Houston vs. RSL [R]

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by soccerman

I'll take that bet.


So in this fantastical super adventure wonderland that you inhabit how would a coach ever get himself fired? If the grace period is 1 year and it restarts after every change the team goes through a coaching position is a lifetime appointment.


Right, taking the historical performance of a coach into account when evaluating him is absurd. Do you like to dip the apples and oranges you eat in lead paint?


I will

1st rule of debate: Always start by arguing and then disproving your opponents best arguments.

Apparently, I didn't follow this as well as I should have.

A coach doesn't have an automatically renewing grace period each year. That indeed would be absurd. However, you have to establish some standard on how you judge a coach before deciding failure from success. For many of you, it's apparently a few games, for others, it's just one season, and for yet others it's one season and 4 games (3 away). I believe that all of these are premature.

Point 1: We will all admit that Coach E didn't have a lot of work with his first season. "Left overs" from other teams, one or two actual picks, and a "superstar" that definitely didn't pan out. So, he makes widespread changes, cutting the starting 11 to shreds and everyone expects to judge this new starting eleven against last seasons and their first 4 games (3 away). This doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Now, if we take it to it's most logical end (in my opinion) you CAN judge the coach on 2 seasons. One that was a wash due to factors out of his control, and the second one with a team more to his liking. If he failed in both seasons, it's much easier to draw the conclusion that he isn't going to make it here in the MLS as a head coach.

Point 2: Coach E is probably not an EPL caliber coach. That means we shouldn't expect him to be, and it would be unfair to expect any of our coaches in the future to be at that level realistically. Therefore, how can you expect him to come away with more than 5 wins based largely on a "table scrap" team in his first ever season? He now has 1 year of experience in this league and a team filled more with players he wants/needs/can use.

Point 3: He only has 1 draw in his first 4 games (3 away) but is still undefeated at home so far this season. (see, depends on how you look at it).

Point 4: The team looks night and day better than this time last season despite some mistakes and the Chivas game.

Point 5: Effort - which was sorely lacking last season, is dramatically improved, and that is, my guess, directly attributed to coaching.

Point 6: I never ate paint (lead based or otherwise) in any form as a young person despite the recommendations from all of my pessimistic and highly depressing friends.

Point 7: Does the sun ever show in your world, or is it always overcast and rainy?

Point 8: Do you have an alternative alias on other boards named "Eeyore"?

[beaveman]

Aerick - I agree with you. Everyone here is too pessimistic. Nice to have a little optimism. I think Coach E has been thrown in a tough position - an expansion team loaded with players nobody wanted last season, and now a complete roster overhaul with an increase in talent and potential, but nobody is used to playing with each other. I say lay off the coach, give him some time to form this team into a cohessive unit, and see what happens in a few months. If these guys play together for a while and still can't get it together, then I'd consider the Fire Coach E option.

[clarette]

It's a little difficult to be Super Optimistic! when two of our most critical players are scooting off to Germany soon.

Just saying.

[Rover]

Originally Posted by Aerick

Last season and this season are entirely different. Coach E didn't have as much to work with last season. You can't keep pointing to last season and saying "look at what a crappy job he did!" as a good reason to fire him 4 games (3 away) into the season.

I can't speak for anyone else, but my disppointment with the club is not just about the winless streak or the inconsistent play. I was not in favor of a change last season because I believed this staff needed a chance to work with a better group of players and I thought stability was necessary for a new club. I was hoping that the problems I saw with tactics, chemistry, fundamentals, and preparation were the result of player difficulties rather than the staff.

Now that we're four games into this season it seems clear to me that the same problems remain despite roster upgrades. That's what has changed my mind about this staff, and at this point I'm not sure that they know how to fix things.

I believe looking at last season is relevant because despite being dealt a new hand we're seeing the same problems with tactics, chemistry, fundamentals, and preparation. Sure this is a new season with a largely rebuilt team, but we are making the same mistakes as last year. In reality, we had a better record with four games played last year.

I would celebrate with all RSL fans if the team came around. I'd love to be wrong about this. Discussions of firing coaches should never be taken lightly. I want this staff to succeed. But at this point, I've seen nothing on the field to give me much confidence.

[Old Ska]

Originally Posted by Aerick

Point 4: The team looks night and day better than this time last season despite some mistakes and the Chivas game.

Didn't we have a win and a tie last year at this time?

[Stucki]

What team won't be missing critically important players? At least we won't get gutted like New England and I believe landycakes is more important to the Galaxy than either Pope or Sequeira are to us.

I'm not seeing the chemistry problems that others are. The chemistry is much better with this team than last year's edition.

The team has also been unlucky. Four times this season, the keeper has been beaten only to have a ball cleared off the line. What would our record be if those four additional goals had been scored? Would you still be complaining with a 1-2-1 record?

[Aerick]

Originally Posted by Old Ska

Didn't we have a win and a tie last year at this time?

The tie was a fluke due to inclement weather, and the win at home should have equated to our tie at home this season. We all believe we should have won that game. Tony Meola played "lights out" that night. However, what I'm referring to is the team play as a whole - despite the results table. And "yes", I know that the only thing that counts at the end of the season is the results table. At the END of the season.

[AreliusIV]

Originally Posted by Aerick

Last season and this season are entirely different. Coach E didn't have as much to work with last season. You can't keep pointing to last season and saying "look at what a crappy job he did!" as a good reason to fire him 4 games (3 away) into the season.

The very fact that he has more to work with this season and has only managed a point leads to the conclusion that he needs to be replaced...

[clarette]

I just got the BEST PHONE CALL EVAH from my dad...

"I'm [bleep] tired of reading about their [bleep] effort, they're [bleep] professionals and you [bleep] EXPECT [bleep] effort when you buy a [bleep] ticket, if they want to [bleep] pat themselves on the [bleep] back about their [bleep] effort, they oughta go back to [bleep] youth soccer, in fact I know youth [bleep] coaches that would [bleep] their [bleep]..."

We hid the phone from him so he wouldn't call and yell at the poor random person at the RSL FO, haha.

[Deuce]

Just when you thought it was safe to go back to being an Ellinger apologist

Now Where Have I Seen That Before?

RSL Finds Heartbreak, Again