warriors they should be the Oakland Warriors just a pet peeve of mine, no worries as long as they stay.
Definitely. The talk of Piterman selling his Alaves stake illustrates that it was a mistake to so closely identify the new USL-1 team with the Alaves team (name, colors, etc.). The whole connection between the two teams could disappear just like that-- poof-- and the Victory would be forced to re-brand, re-name, re-color, etc. (essentially, start from scratch on the team brand).
Hi, Firstly excuse me for my bad english , Here in Vitoria all the people hates Piterman. He thinks that he know all about soccer and about everything and he injured to all the people that don't think like them. He injured to the players, to our politicians, to the supporters, to the press, to other teams... DMITRY KANPORA!!
Yes, he is a very good player but also a very good person. In Vitoria there is also a little "song" for John: Aloi aloi aloiiiiisi lololololo He is my favorite