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Kevan Pipe fired !!!


Bxl Boy

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I'd say the timing is more ironic than surprising or strange. But after 20 years, Pipe can hardly claim that he didn't have a lengthy run at the job. Change is inevitable, and this was probably a long overdue move.

I can't say that I'm feeling as overwhelmingly optimistic as some people here who are giving off the impression that this decision is going to automatically result in a fantastic new era dawning for Canadian soccer, because of the dismissal on one CSA member. No matter how important the position he held was, I would be surprised if Pipe was single-handedly responsible for everything that went wrong in Canadian soccer for the past 20 years. I am skeptical that one person can make that much of a difference, and there is always the possibility that the fresh blood that comes in (assuming it is) will be worse at the job. Hopefully the shake-up will result in good things - I'm optimistic, but not quite ready to start building my floats for the "World Cup Qualification Victory Parade" to be held on the Trans-Canada Highway in 2009.

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I have known Kevan sine 1981 and had some very good dealings with him. He was the one that asked me to look after the Dutch team in 1994 when they played against canada at Varsity.He gave me total control and ended even running media conferences,security,receptions. The lot.When the Dutch team returned in the report by the Association they said that they had the best time in Toronto.

I think that kevan did a greatjob with the Fifa,MLSE and the various governments.

I have spoken to several individuals who were very much against him,but never got the reasons.

There is something here that will come out that may have been his downfall and maybe this girls thing may have been the ultimate reason. I really don't know. I personally believe that he accomplished a lot.

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If I could speculate - and perhaps hope - I would suggest that the ouster has more to do with the boring stuff. There is a new man in charge of the board and, with this, probably a internal rethinking of direction and leadership. The board has probably discussed among themsleves (with some external facilitation) what they see as direction/strenghts/weaknesses, etc... of the entire program. They have probably come to the conclusion that their vision does not fit the skill set of Mr Pipe.

I have sat on several boards and this is generally what happens with new leadership, in particular when we are looking at an organization that is, at best, meandering.

If I could offer one more speculation. The "vision" that the board has developed is that Canadian soccer must be built from the bottom up. In the last seveal years Mr Pipe has very clearly tried to develop Canadian soccer from the top down (hosting tournaments, pro franchises, stadiums, etc...). If that is the case, then that is where I am hopeful.

For many, many years Canadian soccer has needed, above all else, a vertically integrated development structure - precisely what we do not have.

Like I say, these are just guesses. I hope I am correct. If the CSAs next step is to hire someone who does not recognize this (if, indeed they do themselves) then we will be no further ahead.

Does anyone know how the search process will play out?

Oh, and Tom Wright would be very much the wrong man for the job. This job will require vision, courage, a degree of hard-headedness and, more than anything, a healthy sense of self (think Jurgen Klinsmann) and Wright - while a very able man - lacks the courage and hard-headedness of which I speak.

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Anyone who is taking what was stated by the CSA literally about Pipe should reconsider. They are not making a statement to reveal hint or infer anything about why they fired Pipe. That would be extremely naive and legally precarious. Whether your using the statement to defend or condemn or predict is irrelvant, its silly to do any of the three.

Also to conclude that Pipe was responsible or accomplished anything as head of the CSA merely because he was present as the COO at the time the event occured is equally as inane.

The CSA certainly will not tell you why they fired Pipe and one thing is for certain they did not fire him because they agreed or liked what he has beeen doing.The record of Pipe is clear, it is embarassing. The only thing he can cling to now is his lengthy tenure and the fact he was present. Anyone who has witnessed first hand his behavior and conduct over the last 25 years can tell you he was never capable of handling any negotiations by himself and any major accomplishment he makes claims to is the result of someome elses work.

Like some other people have said here there are too many serious mistakes and incompetencies to pick just one and the CSA first step without Pipe is an intelligent one choosing not to infer anything controversial about his firing publicly.The most important fact is he was fired.

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Well I could go on about why this about time. But I've posted many times about the direction or lack of direction many times. 20 years is a good career in any job. Time to move on, thanks Mr. Pipe for your tenure.

Although this will never happen, I'd like to see Bob Nichols sought after for the CSA position. He has been head of Hockey Canada for awhile and appears to be able to keep provincial ass'ns in line for "the good of the game". I'm sure if he can keep the strong provincial ass'ns in line in this country's most popular sport he could keep soccer ass'ns in line as a joke. Same for David Branch, Commisioner of the CHL. But the CSA couldn't afford guys like that. Some how, some way these guys have managed the "game" without isolating various parts of the country.

But I would like to see a new face and establish the CSA as the one and only governing body for soccer nationally. Let's get away from the politics involved from the various ass'ns and work to build "the game".

That's the challenge. As someone above mentioned grass roots. Bottom up, not top down. Top down I'm afraid will be Mr. Pipe's legacy and the one stadium in the one city in the one province with the one "top" pro team.( sorry, I can't give it up) We need a conciliator kinda guy to convince little emporers that they'll be even stronger by working together.

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quote:Originally posted by fan

Also to conclude that Pipe was responsible or accomplished anything as head of the CSA merely because he was present as the COO at the time the event occured is equally as inane.

The only thing he can cling to now is his lengthy tenure and the fact he was present.

Anyone who has witnessed first hand his behavior and conduct over the last 25 years can tell you he was never capable of handling any negotiations by himself and any major accomplishment he makes claims to is the result of someome elses work.

The most important fact is he was fired.

Well said and accurate, remember the firing has come after the visit of FIFA in the form of the CONCACAF president Mr. Warner from Trinidad and Tobago, no doubt he and his committee would not have been pleased by the way the U20 planning is going ( despite the public statements ), I get the sense a few late night talks over shots of Guyanse rum and coke have helped Mssr Linford et al realize the managerial weakness inside the House of Soccer on Metcalfe Street.

Even more telling is the failure of Pipe to protect the Association from the bad press of Peleruds attack on arguably Canada's most celebrated and marketable soccer player ( male or female ), the Hooper de carding by Pelerud struck at the very core of the insider, back room systems used by the CSA in the past, lets hope Sport Canada with FIFA support will bring to bear further changes to allow the sport to succeed in a larger scale in this Country.

Look to see the restructuring of soccer at the grass roots level to start accelerating with creation of CSA direct registration of competitive youth players in CSA non-amatuer clubs. Thats the real message of Pipes firing, its to bring in a strong powerfull personal presence to rip away control of soccer in Canada from the provincial associations who for too long made the tail wag the dog.

Look to see the ascendancy of pro clubs, A league and MLS etc. in influence in the CSA, imagine a Saputo leading the Association ?

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Guest speedmonk42

Mostly for the sake of saying something different.....

Even though we all agree with the firing of Pipe, what if it is also an indicator of just how many eggs we have put in the TFC/MLSE basket?

How much influence do they have? (great when we agree with it)

Just a thought to discuss

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quote:Originally posted by Calgary Boomer

This is wonderful news. Now, the challenge is to put a SOCCER PERSON in that position, and not another politician wannabe, who knows nothing about the game.

I would respectfully disagree. A soccer person would be fine, but I can think of several traits that would be preferable. I would much rather have someone with a track record of success be in the position than a "soccer person" who is next in line. In fact, I think there could be great benefit to having a fresh perspective at the top.

You would need a soccer person as the techincal director and head coach, of course. Not the COO, though.

Stupid job title, by the way. Should be ED or CEO.

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That first title choice has a nice ring to it, notwithstanding it's quite offensive use by product hacks like the Flower.

Back to the topic at hand, the post by speedmonk42 re all the eggs in the TFC basket is just a small part of it. I would think most people outside Toronto do not look upon TFC as any saviour of our national program.

I would pretty much bet the house that Pipe's firing was precipitated by the news around the women's team despite the various other theories being thrown about.

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Just as many of us on the outside have grumbled about the CSA from time to time with Pipe being the lightning rod for it all, so it is very likely that the new CSA board and president have their areas of dissatisfaction as well. The peremptory nature of his dismissal does however lead one to wonder whether it was termination with cause or simply that it was easier and cleaner for all parties for him to be terminated immediately with a severance package. Without any hard facts other than what is already in the public domain, we cannot know.

Certainly it cannot have been easy for the board to take this action at this time as they already have a number of key vacancies to fill and the 2007 WYC is looming. Have to wonder if they haven't got a replacement already lined up.

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quote:Originally posted by Daniel

How much did the CSA get for naming rights (if any) and how much did whoever they sold it to (MLSE?) get?

I thought I read the MLSE guy gloating about the naming rights basically paid off their investment. In other words, the CSA got SFA out of this whole deal other than reduced rent for NT games.

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a "soccer man" is not what we need from a CEO. we need a business man with intricate knowledge of corporate canada to bring in the most funds possible and with the best eye for marketing.

for example, john catliff is not this man - though he might be a good head coach (??) or possibly assistant technical director? but i doubt it based on the wikipedia info - no mention of coaching knowledge to be found there. though i'd love to hear what he has been up to!

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quote:Originally posted by bettermirror

a "soccer man" is not what we need from a CEO. we need a business man with intricate knowledge of corporate canada to bring in the most funds possible and with the best eye for marketing.

for example, john catliff is not this man - though he might be a good head coach (??) or possibly assistant technical director? but i doubt it based on the wikipedia info - no mention of coaching knowledge to be found there. though i'd love to hear what he has been up to!

Being a VP of sales for Helly Hansen doesn't constitute knowledge of corporate Canada? I'd say he's got the best of both worlds. Being an astute businessman (Harvard educated)and a soccer guy to boot. He'd be better at the COO thing than a coach in my books.

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People keeping siting TFC as a success of Pipe, but how can one first division club be considered a success? What other pro-clubs have tumbled, Edmonton, Calgary, and now the Lynx.

MLS is a step in the direction that the CSA wants to go, but it is surely not the be all and end all.

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see Danny Boy that was an arse's response. clearly i said, based on the wikipedia information there was no mention of catliff's qualifications (ie, education and work experience). you'll also see i readily admitted i'd love to be proven wrong in my opinion!

next time, try less suck and more awesome. deal? OR, go on wikipedia and update the John Catliff information they have there.

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quote:Originally posted by loyola

euh? John Catliff qualifications are on the wikipedia page.

Being a player doesn't help with being able to run a national program. Rugby Canada hired Gareth Rees to run it and he didn't last long in that position.

And that's an organization more unified than the CSA is.

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Guest speedmonk42

I wonder if the person we need is someone we would even know.

They have to be so far up the ass of the aristocracy that most of us on this board couldn't stand the smell.

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Aristocracy no, but perhaps bureaucracy, don't you think? I tend to agree that most of us probably wouldn't have the slightest idea about what a decent shortlist would look like anyways, as it it would probably (and hopefully) be comprised of a number of professional executives from a diverse set of backgrounds.

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