All Sunday evening, reliable rumours walked the night that Dale Mitchell is being nudged out of his job as head coach of the Canadian men’s national soccer squad. The central issue was not whether it was happening, but whether anyone from the Canadian Soccer Association would go on the record to confirm it.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK] As of this morning, so far as I know, nobody has. Private e-mails from CSA media reps blandly said Mitchell is “our coach,” and will remain so at least through this summer’s CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Who’s coach? Not the fans’, and certainly not the players’. In the ongoing stage drama that is Canada’s global soccer frustration, Mitchell has long-since lost the actors, and the audience.
So I’m going to step away from whether these dismissal rumours are true, and focus on whether they should be.
They should.
Dale Mitchell was a superb player for Canada’s national team. A gritty, gifted and determined striker, he was a key member of the 1986 national squad – the only time Canada has ever qualified for the FIFA World Cup. There will be no question – from this writer – of Mitchell’s loyalty and commitment to the dream, or the program.
Through no real fault of his own, Mitchell remains a lasting, lingering symptom of the bureaucratic dysfunction that has paralyzed the CSA in recent years. Allow me, please, to run through the greatest hits – the dance card of disaster that put us where we are: on the outside, looking … out.
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1) On his arrival as incoming CSA president in 2006, Colin Linford wants change. He rolls into Metcalfe Street seeking to make two key appointments: Brazil’s Rene Simoes as new Canadian coach, and Basketball Canada bureaucratic el-supremo Fred Nykamp as CSA CEO.
2) The multi-headed monster that is the CSA board feels Simoes is too expensive – and perhaps too eccentric.
3) Said multi-headed board initially approves Nykamp, then pulls the plug.
4) Dale Mitchell, winning great acclaim as Canada’s U-20 coach, is promoted to the national team, effective as soon as his U-20s are done hosting the world in the 2007 FIFA World Youth Cup.
5) Linford resigns in fury.
6) Nykamp sues, and wins. Large unspecified amount of small CSA budget evaporates.
7) Mitchell’s U-20s file one of the worst performances in the history of the tournament.
8) Mitchell gets his promotion anyway.
9) Simoes coaches Jamaica to dreadfully painful 1-1 draw with Mitchell’s Canada in the opening match of World Cup qualifying. (To be fair, he is subsequently dismissed after Jamaica consistently disappoints.)
10) Canada is rudely excused from the global party, claiming just 2 of a possible 18 points. Key players – Jim Brennan, Greg Sutton, Julian DeGuzman – serve up harsh public criticism of Mitchell before the games are even done.
11) The CSA, perhaps hampered by Mitchell’s contract – and both poorer and gun-shy after the Nykamp fiasco – publicly back their coach, saying there will be no change at the top.
12) Informed, trustworthy sources light up the evening of March 15, 2009, saying Mitchell is out.
13) Monday morning dawns, and still we wait.
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To be fair to the CSA – and yes, that is occasionally possible – things appear to have stabilized since Peter Montopoli was named their new general secretary. The recent hiring of acclaimed Italian coach Carolina Morace to run the women’s national team seems – sensible. Generous, even.
But as long as Mitchell uncomfortably holds a prominent role that clearly exceeds his ability, the long dark shadow of the bungled Linford era still lies between this nation and a place in any senior men’s World Cup ever.
This “reassignment” is crucial, and long, long overdue. The players need a clear signal that they count, and that – cash-strapped or not – the CSA is working to put them on a better, less-obstructed path.
It’s unlikely, given how little is left of the budget, that a name international coach will get the gig. In the short-to-medium term, look for Canada to promote from within. There’s a lot of support for technical director Stephen Hart, for whom the lads performed magnificently in the 2007 Gold Cup.
This could also be a promotion possibility for someone like Nick Dasovic, who certainly lacks experience, but might just be the perfect combination of passion, fire, ambition and one-of-the-boys to at least get Canada playing with passion in the Gold Cup this summer.
Either of these moves could blow up, backfire, or get otherwise wrecked by reality. It could certainly be – as many qualified experts have already concluded – that the biggest reason Canada didn’t advance in the World Cup hunt was that the players just weren’t good enough.
(I’d love to ask Mitchell that one. We’ve been trying to land him for an “It’s Called Football” interview. I’ll keep you posted.)
For the greatest good of all concerned – players, a rebuilding CSA, Mitchell himself and anyone who loves the team – it is well past time for the Dale Mitchell experiment to be written off. The man is a loyal soldier who did the best he could, but the burden of command is too great, and should now be passed to someone else.
We’ll see what the rest of this day brings. Kudos to my friend and colleague Duane Rollins at The 24th Minute for doing everything possible to land the truth. He, too, is a great servant of the game.
… And I stand by his story.
Onward!