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Gian-Luca

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Sorry, I don't mean to make light of people's emotions, I was at the stadium for both matches and felt the highs & lows first hand & can empathize, but coming back to the board after 5 days & 10 sobering hours driving back home alone with nothing else to think about, I can't help but smile a little at seeing the extreme emotions at the opposite end of the spectrum, with very few following a middle route. Reading through all the posts, for the most part everybody loved our boys so much on Saturday, were so proud of them & excited for the future, thought Holger did well, and after the Cuba match for the most part everyone is depressed for the future, want to kill all of our players, fire Holger's ass etc. Could be the greatest 3 day swing of emotion I've ever seen. :D

For me very little has changed - we had the record I expected us to have after the first round. Our run of getting some good fortune at the Gold Cup after the first round may have come to an end, and I am bitterly disappointed about that, but its no reason to panic or ever be concerned IMO. Our team hasn't magically gotten better or miraculously gotten worse in the past two games, I still see us hewing the same path that we have been recently. We obviously have some improvements to make, we always will. I hope that we learn our lesson from the Cuba match, but are also encouraged by the performance in the Costa Rica match, especially when we were missing more of our players than theirs. I still think our biggest problems revolve around the usage of some of our oldest players who's time must be running out. I also hope Holger has learned a few things as well.

The Cuba result was very disappointing, but not the end of the world. Its happened, we have to learn from our mistakes & deal with them in the future. If we get eliminated tomorrow, life will still go on. When the Canadian players were walking off the pitch yesterday I let them know that we still love them & support them evermore. They saluted us in return.

Keep supporting the team folks, because we are all they've got. So say I, one of the 30 vs. the 30,000 that were against us on Saturday. (sorry for the high-handendness, I just felt preachy today. :) )

Oh, and one cheeky thing I have to ask. For those people who believe that success at the past two Gold Cups meant absolutely nothing, shouldn't it also follow that lack of success at this Gold Cup should also mean nothing?

Even the wolf can learn. Even the sheep can turn. Even the frog can become at last the prince. - Peter Hammill, Over (1977)

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Damn straight Gian-Luca!!

quote:Keep supporting the team folks, because we are all they've got.

I actually feel better about the future of the team than I did going in. Iain Hume is going to be a superstar! He was the best player on the pitch in the second half. What an asset he is going to be for this team.

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I like Hume, and I'm eager to see how good he gets over the next few years. It would be nice to see him in the EPL, though I guess Tranmere isn't heading there any time soon. I'd also like to see him playing up front for Canada, especially when Radz and DeRosario aren't available. Anyone else remember him chasing the whole opposing defence around the field in Victoria during U-20 World Cup qualifying a few years back? We could use a sparkplug like that on the senior team.

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I was surprised at the flood of "Fire Holger" posts after one game, as if the Costa Rican performance was worth nothing. We had a bad game, and after one day rest at that. Not that it's an excuse, but it's not the end of the world.

Personally I'm happy to have the stability of Osieck in the organization.

---

'Shawn' on the old board...

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Shawn, the "Fire Holger" posts are becoming more common with each passing poor performance; they aren't a new thing.

I think it's been time for HO to go for awhile now. His style and his diminishing marginal returns are very Mike Keenanesque; I don't think their style of man management works long term. I don't think he's lazy or a bad coach, but I think he's outlived his usefullness to the MNT program.

Blair

quote:Originally posted by sstackho

I was surprised at the flood of "Fire Holger" posts after one game, as if the Costa Rican performance was worth nothing.

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'Shawn' on the old board...

We want a game...in Canada!

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quote:Originally posted by Grasshopper

Shawn, the "Fire Holger" posts are becoming more common with each passing poor performance; they aren't a new thing.

I think it's been time for HO to go for awhile now. His style and his diminishing marginal returns are very Mike Keenanesque; I don't think their style of man management works long term. I don't think he's lazy or a bad coach, but I think he's outlived his usefullness to the MNT program.

Blair

We want a game...in Canada!

Mind you, any time a coach has been with any team for several years though the number of "fire his ass" comments will increase over time. Its an established scientific fact. Though I did not hear any such comments in the stadium after we beat Costa Rica.

I think the entire team has to take the blame for the Cuba debacle, including the coach. Though it is tough to blame Holger for things like McKenna missing some absolute sitters, the best of which viewers on tv never even got to see. I think McKenna's timing has been off the whole tourney, perhaps a result of not having played regularly in 6 weeks. Normally he has been knocking those in for Canada.

Even the wolf can learn. Even the sheep can turn. Even the frog can become at last the prince. - Peter Hammill, Over (1977)

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quote:Originally posted by Grasshopper

Shawn, the "Fire Holger" posts are becoming more common with each passing poor performance; they aren't a new thing.

I think it's been time for HO to go for awhile now. His style and his diminishing marginal returns are very Mike Keenanesque; I don't think their style of man management works long term. I don't think he's lazy or a bad coach, but I think he's outlived his usefullness to the MNT program.

Blair

We want a game...in Canada!

Mind you, any time a coach has been with any team for several years though the number of "fire his ass" comments will increase over time. Its an established scientific fact. Though I did not hear any such comments in the stadium after we beat Costa Rica.

I think the entire team has to take the blame for the Cuba debacle, including the coach. Though it is tough to blame Holger for things like McKenna missing some absolute sitters, the best of which viewers on tv never even got to see. I think McKenna's timing has been off the whole tourney, perhaps a result of not having played regularly in 6 weeks. Normally he has been knocking those in for Canada.

Even the wolf can learn. Even the sheep can turn. Even the frog can become at last the prince. - Peter Hammill, Over (1977)

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As I stated in another thread, I was too tired from the drive yesterday to try and take on the nay-sayers, so I slept on it.

Mulling it over in my head as I tossed and turned, I couldn't get over the defeatist attitude many of you adopt. And then it occured to me - defeatists and the Canadian National Team are a perfect fit!

The nature of being a supporter of the MNT here in Canada makes it an uphill battle. Naturally, people who are pre-disposed to criticize and be doom-prophets would flock to a place where this kind of attitude would be possible more often than, say, being a New York Yankees fan. These people get to be negative most of the time, even when positive results are staring them right in the face.

Sitting in the stadium on Saturday between the Canada-CR and MLS match, I couldn't wait to come back here and look at the board to see how Holger had won you over, how a positive result like beating a team 60 places above us in the rankings would bring you guys around. Who was I kidding? You were all waiting in the shadows until we slipped up again so you could call for Holger's head!

But that's your right, and I'll continue to point out how negative you are, as I'm sure you'll point out how blind and imbecillic I am.

Such is the game we play.

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

You are the witness of change

And to counteract

We gotta take the power back

Rage Against The Machine

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:D Good post!

It's true - you do have to possess a certain 'je ne sais quoi' to be a Canadian soccer supporter.

So, let's let those who need to vent have their "Sack Holger" posts, and our kind can talk in here to celebrate the good victories and dissect the poor losses. And as a Canadian soccer supporter, you gotta expect more of the latter. ;)

---

'Shawn' on the old board...

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Mimglow, since when are we taking the FIFA rankings to heart? Are you 'hipmotized' by the numbers involved? We beat Costa Rica barely. Costa Rica. Not Brazil. Away from home. This wasn't Mexico in Azteca. This wasn't some monumental, earth shaking event of such great good fortune that we can sit back for 6 months chewing it over and over again, smiling blithely while we get our asses handed to us by second rate teams like Estonia, Scotland (the one we played anyway) and Cuba.

Sstackho, you can possess all the 'je ne sais quoi' you want. I think it's time for a change. Top to bottom. Now, before we screw away another 4 years.

Free the banana cream 3!

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As if to prove my point, Ed steps in and turns my positive points into negatives. Thanks, dude!

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

You are the witness of change

And to counteract

We gotta take the power back

Rage Against The Machine

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I disagree with you Massive Attack. Right off the top of my head, I'll cite Brian Kilrea, Joe Torre, Jacques Martin, Bruce Arena, Scotty Bowman, Jeff Fisher, Alex Ferguson, Phil Jackson, Bill Cowher, etc...

These are all coaches, managers, etc, who have had long term tenures with their clubs, all with success. Not all have had ULTIMATE success, but I'm not asking Holger to win the World Cup.

Frankly, it disgusts me when I hear people calling for manager's heads simply because they disagree with tactics or whatever. All part of the brainwashing effect of the American media who associate a shortcoming with blame. Gotta blame someone. Might as well be the coach.

Well, to hell with that. Stability has shown in all of my examples up top that it breeds success.

Mimglow, Ottawa

_________________________

You are the witness of change

And to counteract

We gotta take the power back

Rage Against The Machine

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